Managing Innovation for Sustainability

LED5025

Innovation is a crucial tool for addressing sustainability challenges, and the research fields of innovation and sustainability have often converged. This course explores the umbrella concept of 'innovation for sustainability' (IFS), its different perspectives, opportunities, challenges and management/leadership implications.

This course explores the concept and practice of Innovation for Sustainability (IFS) in different contexts, paradigms and its management implications. It covers various aspects of IFS, such as values, worldviews, sustainability impacts, partnerships, multi-leveled innovations, methods/tools and sustainable/ regenerative management. The course will analyze sustainability challenges and opportunities, as well as the approaches and its impacts/outcomes, in some selected contexts. The course will also discuss the increasing problems of spatial pressure and local conflicts. As the cross-sectoral and stakeholder challenges grow, finding new ways to collaborate in IFS is essential, not only in Norway but worldwide. There is no single solution for this issue, but it is very urgent to address it in careful ways.

The course is open to students in the Master of Science in Business and Master of Global Management study programmes. It can also be taken as single course, if relevant bachelor degree.

Upon successful completion of this course, students should have developed the following competencies:

Knowledge:

Advanced knowledge, as well as the ability to use and analyze knowledge/issues within the following topis:

- Paradigms in innovation for sustainability, their characteristics, value, management implications and key knowledge gaps. These include paradigms such as neo-liberal economy, ecological economy, communitybased sustainability, regenerative, indigenous and relational perspectives.

- Sustainable/regenerativ/responsible management.

- The challenges, potentials and approaches used in IFS within some selected contexts.

- Stakeholder theory (involvement, power) and partnerships. Coolaborative/participative methods in innovation and IFS, such as network-driven innovation, lab-driven innovation, utopia-workshops and dialogues. Management and facilitation of co-creation in IFS processes.

- Causes and implications of spatial pressures and conflicts within and across sectors and stakeholder groups, and strategies to prevent escalation while promoting collaboration and coexistence.

- Examples of strategies and tools used in IFS at different levels (e.g. product, process, organizational, business models, community/place.

Skills: Upon completing the course, the candidate can:

- Work with innovative solutions for sustainability in various contexts, sectors and levels of governance. Ability to change between perspectives.

- Design/plan, faciliate and evaluate participatory and collaborative methods for IFS, such as conducting a lab/workshop process with stakeholders.

- Analyze, critique and discuss the main challenges and opportunities for dialogue, collaboration, sustainability and IFS within and across sectors and levels of analysis, and their implications for management.

General competence: The candidate can:

- To acquire and apply relevant research-based knowledge within the course topics, and communicate about it.

- To participate effectively in work with sustainability and innovation for sustainability.

Paid semester fee and syllabus literature. It is also required that students have a laptop at their disposal.

This course is mandatory for students who are pursuing the specialization ‘Marketing and Management in Change’. It is also an elective course for students who are enrolled in other specializations of the Master of Science in Business Administration program or in the Master in Global Management program. It can also be taken as signle course for students with sufficient background.

This course is based on active students. It is expected that students physically meet on campus. It is compulsory to participate in evt business excursions, as well as in the pratical exersices in the portfolio exam. The learning process is based on lectures, discussions, exercises (e.g. case, paper) with supervision, throughout the semester. You will work on an innovation project (in the portfolio) in group througout the semester, that combines theory and practice.

The study programme is evaluated annually by students by way of course evaluation studies. These evaluations are included in the universitys quality assurance system.

The final grade is based on two components:

Portfolio exam (50%) in group (3-4 students). A-F
Oral exam (50%) individually. A-F

All support materials allowed in the work with innovation project, but one has to report references and mark if texts are made by others (including AI). In oral exam, one can bring own innovation project report, but no other aid.

Two bilingual paper dictionaries are allowed.

Artificial intelligence may only be used in accordance with Nord University’s guidelines for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in studies, unless otherwise specified in the course description.

Practical information and guidelines for the exam.

Pre-knowledge about management/leadership, marketing, sustainabiity and innovation. The course MAF5005 'Global trends' should preferably have been completed.

Course language

English

Credits

7.5

Study location

Bodø

Teaching semesters

Spring 2027

Responsible faculty

Nord University Business School

Course coordinator

Professor

Dorthe Helen Næss Eide

dorthe.eide@nord.no