SENT Officially Launched

Tropical North Queensland Innovations Awards

22 November 2018

Recognized as an innovation, SENT will be formally launched  at the Tropical North Queensland Innovation Awards on 22 November.  As Chair of SENT, Dr. Gopalkrishnan will be speaking on the occasion about the mission of SENT and the role of JCU in this context.

Social entrepreneurship is emerging across Australia as a promising approach which addresses socioeconomic and ecological issues, creates social wealth, brings social transformation and innovation and helps develop a strong social economy.

Dr. Narayan Gopalkrishnan from the Cairns Institute and Social Work, has been involved in social entrepreneurship work in the Asia Pacific and brings global experience to this area of research.  He has been instrumental in bringing together key stakeholders in Northern Australian social entrepreneurship to form the Social Enterprise Network for the Tropics [SENT]. The network involves social enterprises, community organisations, government, academics and other stakeholders with the purpose of building a thriving social entrepreneurship community in the Tropics.

SENT was established as result of a research focus on social entrepreneurship at the Cairns Institute, a focus which has emerged from a strong local industry-JCU collaboration and engagement. This is particularly of value in Far North Queensland and in Northern Australia where JCU is taking leadership in developing cross-sectoral applied solutions to address the major challenges of the regions. The research involves several JCU disciplines including social work, business, public health, regional and international development, Internet of Things, and information technology.. The research focus has considerable potential in the form of collaborative research projects which work towards delivering solutions to the major challenges facing the Tropics. JCU is  involved with policy input in this area as State governments are in the process of establishing policies for social enterprises and social procurement.

SENT

TNQ Innovation Awards