Current Trends in Environmental and Social Entrepreneurship in Slovakia
During the summer semester of the 2024/2025 academic year, the successful series of inspirational lectures by industry experts—representatives of leading Slovak companies focused on sustainable business—continued as part of the course “Current Trends in Environmental and Social Entrepreneurship,” coordinated by Assoc. Prof. Ing. Mgr. Gabriela Dubcová, Ph.D., and co-moderated by Ph.D. Ing. Sylvia Bukovová, Ph.D.
As part of this course, which focuses on sustainable development and business ethics, students have the opportunity to gain insights into real-world business practices in an engaging way—from companies that successfully, through their daily operations, demonstrate that promoting and adhering to the principles of sustainable development—in their social, environmental, and managerial dimensions—is currently an essential prerequisite for the competitiveness, survival, and further development of any business.
Throughout the semester, experts from market-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises in both the private and nonprofit sectors presented innovative solutions to today’s societal challenges to students as part of their business activities, with a focus on governance, environmental, and social aspects. They presented their businesses in various fields, such as: fair-trade chocolate production on a global scale; the provision of social services and social counseling, particularly for women and mothers with children facing life crises; various forms of social entrepreneurship; a family business model focused on the organic production of healthy soy-based foods, as well as the organic production of honey and food and cosmetic products made from this raw material, various forms of nursing and social assistance, as well as professional, round-the-clock nursing, medical, and social care in the form of both short-term and long-term stays for sick citizens, particularly bedridden seniors; a business model for food processing machinery and technologies, environmental service systems, comprehensive care for children and youth; regional management of enterprises providing services in the public interest; innovative entrepreneurship in the field of legal services; a model for international family-owned companies utilizing state-of-the-art certification methods for businesses; and cooperation with supervisory and regulatory institutions.
