Eeva Erkinjuntti, MA, project manager, University of Lapland
Anzelika Krastina, M.Ed., MBA, senior lecturer, Lapland University of Applied Sciences
Pia-Maria Lausas, M.Soc.Sc, teacher, Lappia Vocational College
Sari Nisula, MA, specialist, Lapland University of Applied Sciences
Image 1: Social impact entrepreneurship. Source: RYHTI project.
Introduction
Recent findings from the State of Youth surveys in Finland (2019; 2024) highlight a strong and consistent aspiration among young people to contribute to a better future through their everyday choices, career paths, and societal engagement. At the same time, expectations towards businesses are evolving, with young people increasingly emphasising the importance of environmental and social responsibility. These developments point to a growing need for pathways that meaningfully connect personal values, work, and impact, an area where social entrepreneurship offers a particularly relevant approach.
Social entrepreneurship is understood as a process that uses innovative combinations of resources to develop new solutions, services, and approaches that address societal challenges, it is also considered as a foundation for development of new services at local community level through innovative solutions (Phillips et al. 2015; Mulgan 2019). This article examines how education can respond to these aspirations by providing innovative learning opportunities that equip young people with the knowledge and tools to act as changemakers through social entrepreneurship.
Finnish youth want to act for impact
There is an issue that young people in Finland bring forward in the State of Youth survey results from 2019 and 2024: they want to make an impact on building a better future. Young people want to influence society through their purchasing decisions and consumer actions (State of Youth, 2024). They also want to make an impact through meaningful work, address social problems and do good for their environment, community and other people (State of Youth, 2019).
Young people aged 15-29 feel that they can make a difference and express their views through their purchasing decisions. Based on the State of Youth survey 2024, 88 percent of young people made purchasing decisions to create an impact. In 2019, the same survey focused on the entrepreneurial attitudes of young people in Finland. The results indicated that 78 percent of respondents said that entrepreneurship is becoming more common, and 88 percent said that work must align with their own values. Big numbers, yet 41 percent say that world transformation is the motivation for entrepreneurship. Attitudes towards corporate sustainability actions were also clear: 73 percent said environmental effects and 64 percent said social effects need to be taken into account in corporate business.
These findings suggest that many young people are looking for ways to combine values, work, and impact. In this context, social entrepreneurship offers a relevant pathway. Social entreprise is a mission-based business that aims to create positive social or environmental impacts on society. Globally social enterprises create around 200 million jobs, and the annual turnover of businesses is around 1900 billion euros (Kallama, 2024). In Finland there is about 5000 social enterprises, and they create jobs for 85 000 persons and annual turnover is 10 billion euros. In Lapland, there are about 148 entities that are identified to be social enterprises with annual turnover of around 114 million euros, and they employ 1300 people (YYO, 2026). It indicates that social entrepreneurship is big business globally and there is a lot of opportunities for social entrepreneurs in Finland and in Lapland.
Initial project survey to understand the view of young people in Lapland
During autumn 2024, a survey was conducted among students in Lapland in terms of RYHTI project to learn about their thoughts on social entrepreneurship. RYHTI project, funded by the European social funding plus and granted by Economic development center of North Finland, aims to increase the knowledge on the topic of social entrepreneurship in Lapland region (RYHTI, 2026). It is implemented in collaboration within the project consortium that includes University of Lapland, Lapland University of Applied Sciences and Lappia Vocational College. One of the core activities in the project is to create study modules to support education on social entrepreneurship. To better understand the needs and current motivation of the students in Lapland, and to create study modules that meet the needs of the learners, we conducted the analysis of the survey that helped better understand the current attitudes and knowledge of young people regarding social entrepreneurship.
Image 2. Source: RYHTI project 2026.
A total of 262 responses were received. 9 percent of respondent were from Lapland University of Applied Sciences, 28 percent from the University of Lapland, and 62 percent from Lappia Vocational College. We asked whether the concept of social entrepreneurship was familiar to the respondents, and the average result was 2.3, with the highest score being 5. Many respondents emphasised that social entrepreneurship creates social good and benefits for the society, whereas traditional entrepreneurship focuses more on individual gain. However, some respondents could not define the term. Here is a summary of the responses:
“Social entrepreneurship is a business activity where the main objective is to solve social or environmental problems. These goals may relate, for example, to reducing poverty, protecting the environment, or improving community wellbeing. Social enterprises aim to combine financial sustainability with social impact, but profit maximisation is not their primary goal. Profits are often used to develop the business or to advance social objectives.”
Based on the survey results and the open-ended responses, we summarised the views of young people studying in Lapland as follows: social entrepreneurship is widely seen as an important and meaningful way to address social and environmental problems. It combines business innovation with social responsibility, making it possible to develop sustainable solutions. Respondents particularly highlighted its potential to create jobs, protect the environment, and support communities. 57 percent of the respondents said they might consider founding a social enterprise, 10 percent said they could found one and 1 percent said they already had a social enterprise.
Many consider it essential, especially in the current global situation, where traditional businesses and the public sector are not always able to respond to complex challenges. Social entrepreneurship is seen as an effective way to raise awareness, promote responsibility, and provide examples for consumers. Several respondents view it as central to advancing sustainable development and environmental protection. According to the survey, young people are also interested in the environmental and social impacts of the products and services they buy: 42 percent of respondents said they often think about this when making purchasing decisions, 6 percent said they always take it into account, and 39 percent said they consider it from time to time. Only 13 percent of young people said they do not take these issues into account when making purchasing decisions.
According to the survey, the challenges of starting a social business include financial viability, access to funding, and government support. Some respondents felt that the impact of social entrepreneurship is limited, especially without broader public-sector or large-company involvement. To sum up, respondents consider social entrepreneurship to be a valuable part of the solution to social and environmental problems, but its effectiveness should be further developed and supported.
Development of the study modules
Based on the survey, one could conclude that young people want to participate in solving societal problems, and they want to make an impact. We therefore need to value the vision of today’s youth and create education and training on social entrepreneurship in ways that speak their language and align with their values. Therefore, the aim of RYHTI project is to create engaging study modules that can contribute to positive social and environmental impact in Lapland, Finland, and beyond. In this sense, the RYHTI project seeks to activate the grassroots level by providing accessible information to anyone interested in the creation of a social business.
During the period between spring 2024 and spring 2026, ten study modules on social entrepreneurship were developed worth a total of 10 ECTS/20 CP applicable for various levels of learners, including university students and participants from vocational education.
The study modules can be considered as innovative since they offer practical step-by-step pathway through ten study modules towards a social business, from idea development to business plan and includes also leadership and team building skills. To our best knowledge there have not been offered such education in this format so far across Finland or elsewhere even in Europe. The study modules are created for independent learning and divided into two main blocks. “RYHTI Part I Social business innovation 5 ECTS” is focusing on the development of sustainable social business idea and includes five modules each worth of 1 ECTS. “RYHTI Part II Social business planning 5 ECTS” is also composed of five modules each worth 1 ECTS and it focuses on specifics of a business planning that includes among other things market analysis, financial forecasting and even practicalities of how to register a social business in Finland. The study modules are available as open access studies via Open Moodle platform for anyone interested in these courses.
Image 3. RYHTI Open Moodle study units. Source: RYHTI project 2026.
While modules were created by the experts involved in the project, the students in the development of the studies were participating as co-creators during the piloting of the modules and the feedback of the students was considered to further improve and develop the study modules.
Piloting the modules with more than 40 students at Lapland UAS showed that simple step-by-step instructions help the students to progress in their learning as commented by one student: “The course was well-structured; at each stage we knew what we had to do.” Another student emphasized the importance of practical workbooks, suggesting: “The workbook templates helped to structure the learning process and made it easier to move from problem identification to business idea development. Although some parts were complex, they supported practical learning and helped to apply concepts to a real project.” In addition, through the piloting phase we learnt that the modules can have a real impact on students’ perspective: “I learned that sustainable entrepreneurship focuses on balancing ecouldomic, social, and environmental value. It changed my perspective by showing how business can solve real problems in a structured and impactful way.”
Also, at Lappia Vocational College, students as well as teachers from various fields (including business, culture and welfare) have piloted the study modules. They have evaluated and provided feedback on the breadth of the content, its clarity, comprehensibility, business examples, and multiple-choice questions. The piloting has been carried out in two ways. In some groups, the resources have been utilized in a classroom context under the guidance of the instructor. Considering the further use of the modules, they have been tested also as self-study courses. Published on the open access platform, the main usage of online materials will be autonomous learning.
The piloting results demonstrate that well-structured, practice-oriented social business studies can effectively support young people in developing the knowledge, skills, and mindset needed to act as changemakers, thereby confirming the relevance of innovative educational approaches in responding to their aspirations for meaningful impact. During the piloting of the study modules one of the tasks was to create a social business idea, it became obvious that social entrepreneurship is most of the time considered in the context of a service business, as the pilot results show, about 90 percent of developed new business ideas by the students were in the service sector solving local problems or global environmental challenges.
Final remarks
The writers of this text represent a generation that has grown up in a very different economic and societal landscape than the younger generations in secondary and higher levels of education today. We grew up in a world where unlimited economic growth was seen as a viable goal, and concerns regarding sustainability were, at best, merely faint voices in the background. The limits have since slapped everyone in the face. Younger generations have grown up seeing that societies and the environment cannot bear the burden of business as usual. This is reflected in their values.
Global turmoil sends shockwaves to individual countries and regions and changes what services are available, for whom, and how. These changes must also change how and what we teach about entrepreneurship to enable young people to fulfil their potential as changemakers. Entrepreneurship is about embracing opportunities; social entrepreneurship is about embracing opportunities to do good.
References:
Kallama, S. 2024. Yhteiskunnallisten yritysten liitto ARVO ry:n toimitusjohtaja Susanna Kallama
Mulgan, G., 2019. Social innovation: How societies find the power to change. Policy press.
Phillips, W., Lee, H., Ghobadian, A., O’regan, N. and James, P., 2015. Social innovation and social entrepreneurship: A systematic review. Group & Organization Management, 40(3), pp.428-461.
RYHTI, 2026. Accessed 25.3.2026 https://www.vaikuttavalappi.fi/ryhti-english/
State of Youth 2019. Nuorisobarometri 2019. Accessed 19 March 2026 https://tietoanuorista.fi/julkaisut/nuorisobarometri-2019/
State of Youth 2024, Nuorisbarometri 2024. Accessed 19 March 2026 https://tietoanuorista.fi/julkaisut/nuorisobarometri-2024/
Vaikuttavalappi.fi (2026) Vaikuttavalappi.fi website. Accessed 25.3.2026 https://www.vaikuttavalappi.fi/ryhti-english/
Yhteiskunnallisen yritystoiminannan ABC webinaari 2 Lokakuuta 2024.
YYO 2025, Yhteiskunnalliset yritykset Lapin elinvoiman tukena. Accessed 25 March 2026 https://yyo.fi/ajankohtaista/yhteiskunnalliset-yritykset-lapin-elinvoiman-tukena/
YYO 2026, Yhteiskunnalliset Yritykset Suomessa. Accessed 25 March 2026 Yhteiskunnalliset yritykset Suomessa – Lista yhteiskunnallisista yrityksistä Suomessa – YYO
This article is written with the support of EU funding as a part of RYHTI project.
Keywords: social, entrepreneurship, education, impact, Lapland