"<< Background >>The project builds up on the nearly finalized project ScaleUp4sustainability (contract number 601150-EPP-1-2018-1-DE-EPPKA2-KA) in which all four applicants are core. All participating organizations have thus previous experience of EU-funded projects and know each other very well. We apply for a Cooperation Partnership project, because we have experienced a very fruitful transnational cooperation amongst the participating organizations in recent years, provide complementary competences and assets in challenge-based learning and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems and aim at developing a long-term transnational partnership to jointly boost the development of sustainable innovations by means of university-business collaborations to fight climate change and address other Grand Challenges.To deal effectively with climate change and with other environmental issues, new learning, teaching and skills development programs have to be developed in which educational institutions and businesses cross-pollinate each other. Against this backdrop, we base the C4I project on the concept of ""Challenge-Based Learning"". Challenge-based learning combines experiential learning with a specific realistic assignment, application of rules, and the aspect of collaboration within teams. Participants learn to define and delineate (abstract) problems, to develop and test possible (concrete) solutions while integrating multiple aspects. Several relevant actors are directly involved in challenge-based learning. Therefore, it is highly engaging to the participants and offers a “fun factor” that motivates participants. Because of high levels of interactivity between the students and between students and businesses, participants learn actively. Immediate feedback contributes to the learning outcomes of challenge-based learning resulting in a development of Attitudinal, Behavioral, and Cognitive (ABC) competences.In the C4I project, we focus on a particular type or format of challenge-based learning, which we call the ""International Student Business Challenge in Sustainable Entrepreneurship."" A ""Student Business Challenge"" is a specific format of challenge-based learning in which a business partner provides a real-world innovation-related problem or question (the challenge), which is then worked on by students who attempt to develop a solution or answer to the challenge. The process of developing potential innovation solutions and testing them (customer feedback, economic feasibility etc.) is highly interactive and involves intensive dialogue and collaboration between the business partner and the students (workshops, interviews, pitches, etc.) and is facilitated by faculty who act as learning coaches and provide methodological and content skills. A ""Student Business Challenge in Sustainable Entrepreneurship"" focuses on sustainability-related challenges (e.g., how to develop a circular business model) and clearly targets innovative solutions that can actually be implemented and that create a triple bottom line of positive economic, environmental and social outcomes and impacts. In this way, they are expected to deliver positive impacts and contributions to the achievement of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals.The existing formats of Student Business Challenges are mostly limited to single universities or business partners, mostly from the same region. We see a clear need and interest of expanding existing Student Business Challenges to an international level. Therefore, we focus on cross-border and cross-industry entrepreneurial learning using digital means. With regard to the transaction costs of organizing and implementing international student-business challenges with students, teaching personnel and business partners from different countries, there is a clear need for digital support and virtualization. Furthermore, it makes it easier and more flexible for students to participate. That’s why we focus on virtual challenges formats.<< Objectives >>The project has the following concrete objectives:(1.) Create a European network and plaform for challenge-based teaching and learning in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation(2.) Set up long-term partnerships and infrastructures for the implementation of international virtual Student Business Challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship(3.) Develop skills and competencies of students (curricular & extracurricular) and business partners in fighting climate change and other sustainability challenges by entrepreneurship(4.) Increase the quality of challenge-based and digital teaching and learning formats(5.) Establish impact management procedures and skills that allow to assess and improve the positive impacts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)(6.) Working in international teams (students, lecturers, business) to share knowledge, values, learning experiences and to prepare students for an international labour market and create the ability to work cross-cultural.By addressing these objectives, we want to achieve seven concrete project results. The seven conrete project results are introduced in the next Section ""Implementation"".These project objectives and results will allow the participating organizations to increase the quality and relevance of their activities, to develop and reinforce their networks of partners, to increase their capacity to operate jointly at transnational level, to boost internationalization of their activities and to develop new practices and methods as well as sharing and confronting ideas. The design and implementation of international virtual student-business challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship constitute an innovative practice and will help to promote cooperation, peer learning and exchange of experience at European level. The results are re-usable, transferable, up-scalable and, have a strong transdisciplinary dimension.<< Implementation >>The activities of the project are structured into three phases:PROJECT PHASE 1: The first three PRs are intended to prepare and design effective international Student Business Challenges:PR 1: Manual for co-designing international virtual student business challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship. The development of the manual will be headed by Linköping University, involves all project partners with their expertise and will be based on a thorough scientific literature study, expert interviews and workshops with target groups.PR 2: Best practice report – Infrastructure and intermediation services for Student Business Challenges. The work will be led by Borderstep, involves all project partners with their expertise and will be based on desk and Internet research, expert interviews, a workshop for the selection of suitable best practices approaches, the development of profile templates, data collection, the documentation of the best practice cases, a validation workshop with targets groups and the production and publication of the report.PR 3: Evaluation method and tool for assessing outcomes and impacts of Student Business Challenges. The work is headed by the University of Oldenburg and involves all partners with their specific know-how. The tasks and steps comprise a systematic literature review, the identification and selection of relevant concepts and approaches, expert interview, the development of an outcome- and impact related evaluation method and respective tools, a validation workshop with target groups, the finalization of the methods and tools based on feedback from target groups and the production of guidelines and tools as electronic versions.PROJECT PHASE 2: Based on the first three Project Results (PR), we will develop and execute two types of international Student Business Challenge programs: PR 4: A playbook of full-term international virtual student business challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship. The work will be led by Vennebroek Academic Services (VAS) and will involve all project partners. Here, we design, organize, develop, prepare and implement full-term international student business challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship in two cycles. Based on the two challenges we will produce a playbook for this specific format. The manual will be used to disseminate to our target groups.PR 5: A playbook of special topics international virtual Student Business Challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship. Here, the same methodology and steps will be used as in PR 4, but here they are focused on special topics short-term challenges.PROJECT PHASE 3: The last two PRs build on the previous activities and deliverables and will focus on the assessment of outcomes and impacts as well as on the infrastructure and intermediation services needed for the scaling of international Student Business Challenges:PR 6: Research report: Outcomes and impact of international virtual Student Business Challenges in sustainable entrepreneurship. The work is headed by the University of Oldenburg and will involve Linköping University and VAS. The tasks comprise the design of the evaluation process, the production of fact sheets for all challenges, ex-ante surveys, interviews and ex-post surveys, before-after-comparisons, the assessment of medium-term outcomes and impacts, workshops, the development of improvement recommendations, and the production and dissemination of the research report.PR 7: Guidelines for designing and scaling effective infrastructures and intermediation services for international Student Business Challenges. The work will be led by Borderstep and will involve the expertise of all project partners. The development of the guidelines comprises need assessments, surveys with target groups, gap analysis, workshops and the production and dissemination of the guidelines.We have an elaborated project and quality management. We will organize three transnational project meetings and two international multiplier<< Results >>The C4I-project will provide best and good practice examples how to successfully implement international Student Business Challenges for sustainable entrepreneurship in study programs of Higher Education Instituts (HEIs). The project helps to design, implement and test innovative approaches and tools for different settings and will provide practical advice and toolkits to implement Student Business Challenge programs in sustainable entrepreneurship successfully and effectively. Therefore, the C4I-project will boost innovation in higher education.Students, who have participated in the challenge programs, will develop their mindsets and skills for international sustainable entrepreneurship and gain a more realistic view of the opportunities and challenges to start new green ventures. This increases the chances that they will become excellent green and sustainable entrepreneurs, create new jobs and innovative solutions to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).To teaching staff and program managers in HEIs, C4I will provide good practice examples about how to organize international collaborative challenge programs . They will benefit from the manuals and playbooks of the innovative challenge programs and educational tools, either full term or short-term; teaching staff and program managers can take advantage of the practical advice and toolkits to implement these programs successfully and effectively.Innovation managers, sustainability managers, and intermediaries gain from C4I as well. The C4I-projects contributes to strengthening the innovation and capacity of various stakeholders to execute sustainability projects in general. Moreover, C4I increases their capacity to develop, implement and scale up eco-innovations.The C4I-project will provide start-up teams and corporate venturing teams with additional knowledge, skills, tools and matching opportunities in regard to collaborative green venturing. Student teams will support start-ups in developing eco-innovations and green business ideas, for example by screening and assessing innovative cleantech solutions, market research, competitor analysis, developing elements of a business model or generating pitch-decks. This leads to concrete results (technology and sustainability assessments, market reports, sustainable business models, marketing strategy etc.) and practical benefits for the venturing and start-up teams. Experienced university professors and staff serve as advisers for companies and coaches for student teams. The support is free of charge and contributes to the acceleration of green venturing ideas and to making them more sustainable and robust. This reduces the failure rate of venturing projects and in-creases the economic and environmental success of green venturing projects.The international networks and associations, which are involved in the C4I project (see associated partners), will support the transfer and dissemination of project results to the targets groups. Therefore, a long-term impact of C4I is a contribution to boosting innovation in higher education: C4I contributes to the modernization of Europe’s higher education system. As a result of our challenges, the scaling up and diffusion of eco-innovations leads to the creation of jobs, possible reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental benefits. C4I provides students, academic staff, and entrepreneurs with additional resources, ideas and tools to develop and test their green business ideas and sustainability-oriented business models. The increased knowledge, tools and matching opportunities increases the likelihood that students and staff will participate in collaborative green venturing challenge exercises. This impact contributes to the transformation towards a Green Economy and to strengthen Europe’s capacity to innovate. The long-term impact of C4I is that the failure rate of green venturing projects might decrease and the success of green venturing projects might increase."

„ScaleUp4Sustainability (S4S)“ combines two important demands called by European policy: 1) To address green entrepreneurship in higher education, this will contribute to the modernization of Europe’s higher education systems, and 2) to strengthen Europe’s capacity to innovate. S4S will increase innovation capacity by introducing new forms of student-business collaboration in developing, implementing and scaling-up eco-innovations and starting new green businesses. We refer to this activity as „green venturing“. With “green” we refer to the concept of a Green Economy and the notion of a triple bottom line.The project will focus on the collaboration of student teams and business partners in green venturing. This form of collaborative green venturing is embedded in Bachelor and Master programmes of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and is organized and coached by professors and teaching staff. Collaborative green venturing constitutes an innovative form of multidisciplinary, real problem-based interactive learning and entrepreneurship education. S4S will make use of existing initiatives and schemes for collaborative green venturing of involved universities from Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.The objectives of the proposed project are: 1) To evaluate the outputs and outcomes of collaborative green venturing,2) to develop new, innovative approaches and tools to teaching and learning sustainable entrepreneurship and collaborative green venturing,3) to stimulate sustainable entrepreneurship and green venturing skills of students, teaching staff as well as company staff,4) to scale up and diffuse innovative approaches in collaborative green venturing at the involved HEIs and regions as well as across Europe, 5) to facilitate and boost the transnational exchange of knowledge with university-business collaboration in green venturing, and, 6) to disseminate good practices and knowledge in collaborative green venturing to provide a European added value.