A webinar series to celebrate Allan Gibb’s ideas on entrepreneurship and small businesses set in the context of our responses to Covid-19.
Professor Allan Gibb OBE (1939-2019) was an inspirational pioneer in the field of Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development for 50 years. This series of webinars stem from Allan’s teaching and writing. They will be followed by a day conference in Durham in early 2022 when we will celebrate Allan’s work and thinking.
Webinar No. 1: Resilience or innovation? Hunkering down or opening up new horizons?
Click this weblink for a short Briefing Note on the topic for Webinar No. 1 and more information about the themes covered more generally in the series of webinars that we are organising.
The SIEF webinar series covers four key themes informed by Allan’s work but set in the context of shaping our responses to Covid-19: what this means for entrepreneurship and the small business lifeworld.
Allan’s concept of Entrepreneurship was broad, stretching beyond conventional models. It was not solely focused on new business ventures and business growth but upon the development of the skills, attributes and behaviours of enterprising people to be used in any context (business, government, educational institutions, social enterprise, healthcare, NGOs, charities etc.). It was about building links between concept (ideas/intention) and practice (know how/application/action). Importantly, it was based upon social concern and a belief in the value of entrepreneurial behaviour as a means of making the world a better place.
The webinars are hosted by the Societal Innovation and Enterprise Forum (SIEF) which has its roots in the Durham Symposium held in 2015 to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the Small Business Centre created by Allan. It’s aims, in Allan’s words, are to “act as a catalyst for social and economic innovation, stimulate debate and innovative thinking, develop new models and programmes, thereby contributing to inclusive and sustainable regional development, and harnessing the contribution of the independently owner managed business and other stakeholders.” SIEF stands as a lasting testimony to this bold vision. Hosted by Dr Susan Frenk at St Aidan’s College, Durham University, the SIEF will also provide the home for the celebration event for Allan in 2021.
Watch videos of the Series 1 webinars – click links below:
- Webinar No. 1: ‘University leadership post Covid-19: the entrepreneurial challenge’
- Webinar No. 2: ‘Re-designing entrepreneurial learning around problems and issues’
- Webinar No. 3: ‘Creating entrepreneurial universities: the new frontier’
- Webinar No. 4: ‘Universities as partnership models for driving change’
Twitter: @SIEForum
