The Yunus Social Business Centre is a research hub for social businesses founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. The Centre follows the principles and guidelines of Professor Yunus and seeks to advance the role of social business in addressing the most pressing societal problems related to poverty, inequality, unemployment, social inclusion, and environmental degradation, and to improve social well-being and quality of life in a sustainable and effective manner.

The Yunus Social Business Centre at the Faculty of Economics – Skopje is part of the network of Yunus Social Business Centres operating at more than 100 universities worldwide. Such centres are established exclusively within universities, which is why a dedicated space is provided for their activities. Students are most often involved in and participate voluntarily in the centres’ activities.

The purpose of the Yunus Social Business Centre within the Faculty of Economics-Skopje is to develop and implement action programs for social businesses, courses, training, seminars, conferences, research, publications, social business laboratories, incubators, accelerator programs, exchange programs, visits, internships, and scholarship programs. The Yunus Social Business Centre enables academic staff, students and people from the business, public and non-governmental sectors to share knowledge and experiences related to the concept of social business, and to promote it across different universities and regions.

As part of the USE-IPM project, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre operates in close coordination with the Yunus Social Business Centre, jointly delivering activities that connect entrepreneurship education, innovation support, and social business development.

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre, embedded within the academic institution, serves as a long-term pillar for strengthening the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. It acts as a bridge between academia and the business community, reinforcing sustainable public–private collaboration and practical knowledge exchange.

The EI Centre delivers a threefold mission:

1. Inspire and support future innovators by motivating young people and equipping them with essential entrepreneurial skills through introductory training.
2. Upgrade business innovation capabilities by helping companies improve their innovation process management through advanced, practice-oriented training.
3. Enable real-world learning and R&I collaboration by organising internships and applied R&I activities in selected enterprises, where students work in cross-sectoral teams together with business representatives to develop innovative solutions.