Social enterprise as a generator of quality of life and sustainable development in rural communities

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the mechanisms by which an indigenous

social enterprise contributes to a rural community’s sustainable development

and improves the quality of life of its inhabitants. The work follows

a qualitative methodology and uses the case study as a research technique.

The theoretical framework deployed to identify the nature of the dynamics

involved is social entrepreneurship, as a means of fighting poverty and

changing patterns of socio-economic exclusion. The research suggests that

social enterprise uses four main mechanisms to promote rural sustainable

development in the community where it operates: innovation in the exploitation

methods of natural resources, labor as a source of quality of life,

bonding and development of local suppliers; and the equitable sharing of

benefits between the economic, social and environmental dimensions.