Finalist

SDG Education Programme of the Year Award

Sustainability Challenge

Finalist of the SDG Education Programme of the Year Award

Vienna University of Economics and Business - Austria

"We make the SDGs our business."


Engage on social media

https://www.instagram.com/sustainabilitychallenge/
(Official Sustainability Challenge Instagram account)
https://www.instagram.com/wuvienna/
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business Instagram account)
https://www.instagram.com/wu_gruendungszentrum
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business Entrepreneurship Center Instagram account)
https://de.linkedin.com/company/sustainability-challenge
(Official Sustainability Challenge LinkedIn account)
https://www.linkedin.com/school/wu-wirtschaftsuniversitaet-wien
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business LinkedIn account)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wu-gr%C3%BCndungszentrum/
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business Entrepreneurship Center LinkedIn account)
https://www.facebook.com/SustainabilityChallengeRCE
(Official Sustainability Challenge Facebook account)
https://www.facebook.com/wu.wirtschaftsuniversitaet.wien
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business Facebook account)
https://www.facebook.com/WUGruendungszentrum/
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business Entrepreneurship Center Facebook account)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sustainabilitychallenge2402/
(Official Sustainability Challenge YouTube account)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wuvienna
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business YouTube account)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wugrundungszentrum780
(Official Vienna University of Economics and Business Entrepreneurship Center YouTube account)

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The Award Ceremony for this entry (award category "SDG Education Programme of the Year ") will take place on 26 June 2023, 18:45 to 19:45 CEST.

Summary

The Sustainability Challenge, Europe’s largest inter-university start-up and service learning course focusing on the SDGs, offers learning experiences for students from various disciplines. Each year seven Austrian universities, based in Vienna, Graz & Salzburg, with the lead of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna), 60-80 students, 10-15 academic experts and 10-15 professionals from various fields are involved in implementing projects with a process-based, hands-on approach. Students explore their entrepreneurial minds and co-create context-related solutions for real-life sustainability challenges contributed by practice partners (e.g. corporates, NGOs, public sector, SMEs).

The Sustainability Challenge enables young students to start their own business – with focus on the SDGs. Set in an innovative learning environment, we teach and support them to act as change makers and Green Business pioneers, proofing that sustainability-oriented business models can be both: beneficial for society and economically successful.

The Sustainability Challenge, currently in its 13th course of running, already brought together teachers from seven universities, close to 1.000 students and more than 100 external partners working on more than 165 service learning and start-up projects focusing on the SDGs.

Key People


Christian Rammel
Head of the RCE Vienna
Vienna University of Economics and Business



Rudolf Dömötör
Director of the Entrepreneurship Center
Vienna University of Economics and Business



Gordana Djurdjevic
Project manager Sustainability Challenge
Vienna University of Economics and Business



Anna-Maria Krulis
Project member Sustainability Challenge: Cooperation & Communication
Vienna University of Economics and Business



Katharina Elskamp
Tutor Sustainability Challenge
Vienna University of Economics and Business



Daniel Schmelz
Project member Sustainability Challenge: IT & graphic design
Vienna University of Economics and Business



Cedric Carr
Project member Sustainability Challenge: social media
Vienna University of Economics and Business



Michael Ambros
Senior scientist at the Centre for global change and sustainability & BOKU Innovation & Entrepreneurship
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna



Helga Kromp-Kolb
Professor emeritus at the Institute of Meteorology and Climatology & Centre for global change and sustainability
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna



Kerstin Krellenberg
Head of the Department of Geography and Regional Research
University of Vienna



Christian Höller
Lecturer on Art and Knowledge transfer
University of Applied Arts Vienna



Petra Hirschler
University assistant at the Research Unit of Regional Planning and Regional Development
TU Wien



Karin Stieldorf
Associate professor at the Institute of Architecture and Design
TU Wien



Holger Hoff
Scientist at the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change
University of Graz



Magdalena Rusch
University assistant at the Institute of Environmental Systems Sciences
University of Graz



Maria Kalleitner-Huber
Sustainability officer
Mozarteum University Salzburg



Katharina Anzengruber
Assistant professor at the Department Music Education Salzburg
Mozarteum University Salzburg



Yvonne Franz
Head of the university course Cooperative Urban and Regional Development
University of Vienna



Renata Wetter
University assistant at the Centre for global change and sustainability
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna


Acknowledgements

The Sustainability Challenge is funded by the Austrian Development Agency and financially supported by business partners. The implementation would not be possible without the heartfelt commitment of all universities, teachers, partners, and students. We want to thank all people involved for their enriching contributions.

Images

At the annual touchdown event all participants celebrate the joint conclusion of their Sustainability Challenge.

A cross-diciplinary approach accompanies us, not only in teaching or panel discussions.

Students form interdisciplinary teams and grow together to make a difference.

The SDGs are the focus of all projects and bring together practitioners from a wide range of fields.

The Sustainability Challenge creates space for lively exchange and networking.

Teambuilding and solving tasks together strengthens the groups during the project.

Students pitch their ideas and start-ups.

We enable participants to make meaningful connections and share thoughts about a sustainable future.

The Sustainability Challenge offers opportunities to be heard and to contribute to the discourse.

Contributing start-up ideas, developing them together, and learning from each other is key.

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

Esa was a student at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. In 2015, she participated in the Service Learning Track of the Sustainability Challenge. Why? She didn't just want to read about sustainability, she wanted to put what she had learned into practice. Her service learning project was about setting up a food co-op in Vienna. Her project was a complete success. But it was still too little for her. A year later, she came to the Sustainability Challenge again. This time, however, with a start-up idea for a digital marketplace for organic and regional food. Now she had found her place as a change maker. In the same year, she founded Markta.at. And now? After countless awards, a cooperation with UNIDO, the award of the Austrian Federal President as SDGs Ambassador, she also made it to a mention as SDGs Business Pioneer in Forbes. It goes without saying that Markta has returned to the Sustainability Challenge several times since 2017 as a corporate partner and gave dozens of students the same chance, she had found once here: a highly innovative, practical and inspiring learning environment at the interface between science and society. The Sustainability Challenge has had a huge impact on Esa - and Esa's business has had a huge impact on many thousands of customers who have since changed their diet to be more climate-friendly, organic and local.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

Each year students sets out to make a change. They form interdisciplinary teams and let themselves be drawn into a specific question in the context of the SDGs. Each year the teams are equally enthusiastic but also completely different in their composition. Finding a common language and growing together as a team can be challenging at first. We learned that having an experienced mentor at your side can work wonders when it comes to setting up a functioning team organization and project plan. But sharing emotions, the good and the bad, is just as important in growing together as a team. Providing an open space for encounter and actively encouraging team activities can help in forming meaningful relationships among the team members.

The service learning teams are composed of students, mentors and experts from the field eg. companies, ministries. Within the project team we live cooperation at eye level but experience this to sometimes be difficult for students, at least at first. Each one of the team members is recognized as an expert and all of them are participating to learn from each other and more importantly develop new and exciting ideas together. This allows the team to break open hierarchies, age sovereignty, etc. but it also requires courage. Empowering people to be courageous not only in their work of content but also in their cooperation is key.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

The Sustainability Challenge, however long in running, has always been a place of constant reflection and further development. Whether small changes in the teaching design or the decision to involve a larger number of universities, as a team we evaluate together with our stakeholders what works and what needs work and implement accordingly. Now we are at the verge of creating a blueprint which will allow others to learn from our experience and enable them to set up similar learning programs centering around the SDGs. Modules flexible enough to adapt to various contexts and stakeholders but rich in practical advice and voices. By providing the blueprint to other pioneers eager to spark entrepreneurial spirit and engagement we envision change makers emerging across disciplines, institutions, and countries.

Untapped potential also lies in our alumni and service learning partners, when it comes to initiating powerful projects and going further in making a change. Therefore, we set it our goal to create a network of change makers and business pioneers among our participants. Growing together as a community of change makers guides our plans for the years to come.

KEY STATISTICS

7

Universities team up to enable change

15+

Academic experts involved

100+

Partners involved: companies – public administration – NGOs - society

165

Start-ups and service learning projects come to life

1000+

Students accompanied on their journey to becoming change agents

13

Successful runs

17

all 17 SDGs are tackled

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

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