Teaching sustainable development through entrepreneurial experiences

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to address the challenges of teaching sustainable development to computer engineering students. Part of the problem is that they perceive the topic as irrelevant for their future profession. Design/methodology/approach To address this challenge, we introduced 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. Findings The findings conclude that the course changes improved the overall student satisfaction while succeeding in anchoring sustainable development in a context which the students can 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. Research limitations/implications The theoretical implication is a first attempt in integrating sustainable development education with entrepreneurial experiences, whereas the practical implication is a description of how the integration can be realized. Practical implications The contribution is therefore of value for both educational researchers to open novel research opportunities and for teachers to describe new possibilities for sustainable development education. Originality/value The contribution describes how entrepreneurial experiences can be used to motivate engineering students in mandatory courses on sustainable development and ethics. The approach is novel in that the approach has not been described earlier in this context.