Youth entrepreneurial projects for the sustainable development of global community: evidence from Enactus program

National Research Tomsk State University, Institute of Economics and Management, 2 Novo-Sobornaya 1 Square, 634050 Tomsk, Russian Federation

^* Corresponding author: anastasia.dalibozhko@gmail.com

Abstract

Achievement of sustainable development that meets the needs of the present day without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, increasingly becoming a global agenda in addressing economic, environmental and social problems. This study raises the question of the possibility to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on the basis of involving young people into entrepreneurial projects. The object of the study is an international Enactus program, which originated in the US and now brings together students and business leaders in 36 countries (including Poland and Russia). The research methodology is based on the Triple Bottom Line Conception (a way of accounting factors in economic, environmental, and social impacts) and includes analysis of literature, comparison, generalization, content analysis, and the processing of empirical data obtained during interviewing Enactus students. The main findings of the study include the analysis of Enactus projects in terms of their relevance to the concept of sustainable development and the UN goals. The contribution of projects to the sustainable development of the world community has been assessed. On the basis of successful Tomsk State University experience substantiates the need to form joint international economic, ecological and social projects to solve current global problems more effectively.