Social enterprise as a generator of quality of life and sustainable development in rural communities

The aim of this paper is to analyze the mechanisms by which an indigenous social enterprise contributes to a rural community’s sustainable development and improves the quality of life of its inhabitants. The work follows a qualitative methodology and uses the case study as a research technique. The theoretical framework deployed to identify the nature of the dynamics involved is social entrepreneurship, as a means of fighting poverty and changing patterns of socio-economic exclusion. The research suggests that social enterprise uses four main mechanisms to promote rural sustainable development in the community where it operates: innovation in the exploitation methods of natural resources, labor as a source of quality of life, bonding and development of local suppliers; and the equitable sharing of benefits between the economic, social and environmental dimensions.