Dr Lalith Welamedage

Associate Researcher

I am a social entrepreneur, researcher, and development practitioner with over 30 years of experience in the development sector. My research interests span policy, research, and practice related to SMEs and social enterprises, social impact, technology and innovation, as well as equality and diversity. My academic journey has led to research appointments at the Universities of Newcastle, Salford, and Northumbria. I have also served as a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Peradeniya and Moratuwa in Sri Lanka, and at the St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. I hold an MA in Industrial Development from the University of East Anglia and a PhD in Economic Geography from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Before moving to the Centre for Recreational Studies and Tourism Research (CRSTR) at UHI North, West, and Hebrides in March 2025, I worked as an Entrepreneurial Researcher at the Centre for Living Sustainability at UHI Inverness. There, I participated in projects on youth entrepreneurship in community woodlands in the Highlands, the social impact of wind farms in the Scottish Islands, and green entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. I am currently developing research and collaborative projects with colleagues at CRSTR.

Over the years I have held managerial roles in the public, private, and non‑profit sectors and have conducted consultancies in Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Barbados for organisations such as the British Council, Oxfam GB, World University Services of Canada, the Commonwealth Secretariat, GIZ, and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

As a development practitioner, I actively collaborate with a range of organisations in both professional and voluntary capacities. I sit on the National Agenda Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce for the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, and I serve as the Deputy Chairman of the National Advisory Body of Impact Investing in Sri Lanka through GSG Impact Investing. I was a member of the National Steering Committee of the UNDP-GEF Small Grants Programme in Sri Lanka from 2017 to 2023. Moreover, I co-founded Lanka Social Ventures, an enterprise support service that provides incubation and acceleration support for social enterprises and responsible SMEs. Currently, I am the chair of this organisation. I am also a Fellow of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom.

PURE profile: https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/persons/lalith-welamedage

ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4366-1485

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/welamedage