In each instance of environmental harm there is opportunity for business gain. That is the motto of this course. It is also a formula for sustainable enterprise and entrepreneurship. Emerging business strategies aimed at sustainable value creation, such as circular and regenerative business models, have this formula at their core. In today's 'take, make, waste' economy, there is great opportunity to turn the wasted value embedded in environmental harm into sustainable business strategies. In short, the motto means that one way to help solve environmental problems is through business ventures.
This survey course is divided into four parts: Part A introduces you (or perhaps reintroduces you) to the ecological foundations that underlie sustainability issues. Then Part B provides an overview of 'old school' business sustainability, which forms the foundation of Part C, 'new school' business sustainability. New school business sustainability gives you the concepts, theories, and frameworks that you need to understand the value creation approach to employing business strategies to solve environmental problems. Then, in Part D you will apply what you have learned in the previous parts to a real-world case; Part D is a 6-week design thinking process in which students will identify sources of environmentally harmful value loss in our local business community and propose how it might be resolved by transforming it into business gain.
- Faculty: Jason Good