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The world faces an increasing number of environmental problems such as climate change, depletion of biodiversity, plastic pollution and the side effects of mining. In a world with so many environmental challenges creating additional consumer items, even when they are labelled environmentally friendly, can and does have environmental consequences. We suggest that design thinking can and should include a more holistic systems thinking perspective as part of its drive to encourage corporate innovation. We argue that design thinking should take a much wider view of who are their stakeholders. In order to demonstrate the connection between corporate innovation, systems thinking and design thinking, we draw on a case study regarding the creation of a new data center. The case demonstrates how design thinking with elements of system thinking can be used to generate solutions that has positive impacts for multiple stakeholders, including the environment. The case study demonstrates that these combined perspectives can also be used as a teaching model to shift students’ mindsets towards not just finding solutions that suit a customer or a project owner, but also the environment and other stakeholders. The case demonstrates that practical positive results can be generated over a short period of time, with little investment. The case also highlights a successful approach to industry/university collaborations. The research delves into the basics of systems thinking, and how there is a connection with design thinking. We then discuss the teaching methodology and approach to using design thinking/systems thinking to solve the case challenge. We then present the results of the challenge and the discussion regarding how such projects can play a role in shifting students’ mindset towards having a more environmentally friendly perspective while engaging in corporate innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship education has become a popular topic, with a diverse field of enquiry examining how best to teach the topic to aspiring entrepreneurs. There is general consensus that having students engage in real-world entrepreneurial activities is a positive pedagogical approach. Observing students engage in attempts to start their own businesses as part of a bachelor level programme has revealed that many of the students struggle to take the necessary steps to successfully launch a business and often become ‘stuck’ at some point or reluctant to take further action to enable their businesses to grow. Students confirm that they know what needs to be done in their nascent businesses, but struggle to take the required action. The issue lies not in their knowledge of what to do, but in a reluctance to act. Therefore, this article explores from the point of the student their perceived reasons for not engaging in additional entrepreneurial activities. It aims to highlights the fears, resistance and demotivating factors that play a role in influencing students decision to act entrepreneurially. The paper highlight areas where educators can focus their energy and efforts to enable students to have more constructive learning experiences. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with 20 students. The data comes from a singular course at a bachelors level course in Norway, and does not seek to provide conclusive evidence or a taxonomy of all the reasons that stall student progress. Instead, the article provides an exploration of key themes that can be used to guide future research on the topic of student experiences with practical pedagogical approaches to entrepreneurship. While much has been written on the positives of having students engage in entrepreneurial activity, this article sheds light on the areas for improvement and the difficulties associated with having students start their own business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]