The aim of this paper is to explore the emersion and meaning of social entrepreneurship as an important aspect in development and improvement of an individual and society, in general. As a phenomenom, social entrepreneurship, although still not equally developed in different societies, has the potential to solve many problems in the community such as unemployment of young people and some marginal groups, as well. In its core, it primarily hides a wish for change and overall community's prosperity, and not only for profit, as it is the case with the traditional entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneur, as an agent of change, decides to reinvest his profit earned with the help of his promising idea, motivation and leadership into the improvement of his venture. This paper also depicts the beginnings, development and forms of social entrepreneurship, as well as the dinstinction between the social and traditional entrepreneurship. Moreover, it gives further explanations and examples connected to the influence of the social entrepreneurship on the economic systems in the world, European Union and finally in the Republic of Croatia. Social entrepreneurship marks growth in many developing countries due to the fact that an economic trend of this type can make a positive influence on the problems such as hunger, poverty and isolation. When discussing the European Union, the European Commision encourages economic growth with various projects. One of them is the strategy called Europe 2020. However, in this European conetxt Croatia, as a full member of the European Union, but also as the country which has been overtook by recession since 2008, also seeks its place as a state with the potential for social entrepreneurship.