Sustainable Approaches for Entrepreneurial (Co)Action 

Course leader: Yashar Mansoori < yashar.mansoori@chalmers.se > 

Examiner: Karen Williams Middleton < karen.williams@chalmers.se > 

 

Please read this study guide carefully. It contains important information that will guide you throughout this course. When a question related to the course comes up, please first CTRL+F or CMD+F this document, second ask your classmates, and if you still have no answer to your question, only then contact me. Oftentimes, what you are wondering about is stated somewhere in this document.

-------------------------------

Aim and purpose

The course covers fundamental concepts in entrepreneurship, with a particular emphasis on topics related to sustainability. It includes the identification of leverage points for intervention and development of solutions to societal challenges. The course focuses on individual and organizational perspectives, as well as the challenges and paradoxes associated with sustainable entrepreneurship in different contexts. 

An experimental design where a blend of lectures, seminars, workshops, and project work will cover breadth and depth. You will arrive at the first session with at least one challenge or problem that you consider is worth solving and try to convince and recruit others to co-create a solution with you. The solution is directly influenced by class peer-to-peer exchanges, practical exercises, and discussions. 

Notably, this is not a typical entrepreneurship course in that it doesn’t involve the creation of a venture nor does it primarily cover the conventional concepts and ideas of entrepreneurship. It is an interdisciplinary, hands-on course that gives you (mental) tools to make better decisions by considering the wider context of systems. So, consider this a course in ‘entrepreneurial decision-making logic’.

Learning outcomes 

On completion of this course, you will be able to: 

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the core theories and concepts of entrepreneurship within the economic, social, and environmental domains of sustainability.
2. Tease out the interconnections within the sociotechnical systems that form the substrate of human interactions.
3. Critically evaluate a range of business models and approaches to meet social, environmental, and economic objectives.
4. Explore the role of wider contexts, policymakers, and stakeholders with respect to sustainable entrepreneurship.
5. Identify, conceptualize, and evaluate a sustainable entrepreneurial solution to a clearly identified challenge.
6. Develop the ability to determine prioritized action towards tackling sustainability concerns in the consequent stages of innovation and entrepreneurial development, as well as relative to contextual specificity.
7. Demonstrate the ability to assess and analyze global and systemic sustainability challenges and trade-offs in economic, social, and environmental aspects that affect the founding of new organizations.

Possible paths after the completion of the course (not mandatory)

There will be two eventual paths after the final project work: 1) a clear proposal for a master’s thesis, hopefully at an organization that is in the business of solving a similar challenge. This would require the challenge to be in line with the goals and objectives of a respective master’s program. If this is the path desired or anticipated, there should be extra attention to the theoretical aspects around the challenge. Also, I recommend having an ongoing conversation with your program’s director of studies. And, 2) a validated solution to a challenge or problem that could lay the groundwork for grounding a sustainable business. If this path is taken, I recommend that more effort and oxygen be given to really understand the challenge and “BUILD” solutions through experimentation and prototyping. Thereafter, the solutions must be tested with relevant stakeholders.

Course content

The teaching and learning activities are organized into two phases (SP1 & SP2): 

1. Identification and design (SP1): spotting challenges and researching several potential solutions, 
2. Implementation (SP2): prototyping and testing your potential solutions.

Phase 1 - Identification and design: spotting challenges and researching several potential solutions (SP 1)

Phase 1 includes (guest) lectures, workshops, group formation activities, and discussions. The starting point of your work is the identification of challenges you are animated to solve or those you consider worth solving. Most of you signalled this in your motivation letters (challenges need not match those you included in your motivation letters). Introspection that searches through your values and a scan of the environment will give some ideas on what they may be. You don’t need to possess all the required knowledge around the challenge, or skills and expertise to implement a solution at the outset. The lack will hopefully be covered by other members in your group. 

After the first session in Phase 1, you will submit the challenge assignment which includes three challenges and a poster of your chosen one. You will use the poster to recruit group members. Besides preparing yourself by covering the reading list for each week’s sessions, you will need to update the challenge framing canvas. The update must be submitted by a different group member each week. At the end of phase 1, you will have 6 instances of the canvas. At the end of this phase, you will hopefully have a better understanding of your chosen challenge and an intermediate plan for a solution to work on during phase 2. Take a look at the phase 1 schedule. You can find the location of the lecture halls here.

As preparation for phase 2, you must book at least 3 workshops by contacting Peter or Malin to learn how to use the facilities and choose the most suitable tools and workshops to work toward the solution. The sooner you do this, the faster you have an idea for which of the workshops are better suited for developing your solution. This is done first by signing up to FUSE’s Canvas page. You will find all the relevant information there.

Phase 1 schedule

Date-Time-Place	Theme and topics
Mon 1-9-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L110	Theme 1: Introduction and fundamentals Course introduction, challenge selection, projects, examination, setting the scene  - Fundamentals of (sustainable) entrepreneurship    Lecture: Yashar Mansoori - Creating new organizations    Guest lecture: Henrik Berglund - Short intro to and a tour of the FUSE facilities    Facilitated by Peter and Malin   Compulsory: [Article] Systems entrepreneurship [Article] Opportunities as artifacts and entrepreneurship as design [Article] Business models for sustainable innovation [Article] The new field of sustainable entrepreneurship [Blog] What can a technologist do about climate change [Video] Entrepreneurship: (not) risky business   Recommended: [Article] The dark side of innovation [Magazine] The gospel of consumption and the better future we left behind
Thurs 4-9-25 10.15-12.00 SB3-L111	Group formation (participation is mandatory) Please prepare yourself to communicate your challenge. You will have two minutes to present the four sections of your poster. Rehearse it several times in front of your friends.
Mon 8-9-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111	Theme 2: Value driven sustainable business models - Value creation: what, for whom, how    Guest lecture: Martin Lackéus - Foundations of sustainable business models; balancing people, planet, and profit    Guest lecture: Ingrid Johansson Mignon Compulsory: [Article] Values-based business model innovation [Article] Escaping the green prison [Article] Sustainable business models and innovation strategies to realize them [Article] The governance of social enterprises [Video] Business model canvas for cooperative projects   Recommended: [Article] Bridging sustainable business model innovation and user-driven innovation [Article] ​​Rethinking green entrepreneurship – Fluid narratives of the green economy [Article] What Impact? A framework for measuring the scale and scope of social performance [Database] Solution journalism
Mon 15-09-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111	Theme 3: Systems thinking for environmental and social entrepreneurship - Systems interventions for sustainability transitions    Guest lecture: Johan Holmén - Systemic thinking in circular economy     Guest lecture: Klas Hedval Compulsory: [Article] Beyond “blah blah blah”: exploring the “how” of transformation [Video] The iceberg model of systems thinking [Video] Systems Thinking in a Digital World - Peter Senge [Podcast] Climate Change Debate: Bjørn Lomborg and Andrew Revkin [Position piece] Growth without economic growth Recommended: [Article] Why we should study the history that never happened [Video] Cost of owning a car [Website] Skeptical science: getting skeptical about global warming skepticism [Database] The greenwashing files [Blog] An environmentalist gets lunch [Interactive website] Eurostat - Energy in Europe 2025
Mon 22-09-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111	Theme 4: Stakeholders engagement and management - Teamwork and collaboration in sustainable entrepreneurship    Lecture: Karen Williams Middleton - Beyond policy or regulatory compliance: co-constructing social impact with stakeholders    Guest lecture: Julie Hermans of Leuven University - Local ecosystem of actors and organizations    Guest lecture: Lotta Lehikoinen of Chalmers Ventures Compulsory: [Article] Catalyzing action on social and environmental challenges [Article] Theorizing stakeholders of sustainability in the digital age [Video] How to save the planet: degrowth vs green growth? [Popular read] Should You Agitate, Innovate, or Orchestrate?   Recommended: [Article] Stakeholders and sustainability [Video] How to solicit feedback from others [Video] The importance of stakeholder engagement in sustainability [Op-ed] Worrying about your carbon footprint is exactly what big oil wants you to do
Thurs 25-9-25 9.00-12.00 SB3-L111	Theme 4: Stakeholders engagement and management (cont’d)  - Stakeholder analysis and mapping, and community needs, policy and regulation-driven entrepreneurship    Guest lecture: Anna Bergek
Mon 29-9-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111	Theme 5: Design for sustainable behavior - Designs that impact behavior    Guest lecture: Helena Strömberg - Dark patterns in design    Guest lecture: Staffan Björk Compulsory: [Article] Design for sustainable behavior [Video] How designers can use their skills for a sustainable future [Video] Cradle to cradle design [Podcast] Designing cities for sustainable behavior   Recommended: [Video] Customer behavior by design [Podcast] Design=form + function + sustainability [Guide] The field guide to human-centered design [Interactive platform] The facts about plastic recycling [Podcast] Waste land
Thur 2-10-25 10:15-12.00 SB-M415	Theme 5: Design for sustainable behavior (cont’d) - Practical exercises around designing    Guest lecture: Sara Renström Compulsory: [Article] Use to use - A user perspective on product circularity
Mon 6-10-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111	Theme 6: Prototyping - sustainability as first principle - Methods and strategies for prototyping, prototypes as intermediate artifacts    Guest lecture: Catarina Östlund - On life cycle thinking (LCT)    Guest lecture: TBD Compulsory: [Article] Against scale: provocations and resistances to scale thinking [Article] Design prototyping methods: state of the art in strategies, techniques, and guidelines [Book] Pretotype it [Blog] Do things that don't scale   Recommended: [Article] Low-tech approaches for sustainability
Mon 13-10-25 13.15-17.00  SB3-L111	Theme 7: AI for sustainability - Sustainability of AI - The capabilities of AI to assist in creating solutions around sustainable initiatives    Guest lecture: Julian Fleck  - Relevance of AI to wicked problem-solving    Guest lecture: Dean Yao of Hunch.tools Compulsory: [Article] Sustainable AI: AI for sustainability and the sustainability of AI [Op-ed] AI is an accelerator for sustainability - but it is not a silver bullet
Fri 17-10-25 13.15-15.00 SB-M415	Theme 7: AI for sustainability - Sustainability of AI (cont’d) - Is AI sustainable? Sustainability consideration of AI use-    Guest lecture: Frederik Gylling and Larissa Bolte [Chapter] Chapter 4 - Problemism: the insolvency of computational thinking
Mon 20-10-25	No lecture - continue your group work

Phase 2 - Implementation: prototyping and testing your potential solutions (SP 2)

Phase 2 and its associated activities will focus on the implementation of your potential solution. You will need to use different AI tools to simulate many of the activities needed to create a physical or virtual solution (see the course’s AI policy). The expectation is that you will work with your group toward implementing the solution that claims to respond to the challenge(s) you have chosen, as much as possible. 

Besides working on your projects, the class will gather once a week to check in and evaluate your progress. Each week will include an alternate of two activities led by designated groups: a) a workshop on the use of a certain tool (the tool need to be related to sustainability, or one that you have used to develop the solution to your chosen challenge - see the tool workshop instructions) and b) a town square style debate (see debate instructions). For more details about these sessions, please see the Phase 2 schedule table. 

Phase 2 schedule (OBS: subject to changes)

Date-Time-Place	Progress updates	Tool workshop	Debate
Mon 3-11-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111	G1 - G8 One hour (10 min per group)	G1 and G2
Mon 10-11-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111			G3 and G4
Mon 17-11-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111		G5 and G6
Mon 24-11-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111			G7 and G8
Mon 1-12-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111		G9 and G10
Mon 8-12-25 13.15-17.00 SB3-L111
Mon 15-11-25 10.00-12.00 13.00-15.00 TBA	Final fair

Challenge selection and project groups 

In your first assignment, you will individually identify and select three challenges, and make a poster about your selected challenge that you consider worth solving to convince and recruit others to co-solve the challenge in a group of 3 or 4 members. A challenge refers to complex problems that don't have obvious solutions, connects to real-world applications or stakeholders’ needs which often requires interdisciplinary approaches and collaboration and is typically open-ended with multiple possible solutions (e.g., designing affordable housing solutions, developing technology to reduce water consumption in agriculture, developing strategies to improve urban transportation, or finding ways to reduce plastic waste in consumer products). The challenges need not be ‘grand’ in nature, but they can be. Your preference should ideally be placed on the local and tangible challenges.

The groups that are formed will continue working together throughout the course. An ideal group will have someone who can code (or use AI to code), someone who can design physical or virtual artifacts/interfaces/interactions (or use AI to design), someone who can make physical prototypes (or can use 3D printers), and someone who is extrovert, oral, and has social skills. In reality, this may not be attainable for most groups, but worth striving for.

Examination

This is a Pass/Fail course. In order to pass the course, you will need to pass all the activities (see the examination table). There are two main activities that form the backbone of this course and act as bookends. They frame your learning journey at the beginning and end of the course.

Examination table

	Activities	Description	Hand-in	Grading	Due date
Phase 1	Challenges and poster	Identify three challenges that animate you, and write three half-page descriptions of the challenges and potential solutions. This will be available for the whole class.   Also, make a poster in which you include four parts: 1) a clear challenge description, 2) suggest three solutions, 3) what your expertise and skills are, and 4) what other skills and expertise you need to work on the challenge. Please prepare the poster in an A3 format and use color and graphics. This is a visual reference, but you can be creative. You're expected to look at other’s posters and have your first judgment of what you may be more or less attracted to.	Individual	P/F	By 23:59 Thursday Sep 3
	Participation in class and preparation by reading the compulsory reading	You are expected to participate in all sessions and be prepared to discuss the readings of the day. Expect to be cold-called.	Individual (no hand-in)	P/F
	Poster presentation	You will present your challenge to the class along the four parts of your poster submission. This will be max 2 minutes.	Individual	P/F
	Challenge framing canvas	You must complete the challenge framing canvas by reflecting on the chosen challenge and update it after each week’s theme.	Group	P/F	By 23:59 of the day before the first lecture of the week.
	3 workshop tutorials in FUSE	You will book at least three workshop tutorials (note. request Peter or Malin for the tutorial during a date outside 8-19th of September window).	Individual or Group (no hand-in)	P/F	Before the end of SP1
Phase 2	Lead a tool workshop and participate in a debate	You will need to pick a tool that you used in relation to your challenge and run a workshop for the whole class. The tool has to be related to entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. You can choose a tool by browsing the sustainabilityatlas repository or any other tool that may not appear in the repository. The debate instructions can be found in the assignment page.	Group	P/F
	Weekly project status report	You can organize these status reports the way you like, but focus on sharing your bottlenecks and problems (to invite your classmates to think solutions together with you) or share your experience about how you overcome them. This is the opportunity to ask for feedback or help. Each team will have 15 minutes for this.	Group	P/F
	Final fair	You will present your prototype in a fair-like environment at FUSE.	Group (no hand-in)	P/F
	Project report	You will present your process, your iterations or pivots, your collaboration with your group, and a description of your group’s division of labor. This is accompanied by your final challenge framing canvas.	Group	P/F	By 23:59 Dec 18

Housekeeping rules

Absence

You may only miss two justified sessions during the entire course and be awarded credits for this course. Exceeding this would need to be motivated and communicated. You need to submit a makeup assignment for any missed session. 

Note-taking and use of devices

As a general rule, the use of computers and phones during classes is permitted only for looking up information or doing something that can only be done on your devices. Otherwise, for note-taking, please bring a notepad and a pen. Please let me know on day 1 if you have functional learning challenges, and you need to use your devices as learning support.

Late submissions

Late submissions are only allowed if a request is submitted no later than 48 hours before the deadline passes.

Reading list

You are expected to read the assigned papers to each session in phase 1. The PDFs of these resources are available under the Files section in Canvas.

Teaching team

Henrik Berglund henrik.berglund@chalmers.se

Malin Anker anker@chalmers.se

Peter Bäckgren backgren@chalmers.se

Martin Lackéus martin.lackeus@chalmers.se

Ingrid Johansson Mignon ingrid.mignon@chalmers.se

Johan Holmén johan.holmen@chalmers.se

Klas Hedval klas.hedvall@chalmersindustriteknik.se

Karen Williams Middleton karen.williams@chalmers.se

Lotta Lehikoinen lotta.lehikoinen@chalmersventures.com

Julie Hermans julie.hermans@uclouvain.be

Anna Bergek anna.bergek@chalmers.se

Helena Strömberg helena.stromberg@chalmers.se

Sara Renström sara.renstrom@ri.se

Catarina Östlund catarina.ostlund@chalmers.se

Julian Fleck mail@julianfleck.net

Frederik Gylling frederik.Gylling@pwc.com

Larissa Bolte bolte@iwe.uni-bonn.de

Staffan Björk staffan.bjork@cse.gu.se

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Appendices

Al policy

We anticipate that you will use Al tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor, CoPilot, Replit, Lovable, etc. and any image generation tools, at a minimum) in this class. In fact, much of the practical and hands-on work in this course will involve some kind of AI tool interaction. Learning to use Al is an emerging skill, so it’s better to become good at using it as soon as possible. This is just a few words of caution. Be aware of the limits of LLMS: 

• If you input minimum effort prompts, you will get low quality results. You will need to refine your prompts and workflows in order to get good outcomes. This needs several trial and error attempts.
• Be skeptical of the outputs. If it gives you a number or fact, assume it is wrong unless you either know the answer or can check in with another source. You will be responsible for any errors or omissions provided by the tool. It works best for topics you understand.
• AI models are deterministic based on available information.  Models may (and do) reinforce stereotypes and biases.  You need to build and be aware of this, and adjust accordingly. 
• Al use must be acknowledged. Please include a paragraph at the end of any assignment or presentation to note what AI tools you used and how you used them. Please consider sharing your prompts and tips in getting the best out of your interactions with AI. My hope is that you will learn from the experimentations of your classmates, and you will learn from theirs.
• Be thoughtful of when you get help from AI. AI should not be used to outsource thinking and writing. It is best used to show you new directions or angles, or enable you to do something that you don’t possess the skill to complete. Make sure that AI is helping you to learn better instead of replacing the need for learning.

Use AI more effectively

Let me give you a few examples of what can result in better output when you interact with LLMS (I stole these ideas from Ethan Mollick). In these demonstrations, the topic is about selecting leaders:

 

Approach 1: Minor variations, letting the AI do the work

• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on selecting leaders
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on how leaders are selected by teams
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on how leaders are selected by teams and how team process works
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on how leaders are selected by teams, team process, and leadership ability.
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on how leaders are selected by teams, team process, and leadership ability, 250 words.

 

Approach 2: Adding restrictions and user knowledge

• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on selecting leaders
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on selecting leaders, cover the babble hypothesis, leader status effects, and seniority
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on selecting leaders, cover the babble hypothesis, leader status effects, and seniority. Explain that the babble effect is that whoever talks the most is made leader.
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on selecting leaders, cover the babble hypothesis, leader status effects, and seniority. Explain that the babble effect is that whoever talks the most is made leader. Use examples. Use vivid language and take the perspective of a management consultant who has gone back for her MBA. Write for a professor in an MBA class on team strategy and entrepreneurship.
• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on selecting leaders, cover the babble hypothesis, leader status effects, and seniority. Explain that the babble effect is that whoever talks the most is made leader. Consider the challenges and advantages of each approach. Use examples. Use active tense and storytelling. Use vivid language and take the perspective of a management consultant who has gone back for her MBA. Write for a professor in an MBA class on team strategy and entrepreneurship.

 

Approach 3: Co-editing

• Generate a 5-paragraph essay on selecting leaders
• That is good, but the third paragraph isn’t right. The babble effect is that whoever talks the most is made leader. Correct that and add more details about how it is used. Add an example to paragraph 2
• The example in paragraph 2 isn’t right, presidential elections are held every 4 years. Make the tone of the last paragraph more interesting. Don’t use the phrase “in conclusion”
• Give me three possible examples I could use for paragraph 4, and make sure they include more storytelling and more vivid language. Do not use examples that feature only men.
• Add the paragraph back to the story, swap out the second paragraph for a paragraph about personal leadership style. Fix the final paragraph so it ends on a hopeful note.