Universities talk, students walk: promoting innovative sustainability projects

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to describe an innovative approach of integrating sustainability into the structures and processes of a business school without creating resistance. Design/methodology/approach A sustainable entrepreneurship competition was embedded as an independent programme in an already existing business plan competition at the School of Business FHNW. The paper shows, which structural elements of the competition had to be adapted to the needs of sustainable entrepreneurs. Findings The paper outlines aspects that need to be considered and steps that need to be taken to run a sustainable entrepreneurship competition supporting as many high-quality projects as possible. It describes the importance of developing an independent instrument that meets the specific needs of sustainable entrepreneurs in project planning. The sustainable innovation plan is explained. Social implications The student projects are developed at the School of Business FHNW as part of the entrepreneurship competition, which has been successfully carried out twice. They have numerous measurable positive social and ecological effects, which are described by the students in their sustainable innovation plans and are subsequently reflected in the realization of the projects. Originality/value Using the example of the Swiss Student Sustainability Challenge, the paper demonstrates under which conditions a sustainability project can be successfully integrated into the existing structures of an institution of higher education and develop into a beacon project of the university. Other universities can make use of these findings to launch comparable projects at their institutions.

Exploring Learners' Expectations of Sustainability Objectives and Organizational Change: The Case of Gender Reporting Training

“…The regression results partially support the assumptions. For Hypothesis 1, the results support the sustainability literature about the impact of learning outcomes on the expected achievement of SR objectives after implementation (Mintz and Tal, 2014;Wals, 2014;Daub et al, 2020) regarding GR and highlight the relevance of gender training in achieving the aims related to social sustainability (Aleixo et al, 2020). Attending gender training based on guidelines can therefore mold participants' perceptions of organizational benefits (as suggested by Morhardt et al, 2002).…”

Teaching sustainability-oriented capabilities using active learning approach

“…Several publications conclude that the interactive approaches, which challenge the concept of the teacher being solely a disseminator of knowledge, are more effective because they engage students in questioning social and environmental assumptions and other dominant ways of thinking on their educational journeys (Hesselink et al , 2000; Bhandari and Abe, 2003; Gadotti, 2008; Kasimov et al , 2005; Raufflet et al , 2009; Ravindranath, 2007; Ferreira et al , 2007; Leal Filho, 2020; Daub et al , 2020). Similarly, some studies discuss the effective learning of SOCs, comparing the efficiency and accuracy of different teaching methods (Anderson, 2012; Yakovleva and Yakovleva, 2014; Fairfield, 2018; Wamsler, 2020; Ceulemans and Severijns, 2019).…”

“…In addition, the AL approach explores teamwork in conditions that assure positive interdependence and collaboration, as well as individual accountability (Ambrose et al , 2010; Yakovleva and Yakovleva, 2014; Cortese, 2003). One of the arguments of previous research was that AL can provide foundations for self-learning environments that positively influence student involvement and generate enthusiasm to study (Lumpkin et al , 2015; Bonwell and Eison, 1991; Daub et al , 2020). Consequently, student performance can be better than in traditional lectures (Freeman et al , 2014), and overall learning can be more effective, as we retain 80% of what we do compared to only 10%–20% of what we hear or read (Cortese, 2003).…”

Funções e contribuições das universidades na geração de inovações: o caso da Região do Grande ABC Paulista

“…Incubadoras acadêmicas fazem parte do empreendedorismo acadêmico, com o qual estudantes e graduados de uma universidade são especificamente apoiados para o desenvolvimento de aplicativos para uso médico, suporte para transferências de prêmios para empresas, trabalhos de pesquisa industrial focados a produtos e processos e direcionados também à consultoria e ao treinamento empresarial (DAUB et al, 2020). Para Antunes, Araújo e Almeida (2020), as incubadoras devem atender às necessidades específicas de seus clientes mais importantes, das empresas incubadas e de seus patrocinadores.…”