Special Feature: Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Transitions in China

Interest in social entrepreneurship has risen steadily in academia and business in China for almost a decade. And yet the recent surge of aspirations for carbon neutrality, shared prosperity, educational equity and other sustainability goals has not only brought out a sense of urgency of sustainability transitions in China, but also thrusted afore the role of social entrepreneurship in accelerating the transitions. This issue is relevant globally but China presents a particularly fertile ground for research because the country has been reflecting upon the business and policy practices that drove the phenomenal economic growth of the last few decades. There is a shared sense among researchers that many of them, including some of the current enterprise and investment sustainability initiatives and strategies, may be insufficient or effect at sufficient scale too late to make sustainability transitions successful. But some others may be useful in directing a successful path to transition. The intention of this special feature is to encourage scholarship that will lead to accelerating sustainability transitions, more specifically, research on how enterprise, investment, and the social-technical system of business and market can be reconfigured to accelerate the transitions to a sustainable China and sustainable world.

We encourage contributions that develop innovative approaches in concepts, theory, methods or analysis and have deep or broad implications to inform transitions to sustainability, and that use observational, experimental or theory-driven modes of inquiry. We welcome submissions of Research Articles, Review Articles, Policy Bridges, Practice Bridges, and Commentaries that focus on the role of social entrepreneurship in sustainability transitions. Although Elementa has no page limit for submitted manuscripts, please find below broad guidance on page length for article types for this forum:

• Research Articles and Review Articles – We suggest an approximate length of 15–25 pages of double-spaced body text, excluding tables, figures and references.
• Policy Bridge and Practice Bridge – Recommended length is approximately 10–15 pages of double-spaced body text, excluding tables, figures and references.
• Commentary - Recommended length is approximately 8–12 pages of double-spaced body text, excluding tables, figures and references.

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