Innovation Management and Sustainability
Head:
Apl.Prof.Dr. Klaus Fichter
Innovation Management and Sustainability
Junior Researcher (m/f/d) wanted in the field of digitalisation and climate protection at the Borderstep Institute
The Borderstep Institute, led by Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter, is looking for reinforcement in the area of digitalisation & climate protection. The scope of duties includes among other activities
- Collaboration in research projects on the topics of digitalisation, energy efficiency as well as energy and heat transition.
- Analysis of energy consumption and the environmental and climate effects of information and telecommunications technology as well as evaluation of environmental impacts, e.g. by means of life cycle assessment.
- Identification and evaluation of digital trends as well as analysis and conception of business models for new sustainable digital solutions.
As a non-profit research institution, the Borderstep Institute is active in the field of application-oriented innovation research and is committed to the guiding principle of sustainable development. It carries out publicly funded research projects in the field of sustainable management in close cooperation with innovative partners in practice and produces studies for governmental and civil society clients.
The application deadline is the 14th of April.
State of Lower Saxony funds PIN project
Project focusing on the democratisation of innovation will be funded with up to 120,000€
How can a new culture of innovation be created to find solutions to major societal challenges - such as energy supply, climate change and migration - more quickly? PIN will develop ideas on this question in the coming months in dialogue with the public. The project "Demokratisierung von Innovation” (Democratisation of Innovation) in the programme "Zukunftsdiskurse” (Discourses on the Future) is funded by the Lower Saxony state government with up to 120,000 euros. It has a duration of 15 months.
In the classic economic perspective, innovations come primarily from companies and inventors, while users and consumers are attributed a rather passive role. However, this image has changed in the meantime: "Increasingly, civil society actors are actively participating in the innovation process from non-economic roles, thereby accelerating transformation processes," says PIN director Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter. This is the basic idea behind the democratisation of innovations. The future discourse focuses on the question of how students can initiate and develop sustainability-oriented innovations together with companies.
The events are aimed at students, teachers, university administrators as well as representatives of companies, trade associations, start-up support institutions, civil society initiatives and politics. An opening event with lectures, workshops and panel discussions is planned, as well as a working conference, for the preparation of which interviews with experts will be conducted, and online discourse formats. In a final event, the project team will present an impulse paper and discuss it with all participants.
The "Zukunftsdiskurse” (Discourses on the Future) programme was announced for the fifth time in 2022. It aims to strengthen the role of universities and research institutions as a source of impulses for society. It is aimed at humanities and social science disciplines that take up social debates with their research results and present and discuss them in public events.
University of Oldenburg University well represented in the Gründungsradar 2022
Interlinking of sustainability and start-ups highlighted in case study
Universities play a central role in social transformation and economic renewal. They provide insights and develop solutions that make us more fit for the future in Germany and Europe. Last but not least, their activities to promote start-ups are a key success factor, as they ensure that findings from research and teaching are transferred to society and companies.
This is the sixth time that the Gründungsradar has examined the profiles and efforts of German universities to promote start-ups, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The components of start-up anchoring, start-up sensitisation, start-up qualification, start-up support, start-up activities, monitoring and evaluation as well as start-up networks are examined.
The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg achieves exemplary performance in terms of its start-up support and takes 7th place in the ranking among the large universities. The university is also highlighted as one of four case studies on the radar. The excellent integration of sustainability and entrepreneurship in the DNA of the university, the tools and methods developed with the participation of the university in the field of sustainable start-ups and the innovation campus with its digital lab and prototyping workshop are emphasised positively. "We are not only dealing with people of conviction who want to improve the world, but also with many who only recognise sustainability as an opportunity in the course of the start-up process. Sustainability for all' is therefore our claim. There is a broad arsenal of tools to make sustainability a success factor," says PIN Director Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter.
Journal of Cleaner Production – Special Issue
Assessing and forecasting the sustainability impact of new ventures: Theories, methods and empirical evidence
The Journal of Cleaner Production has now published a special issue on assessing and forecasting the impact of new ventures on sustainability. PIN Director Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter is the corresponding author as well as managing guest editor.
Edited by Klaus Fichter, Florian Lüdeke-Freund, Stefan Schaltegger, Simon Schillebeeckx
Start-ups are key actors in environmental innovation. Thus, the sustainability impact of young ventures is central to both cleaner production and entrepreneurship research. As such, we should examine “how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited”.
Latest Publications
Fichter, K., Lüdeke-Freund, F., Schaltegger, S., & Schillebeeckx, S. J. (2022). Sustainability impact assessment of new ventures: An emerging field of research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 384 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.135452
K. Fichter und K. Hurrelmann, "Sustainability-oriented business incubation: framing and supporting sustainable entrepreneurship," in Handbook of Research on Business and Technology Incubation and Acceleration, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021, pp. 478-495. doi.org/10.4337/9781788974783.00038
Fichter, K. & Tiemann, I. (2020): Impacts of promoting sustainable entrepreneurship in generic business plan competitions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 267 (2020). doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122076
Wagner, M., Schaltegger, S., Hansen, E.G.; Fichter, K. (2019). University-linked programmes for sustainable entrepreneurship and regional development: how and with what impact? Small Business Economics (2019). doi.org/10.1007/s11187-019-00280-4
Volkmann, C., Fichter, K., Klofsten, M. et al. (2019). Sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: an emerging field of research. Small Business Economics (2019). doi.org/10.1007/s11187-019-00253-7
Clausen, J. & Fichter, K. (2019). The diffusion of environmental product and service innovations: Driving and inhibiting factors. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 31 (2019), 64-95. doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2019.01.003
Tiemann, I.; Fichter, K. & Geier, J. (2018). University support systems for sustainable entrepreneurship: insights from explorative case studies. in: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing. Vol. 10, No. 2, 2018; DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2018.090983
Breuer, H.; Fichter, K.; Lüdeke-Freund, F. & Tiemann, I. (2018). Sustainability-oriented Business Model Development: Principles, Criteria, and Tools. in: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing. Vol. 10, No. 2, 2018; DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2018.10008388
K. Fichter & I. Tiemann (2017): Factors influencing university support for sustainable entrepreneurship: Insights from explorative case studies. in: Journal of Cleaner Production, 175 (2018), 512 - 524.
N. Bank, K. Fichter & M. Klofsten (2017): Sustainability-profiled incubators and securing the inflow of tenants - the case of Green Garage Berlin. in: Journal of Cleaner Production, 157 (2017), 76-83.
Practice-oriented Publications
- Fichter, K., Hurrelmann, K., Seela, A., Hjelm, O., Larsson, M., Kanda, W., Sundberg, C., Stel, F. (2020). Guidelines for the evaluation of collaborative student-business venturing activities. Oldenburg: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg.
- Fichter, K., Hurrelmann, K., Seela, A., Hjelm, O., Larsson, M., Kanda, W., Sundberg, C., Stel, F. (2020). Report for Work Package 2: Evaluating leading approaches and tools in collaborative green venturing. Oldenburg: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg.
Other:
- Hurrelmann, K., Fichter, K. (2020). Sustainability in university start-up support programmes: Practical examples and approaches. Oldenburg: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg.
- Hurrelmann, K., Fichter, K., Seela, A. (2018). Climate-Challenge: Chancen und Risiken für Geschäftsmodelle in Zeiten des Klimawandels: Ein Trainerleitfaden. Oldenburg: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg.
- Tiemann, I. and Fichter, K. (2016). Developing business models with the Sustainable Business Canvas: Manual for Conducting Workshops. (Download)