Course term:
Available seats:
Price:
Category:
Status:
Deadline:
20. 07. – 31. 07.
6
950 €
Bussiness & Marketing
Available
30.04.2026
Course term: 20. 07. – 31. 07.
Available seats: 6
Price: 950 €
Category: Bussiness & Marketing
Status: Available
Deadline: 30.04.2026
This summer course will prepare you to be ready to update traditional business models by exploring innovative approaches within the circular economy, emphasizing value creation throughout the product life cycle. Through engaging discussions, collaborative projects, and real-world case studies, you gain insights into sustainable business practices. Connect with like-minded individuals to have meaningful discussions and explore collaborations that contribute to the larger movement towards circularity. Stay ahead in the circular revolution by staying informed about the latest trends, technologies, and strategies in sustainable innovation, equipping yourself to navigate the evolving landscape of environmental responsibility. Embrace a culture of sustainability and be a driving force for positive environmental and economic impacts by visualizing your sustainable personality.
This course is not aimed at one-way transfer of knowledge, but rather aimed at creating a learning space in which you can develop yourself with the continuous support of a coach/lecturer.
” As part of the course students will be creating a Sustainability plan, related to their own background or company. Its a whole 2 week project – from collecting data, working on the project with other students to presenting the project results at the end of the course.”
Setting the stage: After introducing ourselves (Who am I? Why am I here? What is my carbon footprint?), you will be introduced into the history of sustainability. We will discuss some of the current sustainability challenges (e.g. CO2 reduction, energy transition, biodiversity, circular economy and human wellbeing).
Planning – From theory to practice: Setting everybody’s own project/company Sustainability Plan.
Analysis – Exploring the doughnut. The concept of “doughnut economics” is based on the idea that humanity needs to operate within social and ecological boundaries. The inner circle of the donut represents the minimum social standards that everyone on the planet should have access to, such as clean water, food, and health care. The outer circle represents the ecological limits of the planet, beyond which we are damaging the natural systems that support life on Earth.
Analysis – It’s time to work on your project and take a deeper dive into the business challenge case company. What is their value chain? What sustainable practices do they already embrace? How do they do that? You will be in charge of the programme for today.
Reflection – After four intensive days of working on your business challenge, we will board a (fictive) helicopter and review everything we have done so far. What are the preliminary conclusions we can take? How can we help the company to become more sustainable? You are also going to reflect on your personal journey and can take some time to work on identifying your own identity.
Innovation – Sustainable business transformation. We are going to explore different methods to innovate businesses to become more sustainable. How can circularity play a role in this? Based on your analysis, you will be able to apply this knowledge into the business challenge project. Starting with solutions for the local company. Alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). A brief overview of the Drawdown Project: 100 solutions to reverse global warming. What kind of implications does it have for the selected company?
Innovation – Validation is key when it comes to changing business processes. Let’s see how the business challenge case company reacts to your ideas. Perhaps they can give you some additional and valuable insights?
Creation – Today, all information should come together in one final product. Innovation, especially when making business processes more sustainable and circular, requires you to be creative and think outside of the box. Let’s see what comes out of your brain’s right hemisphere.
Implementation – Decision-makers in companies are often too hesitant when it comes to embracing new, and innovative improvements for their business process. To make sure that your ideas are ready to be embraced by the business challenge case company, we are going to make sure that the implementation can be done as smoothly as possible by visualizing the steps.
Presentations Wrap up: save the best for last. You are going to present your ideas to the business challenge case company! Hopefully, your ideas will be used to make the case company more sustainable. Wouldn’t that be absolutely awesome!?
University of Groningen
Lecturer at Saxion University of Applied Sciences
Marcel Slootweg Marcel Slootweg LinkedIn profile Drs. Marcel Slootweg graduated at the State University of Leiden in 1993 as a Historian specialized in contemporary foreign politics. After his study, he started working for Rabobank as a trainee Investment Specialist. From then on he worked in the world of investment management and private wealth management for several Dutch private banks, included ING. He also graded as a Certified Financial Analyst in 2004. This is a post-graduate education in Business Economics, specialised in equity and liabilities. He gained most of his working experience at Staalbankiers (greenfield operation) and Van Lanschot Bankiers (managing two desks of investment specialist and later a greenfield operation in Wealth Management). After 25 years in banking industry he switched his career to education. He is a lecturer at Saxion University of Applied Science in subjects like Finance, Ethics and Sustainability. He is married with 3 kids (most of them are students now). He likes sports, especially field hockey, golf and cricket.
1) “I liked the depth we went through with the reflections. More specifically, I appreciate the fact that you really went through the documents and gave feedback also from your own experience. It made me felt I could relate more and thus I was able or at least I wanted to go even deeper in my own reflections. The different kinds of assignments were a lot of fun and very educational as well. It was a good way to be creative and be active with my brains by doing other things rather than just reading and discussing. I especially liked that you joined us with the assignments as well! The discussions about theories and then trying to implement or seek for our own examples accordingly was very nice. It gave a good practical sense of understanding and how we can then also could implement in future events. Thank you for sharing your own experience!”
2) “Videos were very inspiring and easy to relate to – I liked the personal point of view and that we had to go really deep into our own heads – You very good teacher and I liked your transparency and that your also shared with us. You made it relevant to our own backgrounds. The wide range of different methodologies we used. The reflections. (Even though it was very demanding sometimes because there was a lot to do all the time, not much rest in general. Nevertheless, I very much appreciate this way of learning and reminding myself about what I have actually learned today and how can I implement this in my own background)”
3) “Use of videos Very good explanations Activities in the course.”
Effective learning involves visualizing information and understanding its practical application (Oakley & Sejnowski, 2018). In this summer course, participants will engage in a real-world case study involving a company in Prague seeking assistance in enhancing sustainability through proposed circular solutions within its existing business model. Working collaboratively within (sub)groups, participants will develop and execute a plan, addressing key considerations such as analysing the business model, identifying improvement opportunities, and creating tailored circular solutions. Decisions on visualization methods for the proposed solutions rest with the groups, emphasizing the role of creativity in sustainability and circular economy initiatives.
The course also prioritizes personal development, specifically in identity identification. While maintaining a fast-paced approach, the course recognizes the value of reflection, providing support through various models and group sessions with the coach. Taking time for reflection and evaluating one’s current position are integral to making substantial progress, even in the pursuit of continuous advancement.
Course fee includes the course itself, application fee, study materials, afternoon/evening social activities and events, welcome and goodbye drink as part of the graduation party. Other expenses, such as meals, accommodation, insurance, personal expenses, public transportation ticket, extra activities (such as trips outside of town over the weekend and entrance fees), and required equipment (i.e. pencils, paper for illustrations) are not included in the price.
Please note, after the 30th of April 2026 there will be a late enrollment fee charged in the amount of 100EUR on top of the course fee.
Feel free to contact our coordinator:
Andrea Josífková
Coordinator
+420 777 879 192
info@europeansummerschool.com
Hithem Juaid
The ESS 2019 in Prague was a great opportunity for me to meet and make a lot friends from all over the world. I had a professional workshop, great lectures in morning and an enjoyable activities in evening.
Elif
I found out many new things about compositions, colors and painting methods, which helped me to improve my creative, visual and drawing skills. I met lovely people from all over the world and I also learnt something about their culture. I had lot of fun, gained unforgettable memories, and explored a beautiful city – all thanks to European Summer School.
Tiziano
I came to the design thinking course to learn and get an overview of this approach, it helped me a lot to figure out the design process. Now i feel more confident with the methodology. The materials shared were really valuable and the course was taught in the best possible way. I really enjoyed it and I higly appreciated the activities that ESS was proposing everyday. You can discover and enjoy the city, you'll live in an international context and you'll make for sure new good friends. At the end of the courses there's a cerimony where everyone can shows the output and also get a certificate. I was in team with a Portugeuse engineer and a Japanese master student, we worked on a project for a pharmacy of Prague. I'm happy to remember the time we spent on it and all the great moments I shared with the participants of the summer school. Thank you ESS! It was definitely an amazing experience.
Jannik Golletz
Well organized programms and very friendly and engaged programme coordinators. I can only recommend, had a really great time with them.
