The World Citizen School Model. Learning Philosophy and Learning System for Global, Socially Innovative and Value-Based Future Learning

Abstract

This chapter presents the learning philosophy and learning system of the World Citizen School. The project started in 2013 at the Weltethos Institute of the University of Tübingen (The Global Ethic Project goes back to Küng (1997). ‘Weltethos’ is the German name for Global Ethic after which the Weltethos Institute and the Weltethos Foundation, which Küng co-founded, are named). Early in the development process, the founder and author of this paper was particularly influenced by the concept of the so-called “twenty-first Century Skills”, the 4C skill set of collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity. Against this background, the ability to think and act procedurally (following the inquiry-based learning approach) receives special attention as an action-guiding process logic. This is practiced in particular with the didactic method which can be described as “dialogue around a common vision, mission, goals, and values, based on the concept of the ‘learning organization’”. With the latter, the primary focus of the learning philosophy moves to ethical competence development, for which the Weltethos Project and the Capability Approach serve as a reflective framework.

1 Introduction

The following article represents an updated and revised adaptation of the text published in German under the title “Das World Citizen School-Modell” (Wihlenda et al., 2020).

The model was developed at the Weltethos Institute of the University of Tübingen. Over the years, the learning model has developed from a purely extracurricular network for civically engaged student initiatives into a holistic learning system with its own learning philosophy and various co-curricular learning opportunities. The model, presented in detail in the following chapter, can serve as a blueprint for student engagement centers, hubs, labs, start-up schools, departments and chairs as well as program leaders and lecturers for their own work. The model follows a social innovation school of thought, which promotes changemakers and change agents, initiatives and social start-ups (Alden-Rivers et al., 2015; Rüede & Lurtz, 2012). The free learning space promotes voluntary student engagement, as well as self-determined and value-oriented learning. More than 350 committed students, from over 40 community and sustainability-oriented initiatives and social start-ups, learn from and with each other, enter into cooperation, and jointly launch new projects, programs or organizations (see Fig. 13.1). The unifying normative goal of all participants is the creation of “social added value” and the promotion of a strong global civil society. All initiatives and start-ups typically, explicitly or implicitly, pursue one or more goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Borges et al., 2017; Surie & Ashley, 2008; United Nations, 2019). The model was developed as a project of the Weltethos Institute at the University of Tübingen and is still part of the Institute today. The Weltethos Project (also called Global Ethic Project) goes back to the theologian Hans Küng; the Global Ethic values describe the commonalities of all religions and cultures worldwide. The project was launched against the background of the economic ethics and globalization ethics focus of the Institute, and the associated criticism of the neoclassical doctrine of economics (Dierksmeier, 2019).

Fig. 13.1

Member initiatives of the World Citizen School—Status 12/2022

The World Citizen School is, at a glance, a(n):

• umbrella organization for student initiatives and start-ups (community)

• voice amplifier for student engagement (advocacy)

• free learning space for global, socially-innovative and value-based learning

• incubator for socially innovative projects and social start-ups

• supporter of cosmopolitan identity

• shaper of a global civil society

• transformer of individualistic learning scenarios into new dialogue-based social learning cultures

The World Citizen School sees itself as an alternative business school, in the sense of a “School for Organizing” (Parker, 2016) and a “School for Democracy” (Dodge & Ospina, 2016). The school was established at the Weltethos Institute in the context of complementary business courses on business ethics, globalization ethics and humanistic management (Gohl, 2018; Rendtorff, 2015), closely linked to the work of the Institute is the criticism of business and management schools, as formulated by Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen (Sen, 1999), among others.

Students can participate in the World Citizen School in a variety of ways. For example, they are regularly invited to networking events and topic-specific, engagement-supporting workshops, which are offered partly as co-curricular or extracurricular activities. In order to help organize the networking events and workshops themselves and to promote student engagement, students can participate in “team study,” a co-curricular learning program. The teams support student engagement through communication work (reporting), using project methods (project coaching), facilitating events (hosting) or impact measurement and evaluation of engagement (research) (see Sect. 13.4 on the learning system for more details).

Against this background, the School was developed as a laboratory that supports value-oriented social learning, and the (self-)education of responsible leaders and change agents, to promote the common good (Cauthen, 2016; Gentile, 2013; Gohl, 2018; Maak & Pless, 2009). In the development process, the so-called twenty-first Century Skills served as a foundation for Future Skills.

In the following chapter, the reference to the Future Skills discourse is outlined (Sect. 13.2), followed by a presentation of the central learning approach of the World Citizen School, and the emergence of the model as a story of change (Sect. 13.3). This starts with a critique of neoliberal individualistic learning, which is then contrasted with social learning in communities and teams, to derive and present the holistic learning system that exists today with its different levels. In Sect. 13.4, the learning philosophy underlying the model is presented. Section 13.5 describes the learning system and its various components in detail. Section 13.6 highlights possibilities for (higher education) teachers and program developers to participate in the further development of the model, to test individual components at their universities and institutions, and to become part of the collegial university network for transformational teaching and learning in Germany. The article ends with a short outlook towards the future (Sect. 13.7).

The criticism is aimed primarily at the neoclassical paradigm of economics that prevails worldwide, the associated dominant theory of homo oeconomicus, and the limited scope for theoretical and methodological diversity (Dierksmeier, 2016). This critique also includes a purely positivist understanding of science that leaves little room for normative questions (Decker et al., 2019).

2 Future Skills

Early in the development process of today’s World Citizen School learning system, the so-called 4C skills—creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration—often referred to as “twenty-first Century Skills”—served as a reflexive frame of reference (Ananiadoui & Claro, 2009; Widiawati et al., 2018). Twenty-first Century Skills generally refer to core competencies of digital learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving in the real world (Singh, 2021). These skills are developed to support students in keeping up with the evolving pace of the modern world. These skills can be applied in any field of study and professions of teaching, as a civic environment in the life of the students (ibid.). To compete in a global society, students must be able to communicate, create, think critically, and collaborate. With this in mind, educators are urged to supplement all subjects with the fostering of these skills to prepare young people for citizenship and the global workforce (Erdoğan, 2019).

In the daily work of the past years of the World Citizen School, these four skills (4C) have already been reflected upon informally and pragmatically. However, assessments have not yet been systematically developed (with the exception of the use of a learning diary aligned with these skills). This section therefore serves to frame current thinking in the discourse around Future Skills (Ehlers & Kellermann, 2019).

The World Citizen school model that has emerged does not represent ordinary and formal learning settings; the model focuses on self-organized social learning in teams and initiatives. Collaboration within these (learning) communities, as well as between student initiatives, characterizes the learning spaces presented in the following sections. Creativity is supported in particular by, among other things, the voluntary engagement of student initiatives as well as the provision of creative ideation methods. Communication skills are practiced on an organizational level, in the sense of corporate communication, as well as on an interpersonal level within the initiatives and the network of all initiatives. Critical thinking is practiced in the groups, either voluntarily and self-organized or supported by the organizers through workshops on systemic problem solving, with the help of the specially developed Social Innovation Education Toolbox (see Sect. 13.4).

In the course of the development process, it became clear that two more important skills should be defined to better describe and promote the learning space that was created and its effectiveness, thus creating a 6C skill set. First, Civic literacy, which expresses the ability to self-organize and civically engage on one or more socially relevant issues (Gut, 2011). This is linked to the ability to acquire content-related knowledge. Further, it became clear that for the self-understanding of learning organizations and teams, the ability to self-reflect on learning and project goals both at the individual and organizational level and their interaction is an important skill (Gut, 2011; Nissilä, 2005). The sixth C chosen was Character and Collective Reflection (Collin & Karsenti, 2011). The chosen term “Character” refers in particular to personal ethical value reflection, which is also related to a global ethical framework, not least through the Global Ethic Values. In the ability to think critically, to reflect retrospectively, presently and in the future, procedural thinking in the sense of Research-Based Learning gets special attention (Dimova & Kamarska, 2015).

At this point, the discourse on Future Skills will not be further deepened. The subject of future development work of the model will be to compare the outlined 6C skill set with the Future Skill Set according to Ehlers (2020). The three dimensions proposed by Ehlers (subject and individual development, object-related skills, and social world/organization-related skills) will be compared with the previous considerations in order to enable an appropriate self-assessment of the committed students (Ehlers & Kellermann, 2019).

3 Learning Approach: Story of Change

The entire learning philosophy of the World Citizen School is based on the idea of accompanying young people on the path of their personal competence development in the specific context of group-specific and organizational change activities.

Based on the concept of “Theory of Change” (Connell & Kubisch, 1998), the learning approach of World Citizen School was formulated as a “Story of Change” inspired by the ideals of critical pedagogy. Such pedagogy accentuates the criticism of individualistic learning settings. At the same time, this accentuation aims to make clear the potential of social learning settings for humanistic learning, as it is successfully implemented in numerous project seminars, service-learning seminars or diverse experience-based learning settings at schools and universities. The Story of Change highlights the core of the learning philosophy, and at the same time articulates the wish that there may, or should be, more of such learning opportunities at universities.

3.1 Moving Away from Individualistic Learning

The school’s learning approach starts from the individual and his or her dignity and uniqueness, and consistently places the individual at the center of social entities, in which human uniqueness unfolds and the need for reciprocity and belonging finds its support (Küng, 2012). Within the framework of the model, the individual is never seen in isolation from the necessary process of dialogue with the other(s). The learning process is seen as an open, pluralistic identity learning, which finds its expression in the social learning of engagement (Geboers et al., 2014; Geijsel & Meijers, 2005).

3.2 Moving Towards Social Learning in Teams

Collectivism is often mentioned as the dialectical counterpart of individualism. It is typically attributed to a system of values and norms that gives the highest priority to the well-being of the collective. In collectivist systems, the individual should subordinate his or her interests to those of the group.

In view of the apparent contrast between individualism and collectivism, self-determined and social learning in community appears to be mediating in a special way in the context of student initiatives and social start-ups. Social and emotional competences develop, above all, in group and team structures, and form the foundation for a fulfilled life in an open society. Social learning supports a culture of relationships and participation, and promotes a balanced relationship between the students’ self-, social and professional competences (Bartsch & Grottker, 2018; Pless et al., 2011; Reed et al., 2010).

Member initiatives and social start-ups are seen as communities of practice and learning. In communities of practice, students who have a concern or a passion for something they do, have the opportunity to learn how to do it better by regularly exchanging ideas (Wenger, 2015). In mostly interdisciplinary teams, exchange occurs across disciplinary boundaries. The students receive feedback and recognition from the people who are affected by their activities and services, or within the groups in which they organize them. Beyond abstract grading, in the reality of engagement, success criteria regarding the actual or desired impact are negotiated and evaluated in dialogue at eye level.

3.3 Moving Towards a Learning System for Socially Innovative Learning Communities

The student teams and initiatives form the starting point, the place of learning, and thus the heart of the learning philosophy. Together, they form a social learning system (Wenger, 2010). The World Citizen School moderates a network characterized by a plurality of topics and diverse social and organizational challenges, and provides a support system in which projects, cooperations and organizations can develop further, or new ones can emerge. Students are enabled or empowered to take on social responsibility and to further their education according to their own interests. The self-organized educational activities are integrated into the teaching and research activities of the university from the bottom up—through the initiative and intrinsic motivation of those involved. The topics about which the school informs the public, and at the same time strengthens the commitment of its member initiatives, have also grown from the bottom up from the participating student communities and initiatives. Topics include human rights, democracy, sustainable development, fair opportunities, development cooperation, business ethics and intercultural learning. The central goal in community facilitation is empowering each other, understood as mutual support in the pursuit and realization of one’s own ideas, interests and desires for a good life (Ehrlich, 2000; Nussbaum & Sen, 1993). The individual initiatives and teams are themselves social learning systems: they have a structure, consist of complex relationships, and are characterized by self-organization and the constant negotiation of identity and cultural meaning of joint activities. These learning systems, in turn, belong to broader social systems and are, like the school as a whole, part of further communities themselves. These include the university community, the student body in particular, but also the urban society and the idea of a global civil society.

4 Learning Philosophy: “Empowering Each Other”

The learning philosophy of World Citizen School is based on the roots of humanistic pedagogy. Our pedagogical approach is fundamentally characterized by the attitude and practice of paying particular attention to aspects of freedom, appreciation, dignity, maturity, emancipation, self-determination, and integrity of persons as emphasized in various pedagogies (Buddrus et al., 1995).

World Citizen School Education (Fig. 13.2) is an educational approach that combines aspects of the existing learning approaches of Global Citizenship Education (Global Responsibility) (Suša, 2019), and Social Innovation Education (Social Problem-Based Learning) (Wihlenda et al., 2020), with value-based learning (world ethos as a learning program), and thus didactically unfolds the dialogue around shared values, goals and visions (Haan, 2008; Küng, 1997; Senge, 2014). In the dialogical empowerment process of the learning system, students are to form their personal identity in the ideal of an open-minded, critical, and ethical power of judgment and power of creation. Figuratively speaking, the individual goes through a lifelong spiral process of experiential learning in plural communities (Pedaste et al., 2015), in which he or she recognizes and develops him- or herself (see Fig. 13.3). The cosmopolitan identity is of particular importance. It is assumed that this is realized particularly well in mutual support in open, plural communities, as well as in the joint search for and creation of solutions to the problems of our world. A “world citizen” is convinced that one’s identity transcends geographical and political borders, and that his or her responsibilities and rights arise from belonging to a global community. Social and economic justice, equality of genders, ethnicities and nations, and religious peace, are the roots of world citizenship as understood in the model. The pragmatist ethics of discovering the world, shaping the world and developing a world-ethical attitude in the form of research-, problem- and project-based learning, forms the didactic guide (Wihlenda & Brahm, 2020).

Fig. 13.2

World Citizen School Education

Fig. 13.3

Learning spiral: “Learning journey of the individual (I) in social contexts (We)”

The Global Ethic core values of humanity and reciprocity, and the values of justice, honesty, peacefulness, partnership and sustainability serve pragmatically in the educational process as a confidence-building conversation starter for ongoing dialogue at personal, team, organizational and global-societal levels, in the sense of a learning program for global society (Hemel, 2019). The ethical coordinate system of Global Ethic values ideally promotes trust between the I-world of the individual and the We-world of the community(ies) in which the self-organized learning communities are the places of learning.

A strong global civil society, guided by Global Ethic as an idea of qualitative freedom for the development of a good life for the benefit of all, forms the target horizon (Dierksmeier, 2019). Students learn to take responsibility for themselves and other people, teams and organizations—starting from their individual I-world through co-determination and co-design of the social entities of the We-world. Conversely, the learning system ideally promotes the development of such a We-world, which in turn does justice to the responsibility for human development of each individual world citizen. Both worlds, the I-world and the We-world together, and in the ideal, mutually reinforce each other for the realization of the well-being of all, in the sense of the global ethic as qualitative freedom.

5 Learning System

The World Citizen School is envisaged as a learning organization (Senge, 2014), pursuing the vision that all people learn together in dialogue, to use their abilities for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. The learning system opens up a free learning space for committed students to learn how to learn from and with each other, in a self-responsible and value-oriented way.

One of the greatest challenges for student initiatives is the high member and knowledge turnover, as well as efficient organizational development. The institutional anchoring of volunteering in the school, and the knowledge network and institutional memory, counteract these challenges and promote the transfer of knowledge between the volunteers, the student generations, university staff, and practice partners.

For the purpose of efficient organizational development, the school teaches initiatives and start-ups professional methods and makes them available, for example, in the form of the Social Innovation Education Toolbox (Wihlenda, 2020b). A special feature of the didactics is that the methods taught are applied in the self-organization of the school. From a pedagogical point of view, this is a central prerequisite for strengthening the learning success of the entire learning system in non-formal learning settings, in the sense of authentic leadership (Mazutis & Slawinski, 2008). These individual components form the learning system and will be described in the following section (see Fig. 13.4):

Fig. 13.4

Learning system based on the impact logic of the Learning Orchestra Canvas

• Self-Education: Activities and offers of initiatives & start-ups

• Community: Moderated network of initiatives & startups

• Social Innovation Program: Team study, Learning Camp, toolbox

• Student Governance: Students participating in team studies

• Learning support: Master coaches

5.1 Self-Education: Activities and Offerings of Initiatives and Start-Ups

Student initiatives and start-ups are serious educational spaces and educational providers in the university context (Wihlenda 2020a). The active citizens, changemakers, or responsible leaders involved in these initiatives develop their ethical leadership and design competences. They typically develop a wide range of activities and offerings. These include both products and services in the form of projects, events, political campaigns, as well as team building, self-organization, leadership and management activities. Numerous examples of these activities from our network can be found on our website, for example, in the engagement calendar (www.worldcitizen.school) and in various publications in the download section.

In the context of social innovation education, social entrepreneurial competence development in volunteering is particularly relevant, which mostly takes place in non-formal learning settings of the student groups. In our recent study, in which we surveyed over 1000 engaged and non-engaged students at different universities, we were able to show significant differences between engaged and non-engaged students with regard to their (social) entrepreneurial competences. In addition, sustainability- and public welfare-oriented volunteers have significantly higher social entrepreneurial attitudes than all others (Wihlenda et al., 2023).

Many student initiatives are also providers of formal educational offers such as seminars, workshops, reading groups, lecture series or conferences. In these contexts, the focus is on content-related learning.

5.2 Community: Moderated Network

In the Moderated Community, the members’ needs and interests as well as collegial consultation, cooperation, and partnership networking play an important role.

In a narrow sense, the community consists of the member initiatives, the start-ups and local university partners, and in a broader sense also of partners from urban society, business, and politics. In addition, a university network for transformative teaching has emerged in recent years across institutions.

On the organizational side, an elaborate online moderation structure, with the help of project management tools, as well as the offline moderation structure through moderated social marketplaces, and two-hour learning sessions by and for committed people, play a supporting role. These ensure efficient networking for the purpose of knowledge transfer for, and between, the initiatives, as well as with and between the university partners. The latter includes, in particular, networking with the Career Service (which enables the recognition of volunteering activities through credit points), with university didactics, the Centre for Technology Transfer, the Foreign Language Centre, the Centre for Sustainable Development and/or the Centre for International and European Studies.

Numerous cooperations between the initiatives and other external partners are taking place in the organized community. Prominent examples include various small collaborative projects and joint workshops. It is common for member initiatives to exploit synergies and cooperate in workshops, or invite students from other initiatives, for example, for short presentations on their own initiative. One example of the more visible collaborative projects is the so-called “Education Weeks”, in which different initiatives come together and offer various workshops and activities during the week, sometimes in cooperation. The “Human Rights Week” and a “World Climate Week” followed the first “Week of Links—Week for Sustainable Development” in 2014.¹

5.3 Social Innovation Program: Team Study, Camp, Toolbox

The Social Innovation Program serves to professionalize initiatives and start-ups. All formats of the program are based on an emancipatory educational approach that encourages initiative, entrepreneurship, and participation. The program strengthens leadership, design, and self-organization skills.

All formats and methods support those involved in developing their social entrepreneurial competences in order to professionalize their own projects, or to start new projects, initiatives, or social enterprises. Through the orientation towards the 6Cs (Civic literacy, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Collective Reflection), the program promotes co-determination and co-design competences for future activities in business, politics, science or society (Ananiadoui & Claro, 2009; Collin & Karsenti, 2011; Passila et al., 2013).

Formats include:

• The Agile Team Study for Learning Initiatives & Start-ups

• The Social Innovation Camp

• Demand-based (spontaneous) workshops

• Personal group coaching

An important tool for teaching social-innovative methodological skills is the Social Innovation Education Toolbox (SIE-T). The SIE-T is a systemic toolbox developed over the years, consisting of numerous visual templates (so-called canvases) for the development of learning, value-oriented projects, organizations, and companies. With the SIE-T students are able to simplify complex organizational functions, levels, and work processes. The SIE-T functions didactically as the center piece of all organizational and educational processes of the learning system. It is equally applicable on different levels for (informal) working groups, project teams, non-profit organizations or enterprises, irrespective of the stage of development. The core of the SIE-T is the “Learning Orchestra Canvas” (LOC, see Fig. 13.5; see also Fig. 13.4) in its function as a systemic meta-template into which all other canvases can be integrated.

Fig. 13.5

Learning Orchestra Canvas

Organizing and managing projects and organizations often quickly becomes a confusing and complex endeavor. The LOC helps to systemically align and combine different levels, departments, processes and activities. The remedy is visual modeling through the LOC—an image that can give orientation and identity to those involved. In this sense, the canvas contains, in a systemic way, all the topics of organizational development, which can be dealt with by further canvases of the toolbox.

5.4 Student Governance: Internal Team Study

For the overall management of the learning system, in addition to the general knowledge domain of world citizenship, four aspects (arts) for a strong civil society were identified, which are highly relevant for all initiatives and start-ups as well as for the own organization: A) the art of communicating, B) the art of organizing, C) the art of hosting, and D) the art of researching and reflecting on one’s own effectiveness.

Accordingly, the management team, in its role as master coaches, is currently focusing on training three teams who, with their respective work focus, act as multipliers and knowledge carriers in the community.

• 1. In the Social Reporting Team, members learn the art of communication. The main task is to communicate for and about the community, to present good examples of self-organized learning, and the effectiveness of individual initiatives or the community as a whole to the public (e.g., via newsletter, social media, website, video, and personal presentations).

• 2. In the Social Research Team, students learn the art of research, primarily using qualitative and quantitative social research methods. The focus is on questions about learning in engagement, evaluation research on learning programs, and the social effects of the community.

• 3. The Social Coaching Team focuses on the art of coaching, organizing, and learning support. The focus is on learning of organizational-pedagogical basics, questioning methods, and the actual application of agile learning. The coaches support those involved, jointly identify knowledge needs, give tips on knowledge sources, or create knowledge maps for their clients.

All teams also learn the art of hosting and moderating, with the purpose of fostering good relationships within their teams as well as collaborations in the community and between all stakeholders. Different formats such as workshops, marketplaces, conferences, world cafés, exhibition stands, workshops, and so forth, serve this purpose.

5.5 Learning Support: Master Coaches

The basis for the implementation of the entire learning system is the management team, which consists of two employees who assume the role of learning coaches as well as managers. The team is responsible for the orchestration of the entire learning system. They act also as master coaches for the student teams, and coordinate student assistants (trainees), who also act as the main coordinators of the student teams (reporting, coaching, research).

6 Transfer for Universities, Schools, Urban Societies and Companies

In summary, it can be stated that this learning system enables an efficient circulation of knowledge for the promotion of student civil society. At the same time, the learning model is a sensitive social entity that needs to be carefully nurtured and developed.

In order to establish the learning model at one’s own university, it requires, above all, trained management staff who have relevant experience in the areas of organizational development, (social) entrepreneurship, and systemic coaching. They should also be familiar with the methods of agile learning, working, and leadership. The greatest challenge at the University of Tübingen was, and is, to establish such a management team with this professional profile—despite the uncertainties of the founding process—and to stabilize the staff positions. If the knowledge in these central positions is sustainably secured, the model promises to raise further potential for the promotion of innovative and transformative teaching and learning, not least due to the integrated junior staff work. Here, transformative learning is understood equally as a change of the self and the world (Singer-Brodowski, 2018).

The World Citizen School Association was founded for the further development of the model and the individual programs, as well as for the purpose of collegial knowledge transfer between educational institutions. The association, based at the Weltethos Institute, promotes the collegial transfer of knowledge between university lecturers, engagement promoters, and program managers, and offers train-the-trainer formats in the form of workshops and collegial conferences, as well as educational counselling services.

This includes organizing the “Colloquium for Transformative Learning and Teaching” and the “World Citizen Train-the-Trainer” program launched in 2022, which consists of five-day workshops, an online learning platform, and coaching services offered on a biannual basis.

7 Outlook

The World Citizen School model complements the discourse around Future Skills, which has so far focused heavily on individual skills, by consistently incorporating collective and group-based learning environments.

We hope that the model can serve as a stimulus for teachers to design their own context-specific learning spaces, because group work, learning in projects, and teams, can be established in many different ways at universities. Student (voluntary) engagement in initiatives and teams is generally a widely underestimated learning space in which Future Skills are trained in a special way. For the further development of the model, a (self-)assessment tool for the various student initiatives and teams involved is to be developed. In particular, the three dimensions proposed by Ehlers and Kellermann (2019) (subject and individual development, object-related competencies, and social world/order competence) will be compared with the previous considerations as a starting point, and a competence framework tailored to the World Citizen School will be developed. At this point, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the editors as well as the many contributing authors in this volume, whose contributions I and my team are very much looking forward to.

Here you can find further information about our work:

• www.worldcitizen.de

• www.worldcitizen.school

• www.entrepreneurship.tools

• www.socialinnovation.education

Future Skills in Practice: Our Recommendations

For Student Engagement Centers

• Look at student initiatives and startup teams as serious learning spaces in the sense of the core task “teaching” of universities.

• Establish engagement centers as holistic learning systems with the integration of student self-governance as well as through (co-)curricular connection of engagement-promoting workshops and the inclusion of external public and private partner organizations.

For Startup Schools (Entrepreneurship Centers)

• Understand student initiatives and organizations as serious (social) entrepreneurial learning spaces.

• Involving agile student teams in the entrepreneurial self-governance of the center.

For Departments and Chairs

• Develop an “on-the-job” learning program for co-organizing student teams in faculty or departmental self-governance (e.g., a team for coaching of student projects, a research team, an event organization and facilitation team, or an editorial communications team, etc.).

For Program Leaders and Lecturers

• Recognize the opportunities of project and Problem-Based Learning in groups as well as participatory teaching for a wide variety of learning scenarios (lectures, seminars, workshops, etc.)