It was a real pleasure to welcome colleagues to the University of Liverpool Management School for the 11th Entrepreneurship As Practice (EaP) Conference, hosted by the Brett Centre for Entrepreneurship. The conference brought together an international community of scholars committed to advancing entrepreneurship studies through a practice perspective, exploring the theme “Entrepreneuring and Knowing From the Inside: A Dialogue Between Entrepreneurship Processes and Practices.”
Throughout the event, discussions centred on entrepreneurship as something lived, enacted and continuously shaped through practice. Focusing on practice encouraged open discussion and created a supportive space for asking challenging questions and learning from each other.
Delegates heard from a number of inspiring keynote and invited speakers. Professor Boukje Cnossen (Leuphana University, Germany) encouraged delegates to look again at how we understand practices and contexts, showing how organisations are constantly shaped through everyday entrepreneurial activity rather than being fixed or stable. Professor Jeffery S. McMullen (Imperial Business School, UK) gave a keynote on empowerment and emancipation, explaining how entrepreneurial practice can help people take action even in very challenging institutional environments. Further invited talks and panel discussions, including sessions led by Professor Raghu Garud (Pennsylvania State University, USA) and Albert Read (Executive Chairman, The Evening Standard & former Managing Director of Conde Nast Britain), explored the role of imagination, process thinking and the everyday work involved in entrepreneuring.
Paper development workshops formed a core part of the conference and were widely valued for their constructive, detail‑oriented feedback that supported publication development and encouraged intellectual risk‑taking. Sessions also highlighted engaged scholarship, inclusion in everyday practice, and the role of researchers working inside entrepreneurial settings. This encouraged reflection on how knowledge is created with organisations, not just about them.
Feedback consistently highlighted the strong sense of community that characterised the event. Irrespective of career stage, participants described an atmosphere of openness and belonging with rich conversations extending well beyond formal sessions into informal discussions across campus and the city. Liverpool provided a fitting backdrop for these exchanges, complemented by excellent weather, generous hospitality and many conversations over coffee and cake.
Commenting on the event, one delegate said, “Grateful to have participated in the 11th EAP Conference, a worthwhile occasion marked by stimulating insights, inspiring scholars in the field, and beautifully written papers that made the exchange of ideas all the more memorable.”
It was a pleasure to listen to and exchange thoughts with the speakers whose contributions made the conference top quality. Moments like this show how important academic conferences are for questioning assumptions and opening new paths for thought.”
We are proud to have hosted an event that not only advanced scholarship in entrepreneurship‑as‑practice, but also reaffirmed the collaborative and inclusive values that define the EaP community.