UN Sustainable Development Goals and Innovation in a Startup Micro Company Erasmus Project

Project Title

UN Sustainable Development Goals and Innovation in a Startup Micro Company

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 : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

A project about how to design innovative startup micro companies integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals

In a time full of challenges like globalization and climate change, it is paramount to teach our pupils to be innovative and entrepreneurial, but at the same time be considerate to our planet and its inhabitants. The partnership schools from France (Lycée Chevreul, Lyon) and Denmark (Rødovre Gymnasium, Copenhagen) aim at uniting this in our project of designing innovative startup micro companies that observe UN sustainable development goals.
Chevreul has for some years been acquiring an expertise on designing innovative startup micro companies. From the initial phase of finding a need to fulfill with a product or service, but also about financing, possible clients, production, accountancy, HR, marketing, management, name and logo. For some time, Rødovre has been expanding through classes and school events its expertise on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals that were made by the UN in 2015 to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. The goals and Rødovre’s work include challenges related to nutrition (goal 2), inequality (goal 5 and 10), climate and environmental degradation (goal 7-8, 11-15) and innovation (goal 9).

Our schools already have a collaboration in standard intercultural exchanges, but we want to take it to a new level of strategic partnership. The ministries of education in Denmark and France are aware of the new needs of society. In both countries, innovation, sustainability, entrepreneurship and vocational training constitute parts of new curricula. This project will fulfill these curricula.
The international strategies of our two schools also emphasize international activities, including travelling, to strengthen European bonds and intercultural and linguistic skills. The working language will be English as a second language to improve all pupils’ fluency.
Furthermore, the involved teachers representing two countries will discuss their pedagogy and didactics and we will aim at sharing best practice when teaching.
The main participants are 24 high school pupils aged 15-19, 12 from each country who participate in the exchanges. The host families are also part of the exchanges. Around 20 other pupils assist during the project. Moreover, the four key persons are two teachers at each school who have arranged the previous exchanges and activities including the responsible for the class of designing a startup. In addition to them, around 12 (local) representatives of private companies in both countries, a business economics teacher and natural science teachers responsible for experiments contribute to making the pupils wiser on innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability and vocational training.

The two main activities are short-term exchanges during which each school visits the other. The purposes for the pupils are to start in Denmark and to finish in France the design of their startup micro companies.
In Copenhagen, the pupils will learn mostly about sustainability (but also innovation and entrepreneurship) by visiting private companies in the area and by participating in experiments and focused training. After this initial visit the pupils stay in touch through eTwinning to develop their ideas. ln Lyon, they will learn mostly about entrepreneurship and innovation (but also sustainability) through presentations by private companies, cultural visits in Lyon and by attending a micro company workshop. Back home, the pupils will complete their projects via meetings on eTwinning. The two exchanges also develop the pupils’ intercultural skills and mutual understanding. During the exchanges and virtually in between and after, the teachers maintain conversations on the academic and didactic contents.
The pupils combine the knowledge they obtain during the exchanges with their knowledge from the classes of “business economics”, the work with the sustainable goals (mainly responsible Rødovre) and the classes of “designing a startup micro company” (mainly responsible Chevreul). Each school arranges all activities and accommodation during the exchange at their school while the key persons ensure the communication via eTwinning. A final presentation event of the micro companies will be organized at both schools.
We expect that the acquired knowledge on innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, vocational training and micro companies as well as on best practice of didactics can be implemented in most of our classes the following school years. Both pupils and teachers will benefit from this project, as the results will be disseminated to the pupils and teachers of our schools and potentially to others (teachers) in general through eTwinning, the Danish national learning portal EMU, the schools’ website, the local press, Facebook and the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform. Our intention is to include other countries to expand the project in the following school years.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 34978 Eur

Project Coordinator

Rødovre Gymnasium & Country: DK

Project Partners

• LYCEE CHEVREUL