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Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Resilience: Academia’s Critical Role in Education, Research, and Community Engagement

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 14 December 2025 | Viewed by 1121

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Law, University of Turin, Lungo Dora Siena, 100, 10153 Turin, Italy
Interests: space economy; entrepreneurial methodologies related to agile organizations; Industry 5.0; tourism; digital marketing and customer experience
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In an increasingly interconnected world, sustainable entrepreneurship has emerged as a critical driver for economic resilience, environmental stewardship, and social well-being, and global challenges underscore the need for entrepreneurial processes that foster economic growth without compromising ecological integrity or equity. Within this context, academia can catalyse local economic sustainability, bringing together multidisciplinary research, education, and community engagement to shape innovative solutions aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This Special Issue aims to investigate the interplay between sustainable entrepreneurial processes, entrepreneurship education, and the role of academia in advancing local economic sustainability systems. In alignment with the transdisciplinary scope of Sustainability, we welcome contributions from the natural and social sciences, engineering, economics, and the humanities. Submissions should present robust methodologies (experimental, computational, theoretical, or mixed-methods) that contribute to the journal’s mission of supporting open science, reproducibility, and disseminating insights for practical implementation.

Suggested Themes

  • Sustainable Entrepreneurship Processes: Case studies, frameworks, and empirical or theoretical analyses on new business models, stakeholder engagement strategies, and policy mechanisms that drive financial viability and ecological responsibility.
  • Entrepreneurship Education: Innovative education, curriculum designs, and experiential learning methods that enhance students’ capacity to develop and manage sustainable ventures.
  • Academic Engagement in Local Economies and Beyond: Research on how universities can actively contribute to community well-being, including industry collaboration, policy advocacy, and public engagement initiatives that foster regional resilience.
  • Social and Cultural Dimensions of Sustainability: Investigations into how entrepreneurial activities intersect with social equity, cultural identity, and broader sustainability challenges in diverse contexts.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome in this Special Issue, and research areas may include (but are not limited to) the above topics. We encourage the submission of manuscripts that present innovative theories, novel methodological contributions, or up-to-date reviews that push the boundaries of knowledge in this rapidly evolving field.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Luca Giraldi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable entrepreneurship
  • entrepreneurship education
  • academic–industry collaboration
  • business sustainability
  • technology transfer
  • sustainable development goals (SDGs)

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 759 KB  
Article
Entrepreneurship Education in Fragile Contexts: Bridging the Intention–Action Gap Through Psychological and Contextual Pathways
by Abed Alfattah Albatran and Tolga Atikbay
Sustainability 2025, 17(16), 7447; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17167447 - 18 Aug 2025
Viewed by 826
Abstract
In fragile and unstable regions, entrepreneurship education is increasingly viewed as the path to economic resilience and youth empowerment. However, research indicates that there is relatively little empirical evidence on how entrepreneurial education promotes entrepreneurial intention and behavior, especially in situations of uncertainty [...] Read more.
In fragile and unstable regions, entrepreneurship education is increasingly viewed as the path to economic resilience and youth empowerment. However, research indicates that there is relatively little empirical evidence on how entrepreneurial education promotes entrepreneurial intention and behavior, especially in situations of uncertainty and a lack of resources. This study explores this relationship based on a sample of 402 Palestinian university students and graduates, applying the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study concludes that entrepreneurial education has a positive influence on students’ self-efficacy, attitudes toward entrepreneurship, and their perception of the entrepreneurial environment. Self-efficacy was found to be the most potent mediating factor of entrepreneurial intent, closely followed by attitude. Although intention is a good predictor of action, the relationship is modest, which illustrates a clear intention-action gap. The study also reports that entrepreneurial education indirectly affects actions by shaping environmental perception, and that its total influence on entrepreneurial action operates primarily through these psychological and contextual pathways. Furthermore, the availability of resources has a significant moderating effect, as students having strong intentions are more likely to act when there is a strong perception that sufficient support and resources are available to them. The research builds on the Theory of Planned Behavior and complements related work on the intention–action gap, by considering a combination of psychological and contextual influences. Additionally, it offers actionable recommendations for policy-makers, educators, and development practitioners working to realize youth aspiration in fragile economies through integrated, context-appropriate entrepreneurship interventions. Full article
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