future concepts bremen
future concepts bremen - research and the real-life world
The idea behind this was to bring together students and practitioners in limited-term creative laboratories to jointly develop business models which advance digital transformation.
This model was originally created in Tampere, Finland in 2008, and stands for international practical projects under the name DEMOLA. Since 2017, these creative laboratories are to be found in Bremen as well. They have a regional character and direct connection to Bremen’s business community as future concepts bremen.
Each semester, the Chair of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (LEMEX) in the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics at the University of Bremen offers different teaching formats with 100-day creative laboratories, where entrepreneurial solutions for the future are created in a wide range of digital innovation projects. What they all have in common is that students have the opportunity to gain practical experience, make contact with future employers, and become involved in digital development in business hub Bremen.
future concepts bremen is an innovative teaching concept which combines teaching and practical experience. It utilizes digital innovation projects to implement the fundamental idea of research-based learning and supports the transfer of knowledge and technology into business and society. future concepts bremen is funded by the Senator for Industry, Labor, and Europe (SWAE).
Success stories of future concepts bremen – Selected examples
Studi2Go is a practical project by students for students. An Instagram account with lots of interesting and helpful tips for the daily student routine. An idea which came to three students as a result of the upheaval in their daily routine caused by the pandemic.
Further information on Instagram
Finding a “taker” for high-quality items which had been donated was the motivation for seven students who designed and realized the www.bremenspendet.de website. The platform is simple to negotiate and thus makes donating easier.
Why not try having a job interview at a company? Four young presenters developed a podcast format in which one Bremen company presents itself as a potential employer in every episode. With lots of surprising answers to questions above and beyond the usual company portraits.
A dating app where you first get to know each other via voicemail only, this is the idea behind “Nanda”. A team of five students wanted to try out whether the voice is sufficient as you are getting to know each other to pave the way for a long-term relationship.
Digital innovation projects as you study – Practical experience at the University of Bremen
future concepts bremen combines teaching and practical experience. They evolve every semester on a blank sheet of paper. Project ideas are developed with project partners and teams of students formed for this purpose, who then have 100 days to work in close collaboration with teachers and representatives from the practical sphere on business issues, and develop practical solutions. The semester concludes with all digital innovation projects being presented as part of the project-based course. future concepts bremen are not case studies from the textbook, but live consulting for students interested in entrepreneurship and management.
Each winter and summer semester, the Chair of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (LEMEX) offers courses for Bachelor students in which several digital innovation projects are realized.
The title
Project IEM² VI – Digital innovation projects from real-world practice – future concepts bremen
and
Consulting, Corporate and Start-up Innovation Projects
stands for the chance to develop digital solutions to entrepreneurial issues in 100 days. In student teams together with private and public enterprises or organizations as practical partners.
If you want to focus your attention even more intensely on developing business model concepts and would like to be in touch with business, you can also take part in the digital innovation projects of the Praxis Summer Camps. This means spending 3 weeks of the semester break working intensively on a digital innovation project. Without the distraction of the lectures and classes that fill your timetable at other times.
The various teaching formats of future concepts bremen are announced in Stud.IP. They are suitable for all students taking a Bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Business Studies who selected International Entrepreneurship, Management, and Marketing (IEM²) as their specialization. But the digital innovation projects are also interesting for students with other specializations or from other faculties, who want to obtain key qualifications for their own professional career as part of General Studies.
From a blank sheet of paper to a digital concept – three phases lead to the pitch
The future concepts pass through three different phases - the initial, the productive, and the final phase. They build on each other and form the evolutionary process of a new business model.
Initial phase
In the Sneak Preview, you can warm up and gain an overview of the upcoming projects.
The kick-off event lifts the curtain on the players who will be involved. Students, collaboration partners, and projects are introduced to each other.
The Team Matching corresponds to the deal in the dragons’ den, so to speak. This is where the decision is made as to who is to develop which topic with whom in 100 days.
Final phase
- On demo day, the results of all the projects are presented. In front of the lecturers, the collaborating partners, and some interested members of the public. This is done in person at changing locations or virtually in the Internet.
- Last but not least, everyone receives direct feedback as individuals and as a team in the form of a reflection and evaluation. It then becomes crystal clear what each participant has been able to achieve in terms of specialist and personal development as a result of the project work.
Practical projects are more than CPs – they train methods and personality
Students do not only need specialist knowledge for their professional future. They also need methodological knowledge and personality. The students at Bremen’s universities are well aware of this. For almost 70% of them, practical formats are therefore the preferred format to train both these aspects.
What precisely do the digital innovation projects allow the students to do?
Interdisciplinary teamwork
Contacts to businesses
Ideas about where they would later like to work
Application of consulting and marketing tools
Use of agile project methods
Creation of offline and online presentations
Individual coaching by lecturers and partners with practical experience
