TU-E4200 - Sustainable Development Goals as Entrepreneurial Business Opportunities D, Lecture, 25.10.2023-13.12.2023

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Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, the students can understand what Sustainable Development Goals are
and how they are structured and how to evaluate the business potential of an SDG target. The
students will learn about tools to evaluate net impact and stakeholder effects. The students will
learn about real life cases where companies have been successful in leveraging SDG-related
business opportunities. The students will learn tools to discover entrepreneurial opportunities in
SDGs and to map possible action steps to begin validating an SDG-related business idea.

Credits: 3

Schedule: 25.10.2023 - 13.12.2023

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Lauri Järvilehto, Simo Lahdenne

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    The course focuses on introducing the Sustainable Development Goals from a business
    opportunity point of view, emphasizing possibilities for a new venture. In the course lectures, value
    formation is evaluated from the point of view of stakeholder effects in addition to financial
    performance, and assessed using tools that measure the net impact of a business. Various points
    of views to corporate responsibility are discussed, and SDGs are presented as viable business
    opportunities where the impact and profit potential of a new venture become indistinguishable.
    Lectures address also actual entrepreneurial cases and opportunities related to SDGs, in particular
    in the developing world. Case studies concern real life examples of successful SDG-related
    ventures. Finally, the students will work in small teams to evaluate and ideate business
    opportunities for a particular SDG target using startup ideation tools and techniques.

Assessment Methods and Criteria

  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Written group assignment (business case for an SDG target)
    Individual written assignment (theoretical paper on the themes of the course)

Workload

  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Lectures 8 x 3h
    Independent team work 12h
    Readings 8–20h
    Writing 6h
    Buffer 10h

DETAILS

Substitutes for Courses
Prerequisites
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

    1 No Poverty

    2 Zero Hunger

    3 Good Health and Well-being

    4 Quality Education

    5 Gender Equality

    6 Clean Water and Sanitation

    7 Affordable and Clean Energy

    8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

    9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

    10 Reduced Inequality

    11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

    12 Responsible Production and Consumption

    13 Climate Action

    14 Life Below Water

    15 Life on Land

    16 Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

    17 Partnerships for the Goals

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Teaching Language : English

    Teaching Period : 2022-2023 Autumn I - II
    2023-2024 Autumn I - II

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Aalto University Code of Academic Integrity and Handling Violations Thereof