Social Entrepreneurship Lab

The SEA:lab was developed to bring together the substantial experience of the Social Entrepreneurship Akademie and three of Munich's universities: the LMU, TUM, and the Hochschule München (HM). The SEA:lab will enable future change-makers to take an essential part during the early stage of social start-ups from the Munich area (such as HIRE.social, social bee, Feierabendglück, reCup, or start2code), to consult them, and to take an active part in their growth. Specifially, participants in the SEA:lab will be tasked to support one social startup (as a team of up to five students) in one crucial problem it is currently facing and to design and possibly implement solution (alternatives) for that issue. To be able to do that, all SEA:lab participants will receive a solid introduction in the topic of social entrepreneurship, including an introduction to the Munich social start-up ecosystem and proven method and tools for this context. The module will begin with a 1-day blocked seminar, in which key content will be communicated. Furthermore, students will be assigned to team and a start-up there (by the course instructors), and an initial problem definition will be co-designed with the social venture. In their project groups (which cannot be changed after initial assignment), participants will then refine that definition and develop a solution. In each course meeting, they will present their progress, preceded by a meeting with a specifically assigned coach. Further required content will be communicated in these course meetings. The problem solution will be presented to the ventures as well as experts from all participating institutions in the final meeting. Das Modul startet mit einer 1#ta# gigen Blockveranstaltung. Dort werden allen Teilnehmenden die nötigen Grundlagen vermittelt, um das Eco-System Social Entrepreneurship zu verstehen. Es werden fünf von der Social Entrepreneurship Akademie ausgewählte Social Start-up Ideen präsentiert. Die Modulteilnehmenden werden in Projektgruppen zur Ausarbeitung von Lösungsansätzen zu den konkreten Herausforderungen der Start ups gematcht. Diese Gruppen werden nach Interesse und Heterogenität gematcht. Finale Entscheidung über die Gruppenzusammensetzung haben die Dozenten. Einmal zusammengestellte Gruppen können nicht mehr gewechselt werden. In den darauffolgenden Wochen werden die Themen individuell von den Teams bearbeitet. Hierzu wird es zwei weitere Blockseminarabende geben, in denen zunächst spezifisches Wissen und Methoden gelehrt werden, welche dann in den Gruppen für die individuelle Social Startup Fragestellung angewendet wird. Erfahrene Mitarbeiter der HM, LMU, TUM und Social Entrepreneurship Akademie begleiten die Projektgruppen und vermitteln den Teilnehmern Social Start-up-relevantes Wissen. In regelmäßigen Treffen werden die Zwischenergebnisse der Projektgruppen den Hochschul-Betreuern präsentiert. Bei der Abschlusspräsentation im Rahmen eines Ergebnisworkshops erhalten die Projektgruppen die Chance, ihre Ergebnisse und Lösungsansätze einer Jury aus Experten der Hochschulen und der Social Entrepreneurship Akademie vorzustellen und Feedback einzuholen.

Having completed the module, students will be capable of understanding basic elements of the entrepreneurial journey and apply them to the context of social entrepreneurship. In addition, students will be able to evaluate information and alternative pathways for action in the area of social entrepreneurship. Furthermore, students will be able to analyze existing social ventures and develop preliminary alternative designs. Finally, students will be able to hone their social skills and consulting skills.

Note: Course in English in the Winter Term, in German in the Summer Term Final examination consists of two components, each carrying 50% of the final course grade: (1) a 15 minute presentation in the final course meeting and (2) a seminar paper of ca. 22,200 characters due exactly four weeks after the presentation day. Each team of students will be required to document its constant collaboration with its social startups, to update the course about the progress in several blocked meetings, and to discuss the progress with an assigned coach. The focus of the evaluation will lie on whether and how participants work to develop create solutions to the ventures' problems, and make progress in implementing those successfully. All information gathered by the participants should be collected and presented in a systematic fashion to be able to pass it on to the partnering ventures after the course. In doing so, students will showcase their ability to structure and prioritize information, and communicate this information clearly and effectively so that it is actionable. If no separate final report is handed in, these intermittent documents will be treated as such. Any report should not exceed 22,200 characters. It is to be handed in by precisely four weeks after the final presentation. The final presentation should last 15 minutes. Its key contents are the purpose and explanation of the problem solutions created by the teams (irrespective of whether the ventures chose to implement them), which are to be communicated understandably to all course participants. Of particular interest is students' understanding of interdependencies between the aspects of their problem-solutions, and their creating of an internally consistent problem-solution that takes those interdependencies into account, which would be a testimony to students' ability to develop their own strategy to found a social venture.

- Basic understanding of the entrepreneurial process, such as from attending an introductory lecture on the topic, founding experience, or closely following the media on the topic - Interest in applied, social engagement

Presentations, discussion, project work, feedback. Each methods will be chosen in accordance with the content to be communicated. For example, new material will be introduced in short presentations by subject matter experts, then discussed in teams or by the entire course, and then applied in the project work. The feedback meetings help to ensure that all materials have been understood and applied correctly (including potential adaptations). These required skills will further be showcased through the final presentation and report, on which additional feedback may be requested.