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75843-01 - Colloquium: Changemakers in Circular Economy and Sustainability (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Every spring sem. |
| Lecturers |
Pascal Gantenbein (pascal.gantenbein@unibas.ch, Assessor)
Frank Christian Krysiak (frank.krysiak@unibas.ch) Alessandro Mazzetti (alessandro.mazzetti@unibas.ch) Anna-Elina Pekonen (annaelina.pekonen@unibas.ch) Sophie Schumacher (sophie.schumacher@unibas.ch) Willem Smit (willem.smit@unibas.ch) |
| Content | The course provides a comprehensive understanding of how you can be a changemaker by developing your project and venture idea, focusing specifically on making societal change through circular economy and sustainability in entrepreneurship. This course develops your mindset and your competencies to create meaningful impact, by fostering creativity and innovation, and by enabling you to further develop projects and business ideas for greater impact. You will be empowered to develop venture ideas with the essential knowledge and skills needed for careers in startups, industry, and academia. You are welcome to join the course with or without a specific venture or project idea. In this course, you will have the chance to further develop venture ideas, discuss practical applications, and deepen your knowledge in key topics related to sustainable entrepreneurship, such as: theory of change, impact measuring, idea development, circular and sustainable business plan creation, and impact financing. Gaining additional essential entrepreneurial skills and competencies is another key part of the course and comprises learning content on leadership, problem-solving, team building, development of creative solutions, customer and market assessment. The course includes the participation in the “Startup Weekend and consists of weekly lectures, and team-based project work. Emphasis is set on active participation and learning-by-doing in a real-world context. Experienced professionals and academic experts contribute their expertise to the topics covered. Apart from the Startup Weekend, each weekly session comprises three key components: • Introduction and exploration of core concepts: The goal is to delve into frameworks and real-world examples that equip you with tools to refine your entrepreneurial skills for impact. • Collaborative teamwork: You will collaboratively work with peers to tackle challenges relevant for business projects. • Presentations: These will showcase your team’s progress, and you will receive feedback based on peer-to-peer evaluation. |
| Learning objectives | Upon successful completion of this course, you will: • have developed a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurship in its essential concepts, including the characteristics of an entrepreneurial mindset (such as creativity, innovation, and risk-taking as essential tools for driving change and taking impactful decisions), with a special focus on fostering sustainability and promoting circular economy principles; • be able to navigate the initial stages of business creation with competence, from ideation to developing a viable concept based on modern methods, while integrating sustainable practices and considering circular economy opportunities; • possess foundational entrepreneurial competencies, including effective leadership and teamwork, strategic decision-making, and problem-solving skills, all tailored to meet the unique challenges of starting and managing entrepreneurial ventures that aim to create a positive societal and environmental impact; • be inspired to drive societal change and develop your venture ideas with a focus on sustainability and circular economy innovation, in line with the “changemaker” spirit; • have developed the ability to solve real-world, current and future challenges thanks to a solid theoretical background and hands-on team project activities; • have achieved personal and professional growth by actively developing your entrepreneurial skills, incorporating reflective practices into your learning process, increasing your readiness to adapt and thrive in the dynamic, sustainability-focused landscape of sustainable entrepreneurship. |
| Bibliography | Literature and additional materials are available online. |
| Admission requirements | This is a masters’ course, and no prerequisites are required. Upon successful completion of this course, students receive 3 ECTS. Students are responsible for checking whether the ECTS of this course are credited to their study program. |
| Course application | The number of participants is limited to 30 per course. Interested students should email Sophie Schumacher (sophie.schumacher(at)unibas.ch) before February 28, 2025. Please include: 1. your name, study major, number of completed semesters, and matriculation number, 2. your knowledge/background in entrepreneurship, 3. a short motivation statement explaining why you are interested in participating, 4. and if you have a business idea, give us a short description. 5. Please check if ECTS from this course will be accepted by your faculty. 6. We will select participants and confirm 30 participants on March 5, 2025. After confirmation email, you can enroll through the Online Services (services.unibas.ch). Eucor-Students and mobility students of other Swiss Universities or the FHNW first have to register at the University of Basel BEFORE the application deadline and receive their login data by post (e-mail address of the University of Basel). Processing time up to a week! Detailed information can be found here: https://www.unibas.ch/de/Studium/Mobilitaet.html. After successful application, you can enroll for the course in the Online Services (services.unibas.ch). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| unregelmässig | See individual dates | ||
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 18.03.2025 | 16.30-18.30 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Friday 28.03.2025 | 16.00-18.00 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Saturday 29.03.2025 | 09.00-18.00 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Sunday 30.03.2025 | 09.00-18.00 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Tuesday 08.04.2025 | 16.30-19.30 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Tuesday 15.04.2025 | 16.30-19.30 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Tuesday 29.04.2025 | 16.30-19.30 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Tuesday 06.05.2025 | 16.30-19.30 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Tuesday 13.05.2025 | 16.30-19.30 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Thursday 22.05.2025 | 16.30-19.30 | Innovation Garage, Kreuzstrasse 4, 4123 Allschwil,, -- |
| Modules |
Module: Business Field: Strategy and Organization (Master's Studies: Business and Technology) Module: Core Competences in Economics (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) Module: Field Electives in Finance and Money (Master's Studies: Finance and Money) Module: Specific Electives in Finance, Controlling, Banking (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | Course assessment is based on participation, the learning diary, and teamwork: report, peer evaluation & final presentation. Grading is pass/fail. Passing the course requires sufficient fulfillment of all four elements: • Team assignment, report & final presentation (teamwork) • Learning diary (individual) • Startup Weekend participation (individual) • Class participation (individual) |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration, dereg: cancel course registration |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Business and Economics , studiendekanat-wwz@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Innovation und Corporate Relations |