Entrepreneurial Change-making

Highlights

• Online seminars by professors from various European universities
• Multicultural and multidisciplinary students
• Team facilitators guiding your business idea design
• The chance to work on and present your idea at UC Louvain, Belgium

Course description

Course content

This course aims to equip you to become entrepreneurial change-makers. More specifically, train you to include sustainability and the green transition in the development of entrepreneurial projects. This includes measurable, sustainable metrics. You will learn relevant tools while working in multidisciplinary and international teams. Using critical thinking approaches and the flipped classroom method, you will learn more specifically to identify and critically evaluate sustainable innovation issues within various scenarios, utilising a wide range of techniques, concepts and models, and then come up with and present innovative solutions and a full business model using an entrepreneurial mindset.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Identify and critically evaluate sustainable innovation issues within various environments, utilising a wide range of techniques, concepts and models.
• Come up with and present innovative solutions and apply competitive strategies using an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Design the full business model of their solutions using canvas that integrates all the dimensions and challenges of sustainability.
• Demonstrate an understanding of possible uses of new and emerging technologies in sustained innovation.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the special challenges in the implementation of sustainable solutions in healthcare.
• Demonstrate an understanding of modern artificial intelligence solutions taking sustainable challenges into account.
• Promote and facilitate the adoption and maintenance of a strong sustainable change-maker orientation with measurable sustainability metrics: SDGs (UN sustainable development goals), TBL (Triple Bottom Line), and ESGs (Environmental, social, and corporate governance).
• Summarise various strands of sustainable innovation knowledge and skills in developing an effective business solution with case case-solving methodology.
• Design and perform an efficient business pitch.
• Work in international and multidisciplinary teams.

Recommended previous knowledge

To take part in this course, you must have a bachelor's degree and be a registered Master¡¯s or PhD student at the University of Oslo.

There are no other formal requirements, and we encourage students of all backgrounds to participate.

Teaching

The webinars run entirely online and last two and a half hours. The course's final week takes place at UC Louvain in Belgium.

At the beginning of the course you will be assigned to a group with students from other Circle U. universities. Entrepreneurship students from the UC Louvain School of Management will join you later in the course.

Before each webinar, you will be tasked to watch an introductory video and read a scientific article related to the topic. The first four webinars are introductory and methodological sessions. The final four webinars are more topical sessions to inspire students for their final project.

During each webinar, you will be quizzed on the preparatory materials and, together with the lecturer, take a deeper dive into the topic. After a short break, you will participate in group work on a case study linked to the topic. A coach who has previously participated in the course will guide group work. Following the group work, some groups will present their findings.

After the webinar, each group will deliver a one-page document.

The final webinar will prepare students for their group project. During the final event at UC Louvain, there will be workshops and group work sessions for groups to work on their final project. The project will be presented and judged on the event's final day.

5 ECTS will be credited upon completion. Attendance at all activities is mandatory.

Schedule and assessment

Webinars are held weekly in the evening for eight weeks. The program ends with a five-day final event at UC Louvain.

Autumn 2024 course

The course starts on October 16, 2024. Webinars take place every Wednesday from 17:30 to 20:00 CET. The programme ends with a compulsory final event at UC Louvain in Mons (Belgium) from December 9 to 13, 2024.

Weekly webinars - Wednesday 17:30-20:00 CET

Final event at UC Louvain - December 9-13

Lunches and refreshments during the day are provided by UC Louvain. Dinner is provided on the Thursday. UC Louvain organises transport between Mons and Louvain on Friday. The student will need to cover all other costs (food and drink, travel and accommodation). Students should apply for short-term mobility funding to cover these costs.

Language of examination

The course is only in English, and all assignments must be in English.

Assessment and grading

• For 40% of the final grade: evaluation of group deliverables to be submitted at the end of each webinar

• For 20% of the final grade: evaluation of an individual entrepreneurial mission to be carried out during the final event at UC Louvain

• For 40% of the final grade: assessment of the final project presented at UC Louvain (several group deliverables and final pitch in front of the jury)

Registration process and deadlines

To apply for this course, you must be a registered student at the University of Oslo. You must also be able to attend both the webinars and the final event at UC Louvain. Each participating university can admit at least five students based on their applications.

Autumn 2024 Deadlines

• 16 September 2024 - Application deadline
  • We continued to accept applications until 20 September 2024, as additional places became available.
• 23 September 2024 - Admission and confirmation
  • Seven students from UiO were admitted to the 2024 edition of the course.
• 8 October 2024 - Enrol at UC Louvain
• 9 October 2024 - Short-term mobility application deadline
  • Admitted participants must apply for short-term mobility funding two months before the final event.
• 18 November 2024 - Confirmation of participation at the final event 

1. Application to the programme

To apply for the course, you must submit the following information:

• Full name
• E-mail address
• Phone number
• A short text on your motivations for joining the course
• Your CV

Registration is now closed

Please be aware that your registration for the course does not necessarily equal your admission to the course.

2. Admission to the course

After the registration deadline, you will receive an email stating whether you have been admitted to the course or registered on the waiting list. 

3. Submit the special enrollment application and create an account at UC Louvain

You must be enrolled at UC Louvain to create an account in Moodle, which will give you access to course materials (readings, videos, and presentations) and the ability to submit assignments.

4. Arrange travel and accommodation

We recommend that you arrange your travel and accommodation for the final event as soon as possible. The Erasmus+ short-term mobility grant is calculated to cover the extra cost related to studying abroad. It is paid in a lump sum and is not based on your expenses. You will receive a grant for the five days at UC Louvain and two travel days.

We will bring you in contact with other students from UiO to allow you to book travel and accommodation together. UC Louvain will send a list of accommodation recommendations near their campus at the beginning of the course. You do not need to book your travel within Belgium in advance.

5. Application for Erasmus+ short-term mobility grant

Once you have been admitted to the course and received your admittance letter, you must contact your faculty at UiO to register your participation and apply for short-term mobility funding for the final event.

Find the full procedure and more information here: Short-term mobility Erasmus+.

Information for UiO employees on registering your participation (in Norwegian)
Information for UiO employees on Online Learning Agreements (in Norwegian)

Filling out your learning agreement

To receive short-term mobility funding, you must recieve a grant agreement and produce an Online Learning Agreement (OLA).

The following details are necessary for your OLA:

• Personal and academic details
• Sending institution
  • Name: Universitetet i Oslo
  • Faculty/Department: Your faculty/department
  • Erasmus code: N OSLO01
  • Address: Oslo
  • Country: Norway
  • Contact person name/email/phone: Contact details of the contact person from your UiO faculty (in Norwegian)
• Receiving institution
  • Name: Universite Catholique de Louvain
  • Faculty/Department: N/A
  • Erasmus code: B LOUVAIN 01
  • Address: Louvain-la-Neuve
  • Country: Belgium
  • Contact person name/email/phone: Cecilia Foenkinos Heranz / infocircleu@uclouvain.be / +3210472141
• Planned period of the mobility: [Final event start date] to  [Final event end date]
• Study programme at receiving institution
  • Component code: MLSMM2263
  • Component title: Circle U. Entrepreneurial Change-making
  • Description of the virtual component:
    Virtual component dates: BEFORE: [Webinars start] to [Webinars end] (every Wednesday evening 6-8:30 pm). The BIP ID is 2023-1-BE01-KA131-HED-000123029-3
  • Number of ECTS credits: 5
  • Automatic recognition: Yes
• Responsible person at the receiving institution: Contact details of the contact person from your UiO faculty
• Responsible person at the receiving institution: Amelie Jacquemin Amelie.jacquemin@uclouvain.be

6. Confirm your participation at the final event

Once the course has started, you will be expected to provide UC Louvain with confirmation of your stay in Belgium. It is only possible to gain credits for this course with active participation in the final event.

Contact

If you have any questions about the course's content, please contact the course coordinator, Prof. Am¨¦lie Jacquemin (UCLouvain): amelie.jacquemin@uclouvain.be

If you have any questions about the Erasmus+ short-term mobility grant, please contact the exchange coordinator at your faculty or erasmus-uio@admin.uio.no.

For more information regarding your admission or other practical matters, contact our local coordinator, Caspar Philip Price Hafslund (UiO): c.p.p.hafslund@admin.uio.no