Sustainable entrepreneurship

Summary

This class is designed for Bachelor students who want to understand the interrelated economic, social and ecological challenges society is facing, and who want to acquire the knowledge and skills to re-frame problems into opportunities and establish entrepreneurial ventures tackling the problems.

Content

Keywords

Sustainability, grand societal challenges, social, environmental, entrepreneurship, new venture creation, business model

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

none

Recommended courses

none

Important concepts to start the course

Sustainable entrepreneurship: The process of identifying and exploiting opportunities to bring into existence innovative products, processes or services that aim at generating gains to individuals, the economy, society, and the planet.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Discuss the multiple, interrelated challenges our society is facing
• Explain how entrepreneurship can be used to tackle societal challenges
• Analyze entrepreneurial opportunities and their potential to address societal challenges
• Assess / Evaluate different sustainable business strategies
• Develop buiness models that address societal challenges

Transversal skills

• Take responsibility for environmental impacts of her/ his actions and decisions.
• Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
• Take feedback (critique) and respond in an appropriate manner.
• Make an oral presentation.
• Access and evaluate appropriate sources of information.

Teaching methods

Given the systemic nature of many sustainability-related challenges, this course combines insights from various theoretical approaches, including entrepreneurship, management, marketing, and psychology. The concepts from these theories are taught through interactive lectures and workshops that will allow you to come away with a strong theoretical and practical understanding of sustainable entrepreneurship across different industries. In addition to learning theoretical concepts, you will work in groups on a sustainable venture project.

Expected student activities

This is a process-based course where each session builds on concepts from the previous ones. Staying current with the coursework each week is important to ensure a solid understanding of the core concepts, which are essential for contributing effectively to your team's new venture proposal (a significant part of your grade). Note that student teams will be formed in Session 3, so attendance on Tuesday, 4th March 2025, from 3:15 to 5:00 pm is required. If you have any issues, please discuss them with the Teaching Assistant.

Assessment methods

Your grade for the course will be composed of both group and individual assignments with the following weighting:

• Group Assignment: The new sustainable venture project (overall 60%)

(Venture ideas and their evaluation: 15%, Midterm business model presentation: 20%, Final venture project presentation: 25%)

Your task is to develop a new sustainable venture project from the idea stage to the prototype stage. You will be assessed as a group for your performance and progress at each pitch.

• Individual Assignment: Peer-to-peer feedback (overall 25%)

(Venture ideas and their evaluation: 8.33%, Midterm business model presentation: 8.33%, Final venture project presentation: 8.33%)

Your task is to engage in a peer-to-peer evaluation of other students' pitches. During each of the three pitches, each student will be assigned another team to evaluate their content and performance in the pitch presentation. Feedback should not only be critical (pointing out opportunities for improvement) but also developmental (suggesting alternative approaches, solutions, etc.). We will provide you with feedback forms.

• Class participation (overall 15%)

Active engagement is crucial for a productive learning environment. Your participation grade will be based on your ability to ask relevant questions and express your opinions thoughtfully and respectfully during discussions.

Supervision

Resources

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/MGT-203