Beschreibung:

The course focuses on the development of sustainable futures, where economic growth and prosperity are aligned with ecological and social responsibility. In this context, companies provide real-world challenges from their organizational environment, ideally linked to issues of ecological, economic, or social sustainability. Students work in teams to address these challenges through a structured Design Thinking process.
Throughout the course, students engage in the phases of Design Thinking to understand the problem space, gain user insights, define a core problem, ideate possible solutions, prototype and test. The goal is to achieve a Problem–Solution Fit and initiate a concrete project or intervention that contributes to the sustainable transformation of the organization.

A wide variety of Design Thinking tools and methods are applied along the process. The course culminates in a final presentation in front of the challenge-providing organizations, where students communicate their insights and propose their solution concepts.
By engaging with the case studies the students are enabled to develop innovative approaches to corporate problem solving by acquiring entrepreneurial heuristics, methods and applying design thinking methods based on their prior interdisciplinary knowledge.
Representatives from academia and practice complement the learning process with diverse perspectives to both the problem and solution dimension of sustainable management. Through this approach, a sound understanding of problem solving is built and the students are enabled to examine the usefulness and feasibility of the solution approaches developed.

Qualifikationsziele:

After the successful completion of this course, students are able to

• conceptualize tasks as a project, structure and plan them and work on them in interaction with other project members,
• organize and structure a team around a project,
• communicate and coordinate well with clients in a cooperative project,
• use digital and non-digital tools and aids sensibly in the course of the project,
• document the course of the project in a comprehensible manner,
• learn to apply digital and non-digital tools in idea development and innovation processes and for team work and organization,
• bring a project to a successful conclusion,
• pitch ideas and present project results,
• reflect on the impact of a project on an individual, project, organizational, and ecosystem level

Gliederung:

The course follows a challenge-based learning approach that involves a high level of interactions between students and lecturers over the course of four weeks. Following initial input by lecturers and partners, students engage in self-active learning and learning through experience and practice. The course involves expansive teamwork. Regularly, students are guided through mentoring and critical reflection sessions. 

Prüfungsart:

Presentation & written Report