"The Sustainable Entrepreneur generally focuses on the root sustainable added value rather thanhow the economic return is yielded. Accordingly sustainable entrepreneurship encompasses a wide range of entrepreneurship types from non-profit social entrepreneurship that aims to create social transformation to ones that develop sustainable business practices."

Dr. İzel Levi COŞKUN

Imagine a business that acts with an awareness of carrying out its duties in line with sustainable development principles. This business also pursues the shared interests of the whole system in addition to its own interests in the industry in which it operates. It knows what "stakeholder" means and also that a business belongs not to the board of directors and shareholders but to all stakeholders involved, notably the employees, supply-chain and the society. This awareness can be felt in all the decisions made by this business. It even views its competitors and future generations as stakeholders and works to create long-term added value with every step it takes. It establishes a balance between economic return, environment and social impact, giving priority to saving based on the assumption that any investment may have both negative and positive environmental, social and/or economic impact. It makes environmental and social impact measurable rather than viewing them as external economic components. It creates an infrastructure for all input and output which is in line with its sustainability goals and which is accountable to its stakeholders. In addition to accountability this business puts into effect uncompromisingly the principles of transparency, fair governance and responsibility as required by corporate management. It fiercely advocates principles such as ethics, honesty, "human first" and environmental respect not as tools for marketing or gaining favour but as values it genuinely believes in. This business refuses to put money over these principles regardless of the circumstances. It makes sustainability a part of its mission, integrating it with all its business operations and corporate management.

Can Sustainable Entrepreneurship Act As An Engine For Sustainable Development?

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