CHAPTER 4 – Creativity and entrepreneurial learning in Europe

Cases collected by the partners

University of Turku - Finland

Case nr 1 in entreprise

Title

Generating ideas for regional business development Place Turku, Finland Organization/Institution Bastu Turku Description What

The purpose of the Bastu® business development is to promote the circular economy and to build the 6th wave business in the Turku area. Bastu is a project that researches, trains and tries and does. Bastu team is composed of vigorous advocates who want to develop not only their own business but also the vitality of the region. Resource scarcity is a key driver of the 6th wave, forcing the actors to think about accustomed ways in a whole new dimension. Bastu serves as a project tool, platform and network. The project was launched in late summer 2015 on the initiative of entrepreneurs in the Turku region. Between 2015 and 2017, Bastu was funded by the Finnish Independence Celebration Fund Sitra and the City of Turku.

Why

Being able to grow business in sectors where the global market is growing is of paramount importance for the competitiveness of the Turku region. The smart use of materials and energy is the most important of these new business areas. The focus is on the expertise of the Southwest Finland region. The Entrepreneurship and Future Studies Research Center started by contacting the entrepreneurs in the Turku area with the goal of developing a new type of business. The aim of the project is to apply foresight information and the group's expertise by utilizing new ways to create sustainable resource-wise value. Combinations of intangible and digital value creation as well as tangible value creation make it possible to produce entirely new significant innovations. In concrete terms, Bastu® means the creative combination and utilization of the core competencies of the actors involved so that concrete solutions can be found to support the circular economy and the sixth wave of entrepreneurship, new business innovations, the reorientation of existing companies towards a circular economy and the development of existing structures and processes.

How

About once a month, Bastu organizes effective collision workshops and networking, where smart 6th wave business concepts are sought. Solutions are sought by approaching things beyond traditional operating models and industry boundaries. The Bastu community seeks and refines ideas, links expertise, offers mentoring and sparring. Bastu also organizes Solution Forums where the themes unite both the sub-implementers of the project and its stakeholders. Carbon-neutral and resource-wise solutions for transport and logistics are important themes for every business area. Each solution forum consists of three workshops: 1) Carbon-neutral and resource-wise solutions for transport and logistics, 2) 5G and smart grids as a driver of carbon neutrality and resource wisdom and 3) Green corporate finance as an enabler of carbon-neutral and resource-wise solutions. The purpose of the workshops is to bring out ideas. Then some of the ideas will be raised for further processing. The selection will be made according to the needs and interests of the sub-implementers of the project and their stakeholders. The ideas to be developed will be piloted after the workshop in companies belonging to the project stakeholders. The piloting will take the form of an in-house workshop where the company will discuss with their own stakeholders how this further developed idea would be feasible in their operating environment and how it could work. In addition to organizing workshops, Bastu team builds a network of actors and launches activities in line with the goals of the project.

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

● Stakeholders from the region are working together for the benefit of the area, instead of competing. ● Teams involved in the workshop generate ideas together for improving business opportunities in the region. ● Innovation through brainstorming. ● Best ideas are selected together, then discussed and implemented. https://bastuturku.utu.fi/in-english/

Case nr 2 education

Title

Capstone in Creative Sustainability Place Helsinki, Finland Organization/Institution Aalto Design Factory Description What

In the Capstone in Creative Sustainability course students work in multidisciplinary teams towards finding creative solutions to real-life social and environmental challenges brought by partner companies. The Capstone is part of the Creative Sustainability programme which starts with a focus on creativity and teamwork practice,

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

in order to build a foundation for creative practice and an appreciation of differences between people, cultures and academic disciplines. The programme also offers hand-on experimentation with sustainability solutions and novel materials, using workshops and an outdoor test site where students develop different initiatives.

How

The student teams consist of students who are in the final year of their master’s degree studies in the Creative Sustainability programme at Aalto University. Their backgrounds range from business to design and built environment, with an emphasis on sustainability and multidisciplinary. Students apply to the course projects by expressing their preferences in a motivation letter, which ensures a good fit and motivation of the student teams for the projects. The course summarizes the skills-related learning outcomes of the Creative Sustainability Master’s Programme, which is a multidisciplinary learning platform in the fields of business, design, architecture, and built environment. During the course students analyse the client’s sustainability challenge, develop solutions for it, and report the work according to the needs of the client. Each student team is supervised by one of the teachers of the course and a nominated contact person from the client organization. The clients can be large or small business enterprises, NGOs, or public organizations. In recent years, these projects have been carried out for large companies from various sectors, for startups, for consultants, for public organisations and for NGOs. The participating organization receive: ● a rigorous analysis of the situation ● new fresh ideas ● description of possible business solutions The projects have ranged from developing ideas for potential novel products, concepts for energy-efficient residential areas, and solutions for visualizing environmental data, to designing business models for start-ups in the field of sustainability, and concrete prototypes of products aiming at increasing sustainability. ● encourage critical thinking amongst many peers ● challenge teachers to continuously develop their teaching ● ideation ● multidisciplinary work ● combining different competencies and sectors for innovation ● learning by doing ● real-life challenge https://www.aalto.fi/en/corporate-collaboration/capstone-increative-sustainability#:~:text=Corporate%20collaboration-

,Capstone%20in%20Creative%20Sustainability,challenges%20b rought%20by%20partner%20companies.

EURO-NET - Italy

Case nr 1 in enterprise

Title

Emergency mask for hospital ventilators Place Brescia – Italy Organization/Institution ISINNOVA S.R.L.

Description During the 1st Covid-19 pandemic wave, ISINNOVA has been contacted by a former head physician of the Gardone Valtrompia Hospital, Dr. Renato Favero, because of their experience about the health facility manufacturing of the emergency valves with 3D printing process. Doctor Favero shared with ISINNOVA an idea to fix the possible shortage of hospital C-PAP masks for sub-intensive therapy, which is emerging as a concrete problem linked to the spread of Covid-19: it’s the construction of an emergency ventilator mask, realized by adjusting a snorkelling mask already available on the market. After a first analysis of the proposal together with the inventor, there was a first contact with Decathlon (the world's biggest sports retailer and online sports store), as ideator, producer and supplier of the snorkelling Easy breath mask. The company was immediately willing to cooperate by providing the CAD drawing of the mask we had identified. The product was dismantled, studied, and the changes to be made were evaluated. A new component was then designed to guarantee the connection to the ventilator. The link was named Charlotte valve, and it was quickly printed by using 3D printing. The prototype as a whole has been tested on one of the colleagues directly inside the Chiari Hospital, connected to the ventilator body, and has proven to be correctly working. The hospital itself was enthusiastic about the idea and decided to test the device on a patient in need. The testing was successful. The idea was ready to be reiterated and designed for healthcare facilities and helpful in realization of an emergency mask in the case of a full-blown difficult situation, where it was not possible to find official healthcare supplies. Neither the mask nor the link are certified and their use is subject to a situation of mandatory need. Usage by the patient is subjected to the acceptance of use of an uncertified biomedical device, by providing a signed declaration.

Whereas the effectiveness of the project, it was decided to urgently patent the link valve (Charlotte Valve), to prevent any speculation on the price of the component. The patent will remain free to use, because it is in initial intention that all hospitals in need could use it if necessary. The inventors decided to freely share the file for the realization of the link in 3d printing. Unlike the respirator valve, the link is easy to make, so it is possible for all makers to try to print it correctly. Healthcare facilities in difficulty will be able to purchase the Decathlon mask and get in contact with 3d printers who could make the piece and provide it. The initiative is totally non-profit, any royalties on the idea of the link will be distributed or received, nor on the sales of Decathlon masks.

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

Tools, materials, videos

Creative problem solving to support the hospitals in need with a 3D printing ideation. The project is totally non-profit, and it demonstrates that creative problem solving could also save lives.

https://www.isinnova.it/easy-covid19-eng/

Case nr 2 education

Title

Skills for the Future programme Place Italy Organization/Institution Junior Achievement Italy and EIT

Description Junior Achievement, the largest non-profit organization working in the field of economic-entrepreneurial education in schools, together with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched also in 2020 the Skills for the Future program, aimed at preparing future generations for the multiple challenges related to the sustainable use of the planet's resources. EIT is a body created by the European Union in 2008 that operates through the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), a dynamic and long-term pan-European partnership involving leading companies, research laboratories and

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

businesses, all dedicated to the research of solutions for a specific global challenge, in order to strengthen Europe's innovation capacity. Junior Achievement Italia, the Italian partner of the project, collaborates with EIT Food, the pan-European consortium that deals with entrepreneurship and innovation in the food sector, to encourage the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs in Europe to find ways to build a more European society sustainable in the food sector. To achieve this goal, a virtual Innovation & Creativity Camp was held on 14 and 15 December where 130 students between 16 and 19 years from 14 higher education schools in Sicily were divided into teams in a competition on three themes, developing an entrepreneurial idea. The program’s three challenges are related to the circular economy: - Food losses and / or waste; reduction of food waste during production, along the supply chain and by the consumer. - Agriculture 4.0: how can a feasible and realistic product or service be developed in agriculture 4.0? - Eating Healthy and Preventing Chronic Disease: How could we develop a viable and realistic product or service to contribute to healthy nutrition and prevent NCDs? Throughout the school year, students will also continue to work on their idea through Enterprise in Action, the most popular entrepreneurial education program in Junior Achievement High School. By equipping themselves with a managerial structure and operational roles, documents, practices and rules, the teams will have the opportunity to concretely develop their idea to launch it on the market, giving life to a real microbusiness. Real work on problem solving for students. Focus on the environmental challenges and looking for entrepreneurial opportunities in a local development environment. https://www.jaitalia.org/2020/12/16/skills-for-the-futurecome-la-scuola-puo-insegnare-le-competenze-del-futuro/

Tools, materials, videos

Miðstöð símenntunar á Suðurnesjum - Iceland

Case nr 1 in enterprise

Title Palestine teenager with big dreams and ambitions moved to Iceland

Place Reykjanesbær, Iceland

Organization/Institution GeoSilica

Description Fida came to Iceland from Palestine as a teenager with big dreams and ambitions. She went to college and had some problems because of language skills. Then she started in Keilir (bridge to University) before she studied Energy and environmental engineering in Keilir Academy. There she found silica from nature and started researching the material. In 2012, she founded GeoSilica together with her team. She started the company with almost no funding, but plenty of passion and managed to succeed. She is very creative and design thinking. She was inspired by the power and purity of Iceland and that is her benchmark when developing products with raw and powerful effects, bringing out raw beauty in the process. GeoSilica develops daily supplements that naturally renew the body from within. By using advanced technology and the minerals found in Iceland's volcanic earth, GeoSilica has developed 5 different products since 2012. Fida’s experience as an entrepreneur to finance the start up in the beginning was easy and much supported but the next step was difficult. The bank was not supportive in the beginning and the marketing and selling was hard work and almost no money. The support from the family is very important. GeoSilica is now a very successful company and is selling the products all over the world.

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

It is a good example of a young female immigrant from difficult situations who has passion and resilience to pass all the barriers she met.

Link to www

Tools, materials, videos

She is creative thinker and is willing to learn through the educational system and accept support and guidance from the system of Innovation. Today she says everything is possible if you have the passion and support from the family. GeoSilica: https://geosilica.com/pages/about-geosilica Keilir Academy: https://www.keilir.net/english/educationaloffers/preliminary-studies Interview with Fida: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=299&v=mCx pqL4FZGk&feature=emb_title

https://www.wef.org.in/fida-abu-libdeh/

Case nr 2 education

Title

Hnakkaþon Place Iceland Organization/Institution University of Reykjavik and the Icelandic Fisheries

Description Hnakkaþon is a conceptual competition for students to apply their skills and abilities to develop and implement solutions for fisheries companies. The competition is a collaboration between the University of Reykjavik and the Icelandic Fisheries Federation and has been held annually since 2015. The students work together in teams and come up with an idea after three days of work, where they receive guidance from industry experts. Participation does not require special skills, but only creative thinking and good cooperation. The competition is open to all students at the University of Reykjavik. The benefits to students participating in Hnakkaþon are varied. Students gain valuable experience by solving real-world projects for operating fisheries companies, receiving advanced training and access to industry experts. One challenge was to come up with a solution to how the seafood company Vísir could increase full processing and packaging of fresh fish in Iceland, with an increased focus on

consumer packages and account for how the teams would outweigh the costs and benefits of such changes. The winning team 2017 won for their project, "Wild Icelandic Cod", which included designing new consumer packs to help Vísi in Grindavík sell fresh fish on the US market.

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

Links to interesting tools, videos, materials (also in national languages)

Collaboration between different companies with Universities is important to the future entrepreneurs to learn both from the schools and the business community. It is also a challenge for the companies to answer questions to the future entrepreneurs. All this benefits the students well and helps then gain an advantage in the labour market. The managers of Vísir have been using students' ideas for further improvements. Vísir hf. http://www.visirhf.is/is/um-visi/english University of Reykjavík: https://en.ru.is/ (Hnakkaþon is now Vitinn). The winning team: https://www.visir.is/g/2017170129733 Video, interviews to students and managers of the Vísir. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIRm38F5W-8

ArtSquare Lab - Luxembourg

Case nr 1 in enterprise

Title

From hotel to co-working space Place Luxembourg Dommeldange Organization/Institution Hostellerie du Grunewald (hotel)

Description Hostellerie de Grunewald is a small boutique hotel in Luxembourg City. Like other actors in the hospitality industry, it was hit by the restrictions connected to Covid-19 crisis and closed during the lockdown for 8 weeks. The hotel management chose the practice strategy and adapted to the new reality and clients' needs for “new hospitality”. Creative solutions came from a deep understanding of the new reality of the customers, their need for isolated, calm work spaces, sterile and well equipped. Along with the first phase of the-confinement, the hotel opened their rooms as co-working spaces. It offered the clients day room rentals with breakfast and a fresh cafe in the room. Silence, isolation, social distance and yet inspiring working ambience- this creative solution saved the business of the hotel.

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

A strategy of adapting to the changing reality disrupted the hospitality market: new customers were attracted by the offer, new market value was created, and the existing business model was slightly changed. https://hdg.lu/?lang=en

Tools, materials, videos

Case nr 2 education

Title

Place

Organization/Institution Teaching online (not only in Covid-19)

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy0FxMgGUlRnkxCoNZU NRQQ Private initiative of the teacher

Description

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

Along with Covid-19 crisis many teachers needed to get creative with the classes they offer to their students. Lehrer Schmidt (teacher Schmidt) in Germany was the one who was not surprised by the crisis. Since 2018 he offers open classes of mathematics and science on his YouTube channel. Each video offers an explanation of one issue in an understandable way for German speaking students (in Germany and Luxembourg). By 2020 he posted already more than 1500 videos and continuously encourages the students to joining the learning community #teamschmidt for further discussions and comments. The YouTube channel of Teacher Schmidt is well known among young people between 12-15, familiar to YouTube. They pass each other the link on the smartphone whenever they are not able to explain to their peers how they managed to understand some part of mathematics or science. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy0FxMgGUlRnkxCoNZU NRQQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MZNkFh0ybM

Succubus Interactive - France

Case nr 1 in enterprise

Title

Competition to innovate Place various Organization/Institution Because Architecture Matters (BAM)

Description Because Architecture Matters (BAM) architecture design agency has created an innovative approach to attract their clients by inviting and involving them in a collaborative multidisciplinary effort that includes a strong competitive component for what concerns the idea generation that is demanded to external suppliers (e.g., other architects and architecture design agencies). Indeed, BAM’s declared objective is “to democratize the private architecture competition in order to promote architectural innovation and bioclimatic construction.” However, the creativity effort is not limited to the mere design competition, but it is spread in the overall process and stems from close collaboration among different and multidisciplinary expertise. Moreover, a constant dialogue among the different stakeholders (partners, future users, professionals belonging to BAM, the client and the competing architects etc.) is set online, through collaborative processes and interactive tools, in order to bring them together around the project. Noticeably, environmental performance is a key driver of all projects since the declared objective is to “plan real innovating and sustainable buildings, for several decades” for all clients.

Benefits (what has changed thanks to this project and for whom)

Link to www

This environmental “constraint” added to the architectural challenge, the innovative requirement, the context and the budget constraints make the ingredient of a series of successful competitions among design teams. For BAM’s client: ● Innovate from the beginning of client’s project ● Involve different players in client’s approach ● Attract the best architects ● Stimulate architectural innovation ● Maximise client’s return on investment ● Communicate with own community For BAM: ● Attracting new clients ● Starting new partnerships with other architectural design agencies ● Publicity https://competition.bam.archi