MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Course content related to sustainable development

The MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation adopts a holistic approach to entrepreneurship, equipping students with the knowledge and skills required to generate ideas, develop business models, analyse markets, manage resources and engage effectively with stakeholders. Designed for students who have a business or social enterprise idea, have a family business, or want to lead change inside an existing organisation, the programme aims to develop enterprising and responsible leaders who are globally, socially and ethically aware. The programme aligns with Salford Business School’s postgraduate principles of global thinking, sustainable practice and professional success.

The programme connects entrepreneurship and innovation with environmental sustainability, social responsibility, ethical decision-making, stakeholder needs and the development of sustainable business models. Students have the opportunity to gain Carbon Literacy certification and explore concepts such as responsible innovation, frugal innovation and various growth perspectives. Through core modules covering creativity and ideation, organisational transformation, finance, innovation for growth, research methods and digital customers, students are encouraged to consider sustainability challenges and opportunities from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

In Entrepreneurial Success 2 this is deepened through teaching on the Sustainable Development Goals, Inner Development Goals, sustainable and regenerative business models, systems thinking, alternative and post-capitalist forms of entrepreneurship, cooperative ownership, customer and stakeholder value, resources, risk and responsible growth.

Over a term students develop a venture in a team, test it with real customers and data, and show how it creates value. Students are encouraged to understand sustainability as a complex and interconnected element that connects economic viability, social justice and ecological impact. Rather than treating sustainability as an additional feature of a conventional business model, the module emphasises on impact beyond profit and evaluating different forms of value.

At programme level, the learning outcomes require students to critically evaluate ecological and social-responsibility factors at local, national and global levels; apply critical and socially responsible approaches to information and research; design responsible solutions for stakeholder needs; and make informed judgements when addressing complex challenges in the context of responsible management and sustainable development

At module level, intended learning outcomes explicitly require students to make data-driven decisions and demonstrate ethical and responsible decision-making in the development of business models and plans.

The programme offers opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations and real-world ⁨⁨problem-solving through a range of extra-curricular activities and events, including the Global Business Challenge, Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Manchester Unhackathon, the Cooperative Catalyst Event, and Go Green Salford. These initiatives enable students to engage with diverse perspectives, address societal and environmental challenges, and apply entrepreneurial thinking in collaborative settings.

Competencies for sustainability

A key element of ESD is supporting learners to develop competencies that will help them to tackle and cope with sustainability challenges. Within the MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme the key competencies developed are: 

• Systems thinking: students trace external trends, stakeholder effects and changes across connected Business Model Canvas elements.
• Critical thinking: through interrogation of assumptions.
• Collaboration and communication: through team business-model work, coaching, peer challenge, pitching and the Motorola review process.
• Self-awareness and empathy: guest sessions on emotional intelligence and resilience.

Pedagogical approaches

ESD uses action-orientated and transformative pedagogical approaches to facilitate taking sustainability knowledge and competencies into practice. Teaching methods and pedagogical practices used in the MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme include:

• Learning by doing
• Team coaching
• Collaborative learning 
• Authentic assessment
• Team based assessments 
• Simulation 

Questions to Dr Ambarin Khan

Why did you include ESD in your teaching?

Entrepreneurship is mostly framed as rapid scaling, technology-driven disruption and maximising growth. Traditional formats in higher education, such as business plan competitions and hackathons, encourage competitive “heropreneurship” narratives and superficial engagement, a pattern the literature describes as “innovation theatre” (Blank, 2019; Papi-Thornton, 2016). That culture undervalues inclusivity, and it is counterproductive for complex social and ecological problems, which need collaborative, iterative and adaptive approaches.

Transforming entrepreneurial education therefore means more than adding sustainability content. My aim is not to replace commercial thinking, but to make it more responsible and critically informed. Students still examine viability, resources, finance and growth, but they also ask what value is created, for whom, who decides, who may be harmed and whether the model merely reduces damage or contributes to social and ecological renewal.

Is ESD embedded in any assessments in the programme?

ESD is embedded within both the process and criteria of assessment. The formative individual mini Business Model Canvas requires students to identify potential economic, social, environmental and regenerative value. In the team portfolio, students must define and justify an opportunity, identify intended beneficiaries, examine possible negative consequences and analyse tensions or trade-offs among different forms of value. Students are required to develop an evidence informed Business Model Canvas, an ethical approach to primary data collection and a clear value proposition, which gives them room to show social and environmental impact alongside financial viability.

Students design a responsible venture model, create a Minimum Viable Product or service representation and propose a realistic pathway for development. They use research to justify the opportunity, examine assumptions and make explicit decisions about stakeholders, value, activities, resources, partners, finance and growth.

How do you link ESD to industry?

Industry and community connections are built through guest speakers, practitioner panels, enterprise networks and applied projects. The session on alternative forms of entrepreneurship and ownership, including cooperatives, questions the assumption that a business should always be investor-owned and focused on continuous growth. We have developed strong working relationships with the entrepreneurial ecosystem within and outside the University. For example, Unicorn Grocery, a worker cooperative, has been invited to share its experience and challenge students’ existing assumptions about ownership, growth and entrepreneurial success.

Other guest sessions have focused on emotional intelligence and resilience. These sessions encourage students to reflect on self-awareness, empathy, relationships and how they respond to uncertainty and setbacks. These are important capabilities for working responsibly with others and for dealing with the complex social, environmental and economic challenges involved in entrepreneurship

How are students encouraged to critically engage with the SDGs?

Students are encouraged to engage critically with the SDGs rather than use them only as labels for their business ideas. The tone is set at the start of the module through an ESD workshop that explores the polycrisis, the interconnected nature of social, environmental and economic challenges, and the Inner Development Goals. Students consider possible contradictions between economic growth and ecological limits and discuss whether a proposed venture addresses the underlying causes of a problem or only its symptoms. They are also encouraged to reflect on the personal and relational capabilities they need to act as catalysts for relevant and responsible transformation.

What advice do you have for other academics looking to embed ESD into teaching?

In the MSc Entrepreneurship and Innovation the combination of critical content and experiential learning has worked particularly well. Guest contributors add credibility and expose students to different ways of practising entrepreneurship. External events, Carbon Literacy training, simulation opportunities and the Entrepreneurship and Small Business certification in the programme gave students contact with industry practice.

Embed ESD holistically within your programme. Use the practical approach rather than information laden theoretical. Look critically at the formats you use. Competitions, pitch contests and hackathons reward speed and spectacle, and they can work against the collaboration and depth that complex social and ecological challenges need. Design activities that are non-competitive, that give time for systems thinking and that include people with different backgrounds.