Innovation Management and Sustainability
Head:
Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter
Innovation Management and Sustainability
The new Innovation Management module is starting!
Over the past few months, the PIN team led by Prof. Klaus Fichter, Nina Heiting and Anne Seela has been working intensively on the new ‘Innovation Management’ module. At the start of the 2025 winter semester, the time has come: the module is officially launching and bringing a breath of fresh air to teaching.
Designed in a flipped classroom format, the module teaches the basics of modern innovation processes. Multimedia learning materials prepare the content, which is then contextualised and explored in depth by Prof. Fichter in the lecture hall.
A central component of the module are group-based tasks that optimally prepare students for participation in the advanced seminar ‘Innovation4Impact’. Unlike in the Sustainable Venturing module, students work without practice partners and develop their own innovative approaches based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This makes it possible to try out challenge-based learning (CBL) in a new way!
Award for co-innovation: Sustainable Venturing is University Pearl of the Month for March 2025
According to the Stifterverband, the proportion of industry-funded third-party funding at universities has been declining for years, resulting in a significant loss of innovation potential for science and industry. To counteract this, the Stifterverband honors innovative and exemplary university projects.
In 2025, the award's motto is “Collaborative research – shaping innovation with companies.” Under this theme, we are very pleased to announce that we have been awarded the title of University Pearl of the Month for March 2025 with our Sustainable Venturing module. The module is based on the concept of innovation-related challenge-based learning: companies provide real challenges from their working environment that are linked to social problems. Student teams then work with the companies to develop suitable solutions and potential business models. What makes this module special is its focus on sustainability and the requirement to implement the solutions developed.
Further information on the module can be found here. The official press release from the Stifterverband can be accessed via this link.
Award for co-innovation: Sustainable Venturing is University Pearl of the Month for March 2025
According to the Stifterverband, the proportion of industry-funded third-party funding at universities has been declining for years, resulting in a significant loss of innovation potential for science and industry. To counteract this, the Stifterverband honors innovative and exemplary university projects.
In 2025, the award's motto is “Collaborative research – shaping innovation with companies.” Under this theme, we are very pleased to announce that we have been awarded the title of University Pearl of the Month for March 2025 with our Sustainable Venturing module. The module is based on the concept of innovation-related challenge-based learning: companies provide real challenges from their working environment that are linked to social problems. Student teams then work with the companies to develop suitable solutions and potential business models. What makes this module special is its focus on sustainability and the requirement to implement the solutions developed.
Further information on the module can be found here. The official press release from the Stifterverband can be accessed via this link.
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)
External Project Websites
Scaleup4Sustainability (finished)
Klima-WA? (finished)
TEMPRO (finished)
Netzwerk Innovation & Gründung im Klimawandel (NIK)
HanseKlima (finished)
EkaKorn (finished)