Bournemouth University: Bournemouth University Business School students solve sustainability problems for the Ministry of Defence
The Bournemouth University Business School has launched a new module, Hacking for Sustainability, a mission-driven entrepreneurship, to its Business and Management students as part of their degree which sees them solving difficult sustainability problems within the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The module includes real-life challenges facing the MoD, including national security, natural disasters, energy and the environment. The students will present their projects to members of the Ministry of Defence on Monday 9 May in person at the Bournemouth Gateway Building and online.
Corinna Budnarowska, Interim Head of Department of People and Organisations at the Business School, said: “The Business and Management team are excited to launch Hacking for Sustainability for our final year project students. Bringing real-life problem solving to the project will enable the students to showcase all the business knowledge learnt throughout their degree. The icing on the cake for the unit staff and students is that we have managed to incorporate sustainability into this project, which is key to business strategy these days, and is something that BU lead the way in promoting through our degree programmes and the BU2025 strategy.”
The module is the latest in the Hacking for (H4) series created by the Common Mission Project, a registered charity whose mission is to create an international network of entrepreneurs driven to solve the UK’s toughest challenges.
Dr Ali Hawks, Executive Director at Common Mission Project, said: “We are incredibly excited to be working with BU this year to deliver Hacking for Sustainability, our unique and fast-paced mission-driven entrepreneurship course that gives students real-world opportunities to validate and potentially solve difficult sustainability problems within the MoD. The students will be working on problems around measuring the carbon output of building projects, reducing aircraft use and fuel consumption, and incentivising junior soldiers to engage in educational opportunities. We are looking forward to tracking and sharing their progress and what they achieve in a short ten weeks.”
The Common Mission Project’s H4 courses are run at over 62 universities around the world and were designed for mission-driven organisations like the government. Using the Lean LaunchPad methodology, the module aims to provide students with the opportunity develop problem solving skills working on real-world issues.