Regional Development, Inequalities and Entrepreneurship
From Transforming Tomorrow by The Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business
June 8, 2026 · 44 min · Season 3 · Episode 35
About this episode
Ellie Hamilton discusses the role of businesses and universities in regional development and entrepreneurship, emphasizing sustainability and community engagement.
How can businesses – and business schools – have a positive effect on their regions? And do we need to reconsider the connections between us all? Ellie Hamilton is Professor Emerita at Lancaster University Management School, with a lengthy background in entrepreneurship and working with businesses. She is also the co-author of a new book, Rethinking Entrepreneurship and Regional Development , with former Lancaster colleagues Dr Rhiannon Pugh and Dr Danny Soetanto. Ellie joins us to talk about how we need to focus on the role of universities as anchor institutions in their communities; the evolution of entrepreneurship as a concept; how regional development is seen as addressing regional inequalities – but how the focus on economics can be too great; and We consider how sustainability can be a key part of both entrepreneurship and regional development, and mull over the need to break stubborn habits; shine a light on place-based and community-based entrepreneurship that is embedded in a region; and emphasises the importance of context in any region (be it geographical or institutional) to successful development. The importance of the input from indigenous people in planning for…
People in this episode
Guest: Ellie Hamilton
Topics covered
- regional development
- entrepreneurship
- sustainability
- inequalities
- university role
- community-based entrepreneurship
Keywords
- regional inequalities
- entrepreneurship
- sustainability
- community-based
- university
- policy shaping
- indigenous input
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Lancaster University Management School
Books & works: Rethinking Entrepreneurship and Regional Development
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