Launching green entrepreneurship as a strategy for empowering the poor villagers (Case study: Professors of Agriculture Faculty, Razi University)

Although poverty is a global problem, it is more dominant in villages of Iran. Dramatic and widespread changes occur every day in all areas of human life and the dominant culture in communities has has introduced rural entrepreneurship as an effective strategy for mitigation of poverty, economic development and sustainable job creation. In this regard, in developing countries, investment in green jobs and green entrepreneurship education can greatly contribute to sustainable job creation, economic and social development and environmental protection. The present study seeks to launch green entrepreneurship as a strategy for empowering the poor villagers based on the qualitative method and the Grounded Theory approach. Sampling method was of purpose-oriented type, and the professors of the faculty of agriculture in Razi University were selected and interviewed. Central questions covered in this study are: what are their views towards launching green entrepreneurship as a strategy for empowering the poor villagers? What are their individual strategies for launching green entrepreneurship? What are are the consequences of empowering the poor villagers by launching green entrepreneurship? Findings revealed that explaining the views of the professors towards launching green entrepreneurship as a strategy for empowering the poor villagers were "infrastructures creating green entrepreneurship", "green entrepreneurship culture", "supportive framework of green entrepreneurship" and "green products culture". The results showed that he consequences of empowering the poor villagers by launching green entrepreneurship from viewpoints of the professors were economic poverty reduction, reduction of unemployment, access to comfortable housing, life expectancy, reduction of immigration, empowerment, satisfaction and imrovement of level of life, sustainable food security, empowering and more importantly environmental protect and sustainable development.