Academic engagement with small business and entrepreneurship was facilitated by the availability of European Union (EU) funding, which also stimulated the emergence of a small business and entrepreneurship (SBE) ‘community of practice’. Gradually, the SBE community developed into a ‘landscape of practice’ as small business research moved towards maturity. Furthermore, the SBE landscape of practice has coalesced around three core concepts: entrepreneurial learning, social networks and social capital. EU funding was the catalyst for many SBE academics in the UK to engage with practitioners involved with starting and managing their own businesses. The UK’s exit from the EU will inevitably mean that universities will no longer have access to EU Structural Funds. This has major implications for the UK SBE community’s engagement with practice as well as for entrepreneurs and business owners who have benefitted from a range of programmes designed to improve the performance of smaller firms.

欧盟 (EU) 资金的可用性促进了与小企业和创业的学术参与，这也刺激了小企业和创业 (SBE)“实践社区”的出现。随着小型企业研究走向成熟，SBE 社区逐渐发展成为“实践景观”。此外，SBE 的实践景观已围绕三个核心概念融合在一起：创业学习、社交网络和社会资本。欧盟资助是英国许多 SBE 学者与参与创办和管理自己企业的从业者接触的催化剂。英国退出欧盟将不可避免地意味着大学将无法再获得欧盟结构基金。