Anzelika Krastina, senior lecturer, Lapland University of applied science
Carla Johnson, student, Lapland University of applied science, BBA
Bálint Bogya, student, Lapland University of applied science, BBA
Ieva Bruksle, senior lecturer, Turiba University
keywords: sustainability, entrepreneurship, climate action, circular business, start-up, summer school
Introduction
Sustainable development and sustainable thinking are especially relevant in the context of the European Green Deal, which aims to make the European Union climate-neutral by 2050 (EU Green Deal, 2024). The green transformation of the economy is possible if we change our thinking and increase public involvement in implementing sustainable solutions (Rimanoczy, 2020). Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important for educational institutions to prepare capable and knowledgeable specialists who can adopt sustainable solutions in business practice.
Image 1. SECA project research results on the questions ”What do you know about the sustainable business” (SECA, 2024)
According to scholars there is a clear need to upscale existing approaches of university support for sustainable entrepreneurship and to introduce and diffuse new forms of student-business collaboration in developing and implementing eco-innovations and starting new green businesses (Fichter et al., 2020). Sustainable entrepreneurship education needs to ensure that it equips students with the knowledge and skills to develop innovative solutions that balance economic growth with environmental and social considerations, called also as triple bottom line principles (Belz & Binder, 2017).
Nordplus summer school co-creation workshop
Can a small start-up business really tackle big challenges such as climate change?The answers to this question were found during theNordplus Intensive Summer School: Sustainable Mindset and Entrepreneurship that was organized between 12-23 August 2024 in Riga, Latvia. This programme, hosted by Turiba University, was created in collaboration with Lapland University of Applied Sciences, University of Lapland, Lithuania Business College and Satakunta University of Applied Sciences with the aim of encouraging students to explore sustainable solutions and possibilities through entrepreneurship. The course was organized with financial support from the NORDPLUS programme.
Students from each university collaborated together in teams to create a sustainable start-up business idea that tackles a sustainability issue, learning from engaging lectures, workshops and field trips to local companies, discovering the opportunities and challenges faced within Latvian industries regarding sustainability.
Sustainable entrepreneurship challenge
Guided by the Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Climate Action (SECA) handbook (Krastina et al.), created by Lapland University of Applied Sciences, Turiba University and Aachen University of Applied Sciences, the teams, consisting of students from each university, were tasked with creating an innovative start-up business, focused on climate action.
The SECA guide is a digital handbook, providing students, businesses and educators with a comprehensive guide through the process of innovating and building sustainable and circular businesses aligned with climate action (Krastina et al.), established within the foundations of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs, 2024).
Following this guide, these multi-school teams undertook this innovative two weeks journey, in small, guided steps, using practical tools, processes and concepts through design thinking to build their company with sustainability in focus. Processes included sustainability assessments and sustainable business models, all whilst reviewing and improving as a core strategy.
Students began by completing a problem tree, discovering the root causes of an issue related to climate change they felt was most important. Once the issue and root causes were explored, students began to focus on the solutions to this plan. The issue of climate change may feel overwhelming for any person or business; however, it is important to note that everyone can focus on the grass root causes and solutions, creating positive actions that will contribute to society’s climate action goals.
Image 2. The pathway of innovation workshop for climate action start-up development following SECA guide. Source Krastina et al.,2023.
Following this step-by-step approach with various brainstorming workshops starting from problem analysis, solution pool and then selecting three business proposals and defining sustainable value, students came up with more than 20 different business ideas. Hereby an example summarized in the table as an intermediate outcome results before conducting the circularity screening in step four.
| Problem | Solution | Business proposal |
| Waste management | Recycling system | Creating an AI program that tells you how to recycle different kinds of waste |
| Fireworks | Using biodegradable materials and using renewable energy | Ecological firework training |
| Chopping down lots of wood | Planting more trees | Collaborating with companies to raise money to plant trees (B2B) |
| Endangered flora and fauna | Awareness raising for protection for native flora and fauna | Guided tours through locally managed habitats |
Discovering Latvian and international Culture
The success of any team is reliant on collaboration, drawing upon a variety of worldviews and knowledge. Students participated in an exciting intercultural evening hosted by Turiba University, creating a fun and interactive environment where students from both different summer schools and different countries from almost every continent on earth shared snacks, stories, and fun facts from their countries and cultures. Students from Lapland University of Applied Sciences were eager to represent Finnish Lapland, offering fun facts, songs, stories and even snacks such as Fazer chocolate and dried reindeer meat!
“For me the best part of summer school was meeting new people. There were also two other summer schools happening at the same time as ours was and Turiba arranged an international evening to get to know people from all the countries there! I found out that networking is not as hard as you would expect, it happens all the time and everywhere in an event like this!” – mentioned Sport Business Management Student, Antti Huotari.
Students also explored Latvian culture through an impressive, guided tour of Riga, led by lecturer and city guide Andris Geidāns, and enjoyed a day trip to historical Rundāle Palace. Students thoroughly enjoyed these activities and were surprised at how deep Latvian culture is, how many Latvians have a great pride in their culture and how embedded these values are in everyday life!
A variety of engaging lectures
Students deepened their knowledge in sustainable entrepreneurship through a series of insightful lectures and workshops from experts in Latvian industry and lecturers from partner universities, helping to turn student’s sustainable ideas into a well-rounded business plan!
Senior Lecturer Teija Tekoniemi-Selkälä from Lapland UAS introduced the summer school students to Lapland, explaining the challenges regarding sustainability in tourism and the importance of a Socio-Cultural approach to sustainability. Her colleague, Anzelika Krastina was leading the two-week innovation workshop on sustainable entrepreneurship for climate action, providing the students with actionable tools.
Representing Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, Lecturer Olena de Andres provided students with deeper insights to green entrepreneurship, whilst the workshop, led by Laurea University of applied Sciences Johanna Aalto, gave students the opportunity to learn about legal design, investigating legal challenges that may be found within their own start-up ideas and solving these within their teams.
R. Vulis, from the Latvian marketing company Havas Creative gave a fascinating lecture regarding real world insights to sustainability communication within the corporate world. During this lecture, students were also invited to witness the contract signing between Turiba University and Havas creative for a new marketing campaign! Events like these are vital in providing students with key insights into the corporate world and B2B relations.
Lecturers Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jelena Dementjeva, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simona Grigaliūnienė, and Prof. dr. Angelė Lileikienė from Lithuania Business College taught students valuable lessons and examples about sustainable entrepreneurship, green and blue projects plus intelligence in HR.
Real examples of sustainable and circular businesses to inspire students
Students were also able to experience sustainable solutions currently being put into practice, by visiting Latvian companies from many different sectors who are leading the way in Sustainability.
Students visited the Latvijas Meži (Latvian Forests) office and explored how sustainability can be achieved both within the forests, within the company’s operations and with the public through inspiring educational activities. GetliniEKO, with a tour around their waste management site, discussed the challenges of waste management in Latvia and the fantastic efforts to sort and recycle, students learned about the circular economy within their own operations, how GetliniEKO is using the heat and gas from the waste to grow tomatoes and cucumbers for the domestic market.
Gren Latvia provided the students with an interactive tour of their flagship biomass power plant, demonstrating how energy can be produced in an environmentally friendly way, whilst securing energy security for the town of Jelgava.
Mārupe Municipality provided a unique opportunity for students, inviting them to become involved with the sustainable future of the municipality through collaboration, where students provided examples of sustainable solutions from their own towns and countries. Sustainability is a process that is reliant on sharing ideas and solutions; and students may even find their solution being implemented in Marupe in the future.
Final project results
On the final day, students proudly presented the results of their sustainable business idea in the form of short video pitches, allowing teams to show what they have learned through the course with their creative side. Every team produced great ideas with sustainability and circular economy in focus. Ideas solved issues about biowaste in the Arctic, encouraging children to become more engaged with their natural environment, plastic waste and reducing deforestation through carbon offsetting.
This two-week intensive course highlighted to students that in regard to sustainability, there are opportunities everywhere, demonstrating that it is possible to make a successful business idea that contributes to climate action. Students have been inspired by these possibilities with some talking about turning these ideas into real businesses, using the tools they are now equipped with through this course.
Following the feedback of the students, we can conclude that students significantly advanced in their sustainability learning. Lapland UAS student Carla from the UK realized that sustainable business begins with the change in mindset and own behavior:
“One valuable lesson I learned throughout this course is that sustainability begins internally, with you, particularly your attitude. Yes, climate change is and will continue to be society’s biggest challenge in the near future, however this does not come without plenty of opportunities.
Changing your attitude from “this is not possible” to “why not, let’s find a solution” will be the biggest factor in achieving a more sustainable economy and society. Businesses from every industry have a fantastic opportunity right now to become part of the solution.
Through this course, myself and my fellow summer school colleagues discovered that by trying to solve just one grassroots problem regarding climate change, you may find a variety of profitable business opportunities. Building a sustainable business may seem daunting however, there are also countless possibilities to find support and likeminded colleagues!”
Kristine Neimane from Turiba University, as the lead organizer of the two-week summer school, concludes that these types of intensive studies are not only educational, but also a great alternative to international mobility for those students who are not able to participate:
“Currently, the world, economy, and business are becoming increasingly global and international. Almost every profession requires the ability and skill to work in international teams, build collaborations, understand other cultures, and establish connections with colleagues and clients from around the world. As a result, gaining international experience has become an integral part of studies. This is precisely why intensive courses, or summer schools, provide an excellent international experience for students who, for various reasons, do not wish or are unable to participate in exchange programs abroad for a semester or a year. Intensive courses are usually an exciting and unforgettable experience, during which students not only gain new knowledge but also form friendships and collaborations.”
References:
Belz, F. M., & Binder, J. K. (2017). Sustainable entrepreneurship: A convergent process model. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(1), 1-17.
Bocken, N.M., Geradts, T.H. 2020. Barriers and drivers to sustainable business model innovation: Organization design and dynamic capabilities. Long range planning, 53(4), p.101950.
Fichter, K., & Hurrelmann, K. (2021). Sustainability-oriented business incubation: framing and supporting sustainable entrepreneurship. In Handbook of Research on Business and Technology Incubation and Acceleration (pp. 478-495). Edward Elgar Publishing.
EU Green Deal. 2024. https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en Accessed on September 20, 2024
Krastina, A., Nawrath, L. and Bruksle, I., 2023. Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Climate Action: Digital Handbook on How to Innovate Sustainable Start-Ups and Businesses for Climate Action.
Rimanoczy, I., 2020. The sustainability mindset principles: A guide to developing a mindset for a better world. Routledge.
SECA project. 2024. https://sustainable.turiba.lv/ Accessed on October 20, 2024
SDG Goal 13: Climate action. 2024. The Global Goals. https://www.globalgoals.org/goals/13-climate-action/
UN SDGs. 2024. https://sdgs.un.org/goals Accessed on September 20, 2024
WEF. Annual Global Risk report. 2021.