Zurich, Budapest, Copenhagen and Berlin: #Journey2014 week 7

Last week, Climate-KIC summer school students arrived in Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark and Germany. Time for us to look back at week 7 of #Journey2014, Climate-KIC’s pan-European climate innovation summer school.

Climate-KIC’s #Journey2014 programme includes 18 locations across Europe and is Climate-KIC’s largest climate innovation summer school to date. Students journey across three countries in six separate groups for a total of five weeks each, spread out over two-and-a-half months this summer.

In total, 300 students travel across Europe between July and early September, culminating in a challenge where start-up teams formed by the students present detailed business plans to a jury consisting of venture capitalists, start-up entrepreneurs and scientists.

Week 7 of the 2014 edition of the programme kicked-off on 18 August.

Copenhagen

After a substantial ferry journey from the British Isles to Esbjerg in Denmark, students picked up rental bikes in Copenhagen and prepared for an intensive programme about climate policy, business and innovation in the Nordic region and site visits across the Danish capital.

During the week, students took part in courses on finance, market understanding and value chains, intellectual property, risk assessment as well as lectures on climate physics, the climate impact of food and crops and carbon counting.

Zurich

Having arrived in Switzerland from their first two weeks in Hessen, Germany, over the weekend, students were treated to a treasure hunt across Zurich organised by Climate-KIC’s Alumni Association. The students also spent time at Impact HUB Zurich to take part in a Business Model Canvas workshop and to learn about social entrepreneurship.

During the week, students focused on their business plans, market research, market segmentation at ETH Zurich and visited Climate-KIC partner South Pole Carbon. The group also took part in finance and lean start-up workshops as well as site visits to Blue Diversion Toilet and Applied Climate Solutions in Dübendorf.

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Budapest

In Hungary, students spent most time at the Council of Europe’s Budapest-based European Youth Centre. The group learned about design thinking, market research and the Business Model Canvas. Students took part in workshops on finance and local climate changes issues and were introduced to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) – the Budapest headquartered EU body that founded Climate-KIC.

Students enjoyed Hungary’s traditional St. Stephen’s day fireworks on 20 August. The group also visited TU Budapest and took part in a site visit before ending the week with a pitching session.

Berlin

The group in Germany focused on business plans and group work, as well as market research on the streets of Berlin. The students received a lecture on finance and took part in a tour around the EUREF Campus – home to Climate-KIC’s centre in Berlin.

The students also visited InnoZ, Climate-KIC’s incubator in Berlin – the Green Garage – and attended a session on carbon disclosure project KnowCarbon.

From the blog

Krishan Anand, a MSc student in Business Marketing at the University of Warwick, was one of the students on board the ferry from the UK to Denmark. Writing for the Climate-KIC blog, he said: “With the cool wind blowing through my hair and watching the steam rise, the whistle blows as we set sail into the North Sea.” Krishan highlighted last week’s shift in focus from climate change to entrepreneurship: “The change was welcomed by the students as it started to take us out of our comfort zone, presenting us with a fantastic opportunity to grow.”

Anna Klobut, a graduate of Transportation and Environmental Engineering from Aalto University, is part of the first students who have already finished their #Journey2014. Looking back at her experience she wrote for the Climate-KIC blog: “Looking back to the time before the Journey started, I never expected the summer school to be such an intense and powerful experience.“

Last week on social media

Catch up on some of the social media highlights for #Journey2014 week 7: