eco3 – Sustainability Management and Green Controlling in the Social Economy Erasmus Project

Project Title

eco3 – Sustainability Management and Green Controlling in the Social Economy

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Cooperation between educational institutions and business; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

CONTEXT: Since the UN has introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the EU is promoting the European Green Deal much more attention is drawn to sustainability management. To ensure quality of life on earth, a contribution of every economic sector will be required. Sustainability management weights the importance of economic, ecological and social goals of a company equally. The Social Economy (an uprising European sector providing social services) consists mostly of nonprofits, who are lacking skills related to this new kind of management. These organisations need staff members with skills in sustainability too. It is necessary to include these topics in the university education of future managers in Social Economy.

eco3 – Sustainability Management and Green Controlling in Social Economy- will fill this gap and elaborate an educational package with 15 ECTS for Social Economy study programmes consisting of:
1) Two specific courses (sustainability management & green controlling) help students to develop specific competences/skills;
2) Learning and teaching materials will be developed with regard to different study programs (Social Work, Social Management) and groups of students: a lecturer’s guide, Power Point slides, a notated list of recommended literature, a guidance for group work and discussion groups, and a script for every course.
3) A workshop simulation game “green monopoly” and a “green controlling tool” to experiment with 7 different scenarios in 5 social economy business cases, both specially developed for this project. In the game, students initiate, accompany and evaluate an introduction process of sustainability management in a social enterprise. The green controlling tool helps to select indicators suitable to find measures and to assess the management success.
4) Pocket Lectures: Video and podcast episodes for sustainability management in social enterprises, to repeat or to prepare for a flipped classroom concept.

OBJECTIVES include:
1) to co-operatively elaborate the above mentioned results
2) to motivate other universities to use the educational material
3) to deepen the understanding of the specific framework conditions for Social Economy
4) to broadly disseminate project results and to establish a future plan to maintain and to develop results after the project end in higher education

RESULTS
A) Deepening the international cooperation of universities in the field of Social Economy
B) Elaboration of new ways of cooperation between universities and social economic enterprises to develop teaching content and research focuses
C) Enlarging the social impact of social enterprises and enfold sustainability effects
D) Developing and sharing the importance of sustainability

TARGET GROUPS: Dissemination activities and 2 multiplier events address university lecturers, students in Social Economy and social work in Austria, Germany, Romania and the Czech Republic and stakeholders and representatives of different study programmes as well as practitioners from the Social Economy and people from neighbor disciplines (like public management or health management).

The METHODOLOGY is research- and experience-based and will include a variety of didactic approaches for the educational package such as lectures, presentation of case studies, flexible interactive and self-study elements, gamification elements like the simulation game and software-based learnings; project management will be lean combined with critical path analysis.

The CONSORTIUM consists of 4 universities and 2 SMEs from 4 countries:
Co-ordinator FH CAMPUS WIEN (AT) – Department of Social Work, Master´s Degree Program Social Economy and Social Work. FH CAMPUS WIEN has invited the UNIVERSITY OF OSTRAVA – Department of Social Work (CZ) and BABES BOLYAI UNIVERSITY (CLUJ-NAPOCA) – Faculty of Sociology and Social Work (RO) to co-operate in this project, as these three universities are already co-operating regarding their Social Economy classes. The CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EICHSTÄTT-INGOLSTADT (DE) – Faculty Social Work, is also offering a Social Economy programme and will contribute further expertise in nonprofit management and impact measurement. Practitioners’ inputs comes from the following SMEs: AKARYON (AT) is contributing expertise in sustainability reporting, in programming of web-based, interactive tools with impact assessment algorithms and in development of digital tools for teaching. XIT (DE) is providing services and support to primarily Social Economy organisations building on expertise in nonprofit management control and social impact measurement.

IMPACTS: This project’s results educate lecturers and Social Economy students – future company founders or employees – with green skills needed for the upcoming required ecological transition. Eco3 contributs to opening education through new digital technologies, boosting digital competence as well as enhancing cross-cultural exchange (Europe’s Digital report 2016)

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 387901 Eur

Project Coordinator

FH-CAMPUS WIEN – VEREIN ZUR FORDERUNG DES FACHHOCHSCHUL-, ENTWICKLUNGS- UND FORSCHUNGSZENTRUMS IM SUDEN WIENS & Country: AT

Project Partners

• OSTRAVSKA UNIVERZITA
• KATHOLISCHE UNIVERSITAT EICHSTATT-INGOLSTADT
• UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI
• akaryon GmbH
• xit GmbH