At the heart of this microenterprise are the modules of the Sustainable Innovation module that earn academic credits: self-financing a project to combat malnutrition, creating their own management processes (self-organised group in a non-traditional classroom setting, co-creation projects in the locality to resolve complex problems and developing sustainable business models over two months (two start-ups/one free enterprise /one co-working space/one town hall).
Just as in Finland, the approach is one that deals with traditional subjects (marketing, communication, law and accounting) but as part of a project that the students create themselves. This is known as experiential learning – i.e. learning through experience.
To develop this innovating mind set, the students have visited various innovative structures in real life: on 20 January 2017, they visited a Museum (the MIP in Grasse) and two start-ups (Rifft, that had just won a prize at the 2017 CES). The challenge consisted of inventing innovations relating three or four domains that in principle have nothing to do with each other: perfume, connected bracelets, teaching robots and a mobile training app). Another example, students had to develop their own process of team management and become an independent class. On 1 February, the students undertook exercises in collective intelligence at one of the free enterprises in the region, Exhibit.
You will soon be hearing about the ID programme’s self-funding campaign. Until then, do not hesitate to look at the spoilers and videos of the programme
here and visit them on
Facebook and
Instagram.
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