Introduction: The social entrepreneurship ecosystem represents an innovative approach to facilitating modern businesses and addressing the needs of a target community. Unfortunately, research indicates that most entrepreneurial initiatives fail to achieve their expected goals. This is primarily because they stem from the needs, capacities, and desires of a particular individual, group, or organization and lack a comprehensive perspective on societal conditions. This shortcoming arises from the lack of coordination among various initiatives, the absence of an ecosystem structure and network connectivity, and the lack of logical coherence between entrepreneurial centers and the community. Consequently, this study aims to propose a social entrepreneurship ecosystem model in Tehran.

Methodology: This research employs a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative). In the qualitative phase, 15 entrepreneurship experts or experienced professionals in the field of entrepreneurship were selected through the snowball sampling method. Over three stages of a fuzzy Delphi process, components were identified from theoretical foundations and prior studies, leading to a consensus. In the first quantitative phase, fuzzy cognitive mapping was used to identify the causal relationships between various elements of the research. Subsequently, in the second quantitative phase, data were collected through 384 questionnaires distributed to citizens visiting neighborhood centers across Tehran's 22 districts, using convenience sampling. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) in SmartPLS 3 software. Reliability was confirmed through Cronbach's alpha test.

Findings: The results revealed that economic sustainability, social sustainability, and service quality had the greatest influence, whereas service quality, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability were the most impacted. Additionally, service quality and social sustainability exhibited the highest centrality indices. The findings further demonstrated that the social entrepreneurship ecosystem model possesses strong goodness-of-fit. Within the framework of a social entrepreneurship ecosystem, it is possible to enhance citizen satisfaction, trust, and cooperation, ultimately increasing economic, social, cultural, and environmental sustainability.

Conclusion/Achievements: Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that addressing the fundamental needs of society, along with achieving social, cultural, environmental, economic, and service sustainability, is attainable through a social entrepreneurship ecosystem. The assurance of achieving entrepreneurial goals lies in meeting the target community's needs and gaining their satisfaction, trust, and cooperation. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct comprehensive studies to identify social and economic needs, particularly in vulnerable communities or areas with high potential for social entrepreneurship in Tehran, such as the environment, education, healthcare, and social services. Establishing innovation centers and accelerators dedicated to social entrepreneurship is advised to provide consulting services, training, and specialized workshops for enhancing entrepreneurial, management, and marketing skills for social entrepreneurs. Additionally, strengthening local networks to connect social entrepreneurs with each other and with supportive organizations is essential.