Abstract Book of the 2nd International Teaching and Education Conference
Year: 2025
[PDF]
Applying Challenge-Based Learning in Eco-Entrepreneurship Education for Environmental Engineering Msc Students
Prof. Dr. Violeta Kaunelienė, Dainius Martuzevičius, Julija Ilonienė
ABSTRACT:
The Eco-Entrepreneurship Project course at Kaunas University of Technology integrates Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) to equip Environmental Engineering MSc students with the knowledge and skills needed to tackle sustainability challenges through entrepreneurial innovation. Unlike fully open-ended CBL formats, this course strategically adapts the model to maintain a strong engineering and technological foundation. Students are guided to not only ideate potential solutions to environmental challenges but also to demonstrate their technological feasibility and economic viability. Within a multidisciplinary teaching team – comprising from both engineering and business domains – students explore eco-entrepreneurial principles through real-world challenges framed within academic constraints. These challenges follow the CBL phases: engagement, investigation, and action. However, the “big idea” in this course is structured to align with program-specific learning outcomes. This intentional boundary supports depth in engineering analysis while fostering creativity and entrepreneurial thinking. Students collaboratively identify relevant environmental issues, develop technological prototypes, evaluate market potential, and pitch viable eco-tech business models. Through this structured-yet-challenging approach, the course cultivates eco-conscious innovators who are capable of transforming sustainability challenges into actionable engineering solutions. This presentation discusses the pedagogical design, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the nuanced application of CBL in a technically rigorous context while maintaining its core educational values of student agency, relevance, and real-world engagement.
Keywords: commercialization, interdisciplinary education, prototype development, sustainability, team-based learning