The Entrepreneurship ULE Course 2026 is designed to introduce students to social and rural entrepreneurship through a combination of theoretical content, practical exercises, and interactive sessions. The course is structured into seven units delivered through video lectures and presentations, complemented by synchronous sessions and guided feedback.
It begins with an introduction to social entrepreneurship, explaining its concept and distinguishing it from the public, private, and third sectors, while emphasizing the triple bottom line approach, which integrates economic, social, and environmental impact. It also explores global trends such as the circular economy and B Corps. The course then focuses on identifying opportunities in social entrepreneurship, including the detection of social and environmental challenges, stakeholder analysis, and the use of tools such as Design Thinking to generate user-centered solutions. Students apply these concepts through practical exercises that involve analyzing local social enterprises and proposing solutions to identified challenges.
The second part of the course addresses rural entrepreneurship, highlighting its specific characteristics and differences from urban contexts, as well as the diversity of sectors beyond agriculture. It also examines institutional support mechanisms, including different funding approaches (bottom-up and top-down) and the role of stakeholders. A practical workshop allows students to analyze real support programs such as SIMRA.
The final part of the course focuses on business models and impact measurement. Students learn how to use the Business Model Canvas, compare it with the Social Business Model Canvas, and explore different models of social entrepreneurship. They also study how to measure and communicate impact using ESG indicators and international standards such as GRI, SASB, and NEIS. Practical activities guide students in developing their own social business model and defining relevant impact indicators.
The course concludes with an integrative project in which students present a pitch that includes the identified challenge, the proposed solution, the sustainable business model, the context (urban or rural), and the measurement of social and environmental impact. Overall, the course adopts a practical and hands-on approach aimed at enabling students to transform real-world problems into sustainable entrepreneurial solutions with meaningful impact.
The Entrepreneurship ULE Course 2026 is designed to introduce students to social and rural entrepreneurship through a combination of theoretical content, practical exercises, and interactive sessions. The course is structured into seven units delivered through video lectures and presentations, complemented by synchronous sessions and guided feedback.
It begins with an introduction to social entrepreneurship, explaining its concept and distinguishing it from the public, private, and third sectors, while emphasizing the triple bottom line approach, which integrates economic, social, and environmental impact. It also explores global trends such as the circular economy and B Corps. The course then focuses on identifying opportunities in social entrepreneurship, including the detection of social and environmental challenges, stakeholder analysis, and the use of tools such as Design Thinking to generate user-centered solutions. Students apply these concepts through practical exercises that involve analyzing local social enterprises and proposing solutions to identified challenges.
The second part of the course addresses rural entrepreneurship, highlighting its specific characteristics and differences from urban contexts, as well as the diversity of sectors beyond agriculture. It also examines institutional support mechanisms, including different funding approaches (bottom-up and top-down) and the role of stakeholders. A practical workshop allows students to analyze real support programs such as SIMRA.
The final part of the course focuses on business models and impact measurement. Students learn how to use the Business Model Canvas, compare it with the Social Business Model Canvas, and explore different models of social entrepreneurship. They also study how to measure and communicate impact using ESG indicators and international standards such as GRI, SASB, and NEIS. Practical activities guide students in developing their own social business model and defining relevant impact indicators.
The course concludes with an integrative project in which students present a pitch that includes the identified challenge, the proposed solution, the sustainable business model, the context (urban or rural), and the measurement of social and environmental impact. Overall, the course adopts a practical and hands-on approach aimed at enabling students to transform real-world problems into sustainable entrepreneurial solutions with meaningful impact.
Discover the core ideas behind innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) while developing your own entrepreneurial mindset! Explore real-world opportunities that connect with EURECA-PRO’s big challenges, like Clean Energy, Industry 4.0, Sustainable Health, the Circular Economy, and building a Sustainable & Just Society. Learn how to turn your ideas into action and explore ways to collaborate with industry partners to make real impact.
- Pre-registration for the course is required and opens on 05.12.2025.
- Registration deadlines:
- For ECTS and Certificate of Completion: Thursday, January 15th, 2026
- For Certificate of Attendance: Friday, January 23rd, 2026
- Please complete all sections on the pre-registration form, using your academic e-mail address and submit.
- An automated, pre-registration verification message will be sent to the e-mail address you used to pre-register.
- You will receive e-mail notification related to the final status of your participation to the course, by Friday 16.01.2026.
- Registration will remain open until the end of the course (i.e., Friday, February, 20th, 2026), for participants interested in learning from the course material (i.e., lecture recordings) at their own pace.
Have you ever thought of designing a sustainable bench for your porch, school, or neighborhood? Are you interested in learning the design thinking steps that will lead you to a viable final product? Do you want to virtually walk through a Living Lab and see first-hand its use and applications? Would you like to learn how to pitch your idea in a marketable way? Then the Deep Dive in Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) Intensive Course 2025 is for you!
This course provides participants with a deeper understanding of the workings related to the steps one needs to undertake to materialize an innovative idea and materialize it in the entrepreneurial world. Through the development and testing of a given product (i.e., a sustainable bench for a neighborhood), course participants will be introduced and follow the steps required to end up with a viable and marketable product. This knowledge will be built and enhanced both via the lectures, workshop and counselling by I&E experts as well as practically via the participants’ pitch presentations and peer-reviewing. A contest at the end of the course will award the best pitch and best product (i.e., sustainable neighborhood bench).
The topics covered in the Deep Dive in I&E Intensive Course 2025 include:
Week 1: Introductory Workshop (2h)
Design Thinking workshop (3h)
Week 2: Design Thinking Workshop (3h)
Lean start-up approach and minimum viable product (MVP) lecture (2h)
Week 3: Pitching Perfectly (2h)
Project coaching (5h-open)
Week 4: Walking through a Living Lab (3h)
Pitching counselling (5h-open)
Week 5: Pitch presentation and peer and expert evaluation (3h)
Final Exam (2h)
- Pre-registration for the course is required, opens on 20.03.2025 and closes on 23.04.2025.
- Please complete all sections on the pre-registration form, using your academic e-mail address and submit.
- An automated, pre-registration verification message will be sent to the e-mail address you used to pre-register.
- You will receive e-mail notification related to the final status of your participation to the course, by Friday 25.04.2025.
This course, comprised of five lectures, serves as an introduction to Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E). The objective of the course is to introduce participants to the basic concepts of I&E within the framework of Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG12). Each lecture will open a window to innovative and entrepreneurial opportunities in each of five general areas in responsible consumption and production (RCP), namely, circular economy and sustainable materials, energy transition, responsible industry, responsible and sustainable healthcare, and societal sustainability and responsibility.
The EURECA-PRO Innovation Academy launches the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Programme aiming to foster entrepreneurial activity within the EURECA-PRO community and bring the R&I sector one step closer to industry, society and communities at large. The Programme offers 3 activities.
Offered Activities
- Deep Dive Into Innovation Intensive Course / Online [15.05.2023 - 16.06.2023]
- InnoForum 2023 “Unlocking the Potential of Failure in Innovation” / hybrid[06.06.2023]
- Business Game / online simulation game [01-15.06.202]
Level of participation: Interested learners can attend one or more of the activities (see below) offered from EURECA-PRO Innovation Academy and receive a Certificate of Attendance/Completion or 2 ECTS for the Deep Dive into Innovation & Entrepreneurship Intensive Course only.
By successfully completing all three activities, you will be awarded the EURECA-PRO Certificate of Specialization in Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
More information can be found here- Instructor-contact: Afroditi Fotiou
The course consists of 14 lectures delivered by professors and researchers of the EURECA-PRO partner Universities. The following thematic areas will be covered: Business basics, entrepreneurship-packing ideas into business concepts, innovation, management and finance. The course and lecture series are addressed to students and staff. The lectures begin on March 16, 2022 and conclude on July 6, 2022. The Lecture Schedule is available below.
ECTS Credits Eligibility: Students may be awarded with 3 ECTS credits, provided that they checked this option during registration, they attend (in real-time) at least 11 out of 14 lectures and participate successfully in an online test at the end of the course. The study load requirement for the test is estimated to be 50 hours.
Certificate of Attendance Eligibility: Interested participants may receive a Certificate of Attendance for their participation in the training course, provided that they check this option during registration and they attend at least six hours of the online lectures during the entire course.
More information about the course, including registration information, can be found here.