Global entrepreneurship summer school

As part of the Global Entrepreneurship Summer School (GESS), up to 50 international students from universities all over the world per cohort spend seven days intensively working on global challenges and the question of how these can be solved with the help of social and innovative business ideas. In preparation, the participants learn about the forms and goals of Social Entrepreneurship with online materials. Furthermore, they inform themselves and reflect on the effects of climate change in their local context. For this purpose, they interview two to three people and showcase and share their observations and information in the provided online workspace. During the actual Summer School in Munich and, possibly, at other locations in parallel, they discuss and research current problems in the field of climate change and then develop entrepreneurial ideas for solutions. To support them, methods and knowledge are conveyed on topics such as system innovation, design thinking, business modeling, impact management and financing. The systemic perspective is of particular importance in the program. "Wicked problems" as represented by the social and ecological problems of our time cannot be solved in isolation. Solutions are therefore only possible by looking at them as phenomena inside of complex systems. At the end of the Summer School, the students present the solutions they have developed in the form of impact-oriented business models to a jury and guests. In this context, they receive feedback and the opportunity to apply for follow-up coaching for the business ideas they have developed. The final report reflects on the process and structures its results.

The GESS aims to enable students to develop practice-oriented approaches to solutions in the form of impact-oriented business models. The aim is to generate impact in the sense of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The students learn: - to understand and apply the concept of impact and its implications - to implement the entrepreneurial innovation process in interdisciplinary teams to generate concrete solutions - to apply tools and methods from the field of system innovation and human-centered design. The GESS focuses on experiential and problem-based learning and aims both to advance the development of social and entrepreneurial innovation and to promote and develop students' skills in responsible entrepreneurship. By working on solutions in international teams, students also improve soft skills such as creativity, perseverance, communication skills, and intercultural competencies.

The final examination of the project consists of two components. The first is the presentation prepared by the students at the end of the summer school. The second part is a final report that must be submitted approximately eight weeks after the summer school. Both count for 50% of the grade. At the final event of the summer school, the teams present an approach to solving the problem challenge they have worked on in the field of climate change. The presentation has a length of 5-10 minutes and is evaluated by an external jury. The students thus demonstrate that they are able to transform the information they have received into the independent development of an impact-oriented business model and present it appropriately. In the preparation of the presentation, they are accompanied and supported by their coaches and the accompanying facilitators. The second part of the grade consists in the report to be submitted after the summer school. It documents in a structured way how the information received was used to develop an impact- oriented business model. Furthermore, feedback received during the final presentation should be considered and incorporated. The report ensures that instead of simply documenting their findings students structure and reflect on them. The final report should not exceed 7500 characters and must be submitted eight weeks after the completion of the summer school.

- Basic understanding of entrepreneurship and its principles, such as from attending an introductory lecture on the topic, founding experience, or closely following the media on the topic - Interest in developing innovative solutions from a systemic perspective to generate social and environmental impact

Lectures, discussion, development of challenges, excursion, team coaching sessions, feedback discussion, presentation, Q&A session. The variety of methods ensures that the right method is chosen for each learning content to be conveyed. For example, new knowledge and tools are presented by experts in impulse lectures and then discussed in large or small groups before they are incorporated into the development of solutions. Feedback talks and team coaching sessions guarantee that the tools and methods presented are correctly understood and applied. Furthermore, good cooperation within the teams is ensured and an appreciative feedback culture is trained. The final presentation at the closing event gives the participants the opportunity to practise their communication skills. The final report helps to consolidate and reflect on the acquired knowledge.