What drives us
To deal effectively with climate change and with other environmental issues, new learning, teaching and skills development programs have to be established in which educational institutions and businesses cross-pollinate each other. Many different programs at many Higher Educational Institutions are on the rise. We truly believe, that global challenges can only be solved globally. Therefore, we prepare the basis for true international cooperation in mixed student and teaching teams in virtual challenges – to include all that have not the possibility to go abroad for a study semester and to foster competences not only in sustainable entrepreneurship but also in intercultural collaboration.
In a nutshell
How to educate students to be the future change agents in our global economy?
To deal effectively with the Grand Challenges like climate change and other environmental and societal issues, new learning, teaching and skills development programs have to be developed in which educational institutions and businesses cross-pollinate each other.
We – teachers from University of Oldenburg and Linköping University in the field of innovation management and sustainability – rely on Challenge-based learning (CBL) in real-world settings and cooperation with businesses.
CBL combines experiential learning with a specific realistic assignment, application of rules, and the aspect of collaboration within teams. Students learn to define and delineate (abstract) problems, to develop and test possible (concrete) solutions while integrating multiple aspects. content skills. A „Student Business Challenge in Sustainable Entrepreneurship“ focuses on sustainability-related challenges (e.g., how to develop a circular business model) and clearly targets innovative solutions that can actually be implemented and that create a triple bottom line of positive economic, environmental and social outcomes and impacts. The challenges are brought in by business partners; students and company representatives co-innovate at eye-level.
The project Challenge4Impacts aims to scale up challenge formats for co-innovation processes by testing the potential of internationalisation and digitalisation (virtualisation).
Interested to join?
Take part in our first Challenge4Impact-Forum: Co-Innovation in Challenge-based Learning: How to organize, support and measure impact of international student-business challenges
This website was carried out as part of the Challenge4Impact project. Challenge4Impact (Project Reference: 2021-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000032242) is funded by the Erasmus+/Cooperation Partnership Programme of the European Union.
The information and views set out in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
What we do
In Challenge4Impact we will
1. Create a European network and platform for challenge-based teaching and learning in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation
2. Set up long-term partnerships and infrastructures for the implementation of international virtual Student Business Challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship
3. Develop skills and competencies of students (curricular & extracurricular) and business partners in fighting climate change and other sustainability challenges by entrepreneurship
4. Increase the quality of challenge-based and digital teaching and learning formats
5. Establish impact management procedures and skills that allow to assess and improve the positive impacts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
6. Working in international teams (students, lecturers, businesses) to share knowledge, values, learning experiences and to prepare students for an international labour market and create the ability to work cross-cultural.
Who we are
We are researcher and lecturers, working since years in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship education. Challenge4Impact builds on the experiences of the ScaleUp4Sustainability project, that was funded by Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance Program. For contact details click here.
What we are working on
- Manual for co-designing international virtual student business challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship.
- Best practice report – Infrastructure and intermediation services for Student Business Challenges.
- Evaluation method and tool for assessing outcomes and impacts of Student Business Challenges.
- A playbook of full-term international virtual student business challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship. Here, we design, organize, develop, prepare and implement full-term international student business challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship in two cycles
- A playbook of special topics international virtual Student Business Challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship.
- Research report: Outcomes and impact of international virtual Student Business Challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship.
- Guidelines for designing and scaling effective infrastructures and intermediation services for international Student Business Challenges