This chapter discusses the Social Enterprise Challenge (SEC), an innovative pedagogical activity adopted by a university in Brazil. This teaching and learning initiative connects university and society, academics and practitioners, scientific and managerial knowledge, and community and traditional knowledge. The SEC advances an experiential program of social innovation in undergraduate management disciplines which aims to propose ideas and projects capable of generating social and environmental value and providing alternatives to mining activity dependencies — the so-called Minério-Dependência — in Brumadinho city, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The SEC was designed as a response to the socio-environmental catastrophe and corporate crime of January 2019, when a large dam owned and operated by Vale, a multinational mining company, collapsed. The ruptured tailings dam killed hundreds of people and its release of mining waste created an environmental disaster.
A prominent emphasis of the SEC is the promotion of non-hegemonic teaching practices, which involve the decentralization and dehierarchization of knowledge through a combination of academic and non-academic contributions to achieve goals that go beyond traditional models of pedagogy and learning. By applying these principles toward collaboration and dialogue between university and society, 43 social enterprise proposals have been developed for the sustainable local development of Brumadinho. Proposals targeted thematic areas of agriculture, ecology, environment, green technology, social finance, health, entertainment, culture, and handicrafts, as well as other areas relevant to the city of Brumadinho and the state of Minas Gerais. Most of the solutions from these proposed social enterprises have highlighted social innovations, or tecnologias sociais, as main products or services.
The SEC advances the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda by supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality Education. It is closely aligned with SDG4 through the innovation and transformation of management education in pursuit of sustainable development. The SEC’s educational practice of non-hegemonic dialog and collaboration promotes the emergence of sustainable development alternatives in local community contexts that benefit future generations by improving welfare and quality of life, enhancing an appreciation of community diversity and knowledge, and validating and strengthening the local cultural resource base. This educational initiative also directly supports SDG11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, as well as SDG17, Partnerships. It further advances a number of additional SDGs due to the functional nature of proposed enterprises that focus on long-term solutions for social and environmental problems. Overall, the SEC supports the sustainable development of a more egalitarian and pluralist market through collaborative innovation that harnesses economic activity in service to human and environmental well-being.