Creating Space for Sustainable Entrepreneurship

We are around 20 million years away from the next global cataclysmal event. Mass extinction episodes on Earth are not random, a study published in December 2020 confirms. On average they repeat every 27.5 million years. But, if humanity doesn’t solve its self-inclined problems, there will be no need to wait 20 million years for the next mass extinction.

It feels like during the lasts years, or even months, the talk about the climate crisis and sustainable development switched from a long essay with persuasive arguments and solid evidence to a one-line formula:

Climate Crisis - Action = The End (just like in the movies, but with zero hope for a sequel or a remake)

The planet is burning, drying out, flooding, all at the same time and at a rate that makes the option of dead planets’ colonization sound like the best future for earthlings. That’s a reason why space startups are attracting investments from venture capitalists like bees to honey. About $5.8 billion worth of investments were poured into 178 space startups in 2019 with SpaceX and Blue Origin accounting for 41 percent of those funds. Whether because of the need for survival or the human desire for exploration, staying grounded matters amid a climate crisis.

The space program would serve humans to avoid the end of dinosaurs and other extinct tetrapods. Although the option of another planet as a backup plan is essential for the future of humanity, it can’t be an excuse to allow global warming and other manmade issues to destroy the only habitable planet we can afford. On the contrary, it can be used to benefit the Earth.

From space entrepreneurship to space for entrepreneurs

Let’s leave the topic of the hunt for another planet space specialists and get back to how common people can protect the Earth through entrepreneurship. Sustainable practices in entrepreneurship are the bridge that connects the world to its current state with a safe future. Ignoring them would mean burning down that bridge and consequently the future we want.

Given that sustainable entrepreneurship focuses on new innovative business concepts that solve community-based problems, it flourished among enterprising citizens.
They try to make an impact by creating healthier societies, increasing cooperation between the public and private sectors, and building an economic system that gives space to sustainable entrepreneurship and citizen action without rushing to regulate attempts for novelty conforming to outdated laws.

The founders of social business and sustainable enterprises are among the people that the world needs right now. Just money and profit are not enough for them. They strive to add value to the world, solve burning issues in smart ways, meet customers’ needs, educate and inspire others to follow suit.

“Creating a company from a concept restores the marketplace as a competition of ideas. It re-invents economics as the most beautiful of all the arts: it enables imaginative creating fitted to one’s time, place and person, opening up sustainable and enduring economic prospects. It is useful to society because it draws attention to itself through good and reasonably priced products. It is a way that doesn’t increase inequities, but can lead to a more equitable distribution of income and wealth through broader participation in entrepreneurial activity.” Günter Faltin - Brains versus Capital

“Entrepreneurship for the many” is the vision of this book and if you like it you can make it your own. You can take the free entrepreneurship training offered by the Entrepreneurship Campus, which is based on the Brains versus Capital book.
Or you can challenge yourself and join the 2021 Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition with a sustainable idea or project. You are still in time to do both as entries are welcomed until September 30th.

Photo by Ryo Tanaka on Unsplash