Integrating Entrepreneurial Experiences with Sustainable Development Education

The purpose of this study was to address the challenge of teaching sustainable development to computer engineering students. Part of the problem is that they perceive the topic as irrelevant for their future profession. The chosen approach was to introduce a project element into a course on sustainable development where the students developed applications for sustainable mobility together with the local public transport authority, an academic institution and a multinational telecom company. Thus the course project was organized to facilitate entrepreneurial experiences, as defined in the EU's EntreComp model, as well as relating theoretical concepts to experiences in a concrete context. The students were then asked to analyze and reflect upon their design choices and approaches in relation to sustainable development and ethical considerations. The findings conclude that the course changes improved the overall student satisfaction while succeeding in anchoring sustainable development in a context the students could relate to. The collaboration was also perceived as fruitful by the external stakeholders who encouraged the students to stay in touch for their bachelor theses and internships. The theoretical implication is a first attempt in integrating sustainable development education with entrepreneurial experiences while the practical implication is a description of how the integration can be realized. The contribution is therefor of value for both educational researchers by opening novel research opportunities and teachers by describing new possibilities for sustainable development education