MSc Entrepreneurship and Design for Sustainability

Programme overview

Double degree combines entrepreneurial, design, and social science skills to boost sustainability

The World Economic Forum estimates that “there is no future for business as usual – we are reaching irreversible tipping points for nature and climate, and over half of the global GDP, $44 trillion, is potentially threatened by nature loss”. According to the Circularity Gap report, we now consume more than 100 billion tonnes of virgin materials per year of which less than 10% flows back circularly to our economies. This number has quadrupled over the last 50 years. This is not sustainable; critical supplies will likely disappear in a not-too-distant future.

“At the same time, on the demand side of the equation, the search for sustainable goods has increased by 71% since 2016 on a global scale” according to a survey carried out by The Economist and the WWF in 2021. New generations are willing to behave more responsibly both in their corporate environments and as individuals.

These trends will generate massive economic opportunities in sustainability over the coming decades. The Better Business Better World report explains: “Achieving the Global [UN Development] Goals opens up US$12 trillion of market opportunities”. For the World Economic Forum, transitioning [the food, land, ocean, built environment and the extractives and energy system] to nature-positive business models could deliver $10.1 trillion of annual business opportunities and 395 million jobs by 2030.

The MSc Entrepreneurship and Design for Sustainability familiarises students with theses trends and the related societal challenges. This master also nurtures an entrepreneurial mindset aimed at seeing sustainability as an opportunity rather than a challenge. This MSc teaches students how to create, craft and launch new ideas leveraging design approaches.

Students will:

• Become familiar with design methodologies in order to stimulate the generation of new ideas which solve real user problems and optimise user experiences
• Analyse new venture ideas from multiple perspectives, and in light of emerging trends
• Master the business mindset required to transform ideas into new and viable entrepreneurial initiatives
• Increase their chances of success when scaling entrepreneurial ideas from conception into actual business