Civil society and entrepreneurial ecosystems:the case of Citizens UK and Birmingham's microbusinesses

我将与阿斯顿大学（Aston University）的少数民族创业研究中心（CREME）和英国公民伯明翰（CUK）合作开展一项行动研究。该项目将调查民间社会在促进伯明翰更具包容性的商业支持环境（或“生态系统”）方面可以发挥的作用。我将试图回答的主要研究问题有四个：(1)公民社会在发展包容性创业生态系统中的作用是什么？(2)如何支持中大参与这一议程？(3)如何评估移民企业的社会（以及经济）贡献？(4)需要哪些制度安排来确保移民企业家融入“主流”商业支持体系？这项研究将是干预性质的，并将与中大合作进行。我将与CUK Birmingham以及CREME的管理团队密切合作。将采用跨学科的方法进行行动研究，因为它有能力对社会现实作出合理的解释，并且在帮助合作组织促进有意义的变革方面具有实际效用。这项干预措施将支持CUK伯明翰的计划，为该市一些最贫困地区的企业家提供商业支持。通过确定与民间社会在支持微型企业方面的作用有关的“什么有效以及如何有效”，预计研究结果将推广到其他类似情况。

I will be conducting an action research study with the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME), based at Aston University, and Citizens UK Birmingham (CUK). The project will investigate the role that civil society can play in facilitating a more inclusive business support environment (or 'ecosystem') in Birmingham. The main research questions that I will be attempting to answer are four: (1) What is the role of civil society in developing inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems? (2) How can CUK be supported to engage in this agenda? (3) How can the social (as well as economic) contribution of migrant businesses be assessed? (4) What institutional arrangements are required to ensure that migrant entrepreneurs are integrated into the 'mainstream' business support system? The study will be interventionist in nature and will be undertaken in collaboration with CUK. I will work closely with CUK Birmingham as well as the supervisory team at CREME. An interdisciplinary approach to action research will be employed because of its capacity to produce sound explanations of social reality, and its practical utility in helping the Collaborating Organisation to promote meaningful change. The intervention will support CUK Birmingham in its plans to provide business support to entrepreneurs in the some of the most deprived areas of the City. By establishing 'what works and how' in relation to the role of civil society in supporting microbusinesses, it is anticipated that the results will be generalizable to other similar contexts.