Responsible Project

Initial situation

The teaching team noted the gap between the traditional university teaching (of management) and the reality of the job market. According to a Universum survey of one million students in 54 countries, 7.8% of young people want to start their own business. According to another study, more than a quarter of university graduates in management would have created their own companies while university education is often criticized for its weak contribution in professional skills. In addition, university education is divided by discipline and students often struggle to make the connection between the various courses and their application in real-life projects.

Furthermore, in 2030, students will be working in professions that do not yet exist. Thus, it is imperative to focus students’ learning on transferable skills and knowledge with a high level of generalization. It is therefore necessary to train them in the fundamentals (schools of thought) while providing them with great conceptual and pragmatic agility.

It is to meet these challenges that the teaching team decided to create this course. It encourages managerial innovation in the implementation of projects, thus pushing people to dare to cross the intellectual boundaries of different fields. The objective of the course is to empower them both in action and in reflection.

Project implementation

The multi-skill learning method is related to the fields of project management, brand management, digital marketing and critical thinking, sociology, psychology and direct marketing.

Students acquire real entrepreneurial skills using these methods. This is achieved through the creation of an NGO and the conduct of actions to raise funds to support a sustainable education project in collaboration with various NGOs in Geneva. The choice of the cause, the definition of their brand identity, the fundraising methods, and the setting up of events are all done by the students.

About twenty students participate in the two semesters of teaching (each semester is worth 3 credits). In the fall semester, from the first day of class, students form teams of 4-5 members to raise funds for NGO projects working in the education sector in developing countries.

Throughout the semester, the methods learned in class are applied to their project. These constitute the subject of the final report due in January. At the end of the semester, each group makes an oral presentation to a panel of professionals. The quality of their dossier, their public presentation and the ability of the students to defend their analyses and conclusions in the face of constructive criticism from the jury serve as the basis for evaluation.

In the spring semester, students who have become more independent bring their project to life in the city. The course is presented as a set of contracts to be carried out to prove the group’s growing autonomy. Under the supervision of a coach, a senior company executive, each group makes two presentations to targeted audiences (foundation, company committee, etc.) and carries out other complementary actions. The evaluation of this second semester is based on a file summarizing the description of the actions carried out and attested by photos of the events. Their ability to learn from their actions and to question themselves is also valued.

Thoughts and advice

During the course of a project, the students evolve, and this discovery of the personality of the groups is exciting. This project-based learning also allows each teacher to reveal himself and to bring his added value in the follow-up of the students.

The course set up was able to meet the main objectives. It also allowed the “digital natives” to develop their intuition in terms of communication and strategy, to make the most of their potential from their university education and to master all the Web tools relevant to the project available today. The course allowed them to reinforce their skills while experimenting with new developments in digital tools.

The teaching team was also able to observe that the students have a great potential of creativity and generosity to show. Many of them want to be involved in the evolution of the world. They see themselves as “responsible”. By offering them training and a place to fertilize their full potential, the teaching team was able to respond to this new need for investment.

Finally, the course gives an added value to social responsibility since the actions carried out over the last 5 years now allow to support sustainable education projects in some developing countries.