Sustainable Venture Creation
Basic information
Project Title
Category
Project Description
In a collaborative effort, students form groups and create their own ventures together. The students then set out, through the venture, to tackle a sustainability problem in order to come a bit closer to reaching the UNSDGs. Along the way they get mentoring from renowned experts on the SDGs as well as key masterclasses from leading entrepreneurs in running the business.
Geographical Scope
Project Region
Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Description of the project
Summary
The world is experiencing major challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, etc. In order to combat these challenges, the UN has defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unfortunately, we are not on track to achieve them. SDG experts suggest that entrepreneurship could be the catalyst for transforming our world and overcoming these challenges.
This course builds on students' burning desire to drive positive change. The seven-week course is built by students, for students, to innovate new entrepreneurial solutions and drive positive change. The structure of the course has the following modules:
Module 1- Comprehending the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals: The purpose of the first module is to equip students with a comprehension of the goals - why they exist, the current state, and understanding the consequences if we don't solve them. It is an online module created in collaboration with SDG experts, researchers, and industry experts. In order to demystify SDGs, the students will watch short pitches from 17 successful SDG-entrepreneurs where they pitch their startups, in order to be inspired.
Module 2 - Hackathon: The students will form teams. Each team will discuss about problems, ideate on solutions and conceptualize them.
Module 3 - Idea2Market Program: An intensive six-week program that is designed to provide students with the tools and resources to conceptualize, test and validate ideas into viable businesses. This module will feature masterclasses with top-level mentors, in addition to the development of an MVP.
Module 4 - SDG Days: It's a 1 day event where the mentor panel will hold discussions regarding the team's solutions and ultimately conduct a pitching competition.
- Module 5 - Scaling:Through our unique partnership with Hanken Business Lab, we are able to offer the best student teams a place at their Growth Incubation Program. Where the teams are able to receive tailor-made support to propel the
Key objectives for sustainability
Our project operates to achieve the 17 UNSDGs through hackathon, mentorship, change and scaling. We have already started a 5-ECTS course in the Hanken School of Economics and hope to do the same in other universities across Nordic and African countries with the help of the non-profit Ambitious Africa. The course is developed in a way that enables other universities to easily adapt the course in collaboration with their respective student unions. The faculty is onboarded by professors that already have run the course and the student union by their respective peers.
Through this approach, we will also reach a circular economy, realise our climate goals, facilitate biodiversity and zero pollution as different members of the community will strive for greater environment friendly goals.
We will be exemplary in our approach as we have already initiated our project in a university - the Hanken School of Economics. The positive outcomes gained by the students and teachers of Hanken School of Economics will propel them to share their experiences with others. The latter upon seeing the benefits among the students and faculties of Hanken School of Economics will try to recreate the same experience among themselves. This will create a chain reaction and allow the attainment of a sustainable future across a huge sample space ranging from the bottom of Africa to the corners of Nordic countries.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
We will focus on uplifting the quality of experience and aesthetics by our hackathon, mentorship, Idea2Market and pitching programs. Through these, various ideas of our students will be put before top-level mentors, who will try to assess its marketability including aesthetics and quality of experience and tailor it towards a sustainable solution.
We could've settled for less, but we decided to bring in the best of the best to mentor students. Among these include Peter Vesterbacka, the founder of Angry Birds and rated by the Times as one of the 100 most influential people of the world.
The concept is exemplary, given that young people and students normally feel left out and disenchanted break the invisible barrier between themselves and experts - in the entrepreneurial and sustainability realms - and engage in this beautiful cooperation where wisdom and expertise from is passed down from the experts to the problem solvers of the future.
Key objectives for inclusion
Our project operates to achieve the 17 UNSDGs through hackathon, mentorship, change and scaling. We have already started a 5-ECTS course in the Hanken School of Economics and hope to do the same in other universities across Nordic and African countries with the help of the non-profit Ambitious Africa. The course is developed in a way that enables other universities to easily adapt the course in collaboration with their respective student unions. The faculty is onboarded by professors that already have run the course and the student union by their respective peers.
Through this approach, we will also reach a circular economy, realise our climate goals, facilitate biodiversity and zero pollution as different members of the community will strive for greater environment friendly goals.
We will be exemplary in our approach as we have already initiated our project in a university - the Hanken School of Economics. The positive outcomes gained by the students and teachers of Hanken School of Economics will propel them to share their experiences with others. The latter upon seeing the benefits among the students and faculties of Hanken School of Economics will try to recreate the same experience among themselves. This will create a chain reaction and allow the attainment of a sustainable future across a huge sample space ranging from the bottom of Africa to the corners of Nordic countries.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
Equal opportunities - targets everyone willing to enforce change irrespective of gender, race or nationality.
Citizen engagement, Public participation - A hackathon always allows real and active participation. Also it will be conducted across different universities in African and Nordic countries, hence a huge pool of youth will get affected
Universal design, Co-design - the project is created by both faculties and students. Where the faculty is in charge of the academic and examinational parts of the course. Whereas the student union is in charge of the hackathon, accelerator program, and the SDG days. Henca everyone gets to chip in , so it is designed by everyone for everyone.
Accessibility -
The course will be piloted in a variety of African and Nordic universities in 2022 with the help of the non-profit Ambitious Africa. Hence it will be more accessible to others also.
Affordability - it's free for everyone.
We will be exemplary in this context, as this course was created by students for students. The project itself was designed by it's end users - students. Thus, we are setting a new paradigm shift, where the end users are created the environment we they thrive in. The same idea can be replicated in other areas as well.
