What is a BootCamp?
SSES Bootcamps are full-time one-week highly interactive deep-dive into an exciting challenge area, where students work alongside each other to learn, solve, bond and grow. This social immersion takes place somewhere around the globe, or in beautiful Stockholm, in collaboration with our world-class academic partners. These Bootcamps are designed and developed for engaged and ambitious students, giving them the tools and opportunity to address wicked problems and complex social challenges through interdisciplinary groups. Through a meticulous selection process, we handpick students from each of our six member universities in order to maximize diversity of disciplines, perspectives, cultures and genders. Bootcamps are completely free and students and alumni of SSES and our six member universities are all welcome to apply.
In this bootcamp, participants will explore Tuscan food-systems through engaging in local community projects and using innovative design practices that include biomimicry, nature-based entrepreneurship and sustainable business modelling to inform sustainable food systems and future development scenarios.
There will also be 1-2 additional days of travel and work:
For travel – 1 day before the bootcamp starts and 1 day after it ends.
For work – group hand-in and Individual reflections after the bootcamp is completed.
Intended learning outcomes
This bootcamp will offer:
- New perspectives to sustainability and the ability to arrive at innovative design solutions inspired by nature (biomimicry) for resilient and circular food systems
- Learn about Tuscany’s slow-food food production and meet local producers with hands-on immersion into four local projects and challenges, and the opportunity to strength (and possibly scale) their ideas
- How biomimicry shows new ways of creating value, managing growth and expanding entrepreneurial knowledge, where the ‘value’ is intricately tied to sustainability.
- Apply biomimicry, nature-based entrepreneurship and sustainable business tools to find innovative design solutions for sustainable farming, pioneering food systems and entrepreneurial solutions.
content
This immersive Bootcamp will offer:
- A look into the challenges of local Tuscan food production to reach innovative and sustainable solutions that are viable for small businesses
- Learn about, use, and implement innovative design practices such as biomimicry, nature-based entrepreneurship and sustainable business to inform sustainable food systems.
- Develop a new way to view, value, reconnect and participate with nature and learn how to apply these skills as design models for sustainable solutions
- Opportunities to critically reflect and discuss the complexities of design for sustainable food development in relation to nature and entrepreneurship.
- Learn how to work in multi-disciplinary and local multi-cultural teams by exploring local, traditions, networks, and values to learn about food systems
This camp is a hands-on immersion with four local projects that tap into traditional gastronomy, slow-food production, and biodynamic farming. Each projects aims to envision new modes of sustainability and community enhancing strategies for the local area and we will help them strengthen their ideas and possibly scale up.
We will explore how nature can be a source of inspiration while also maintaining traditional and cultural practices.Together, we will discover how innovative design practices such as biomimicry, nature-based entrepreneurship and sustainable business can inform the paradigm shift in farming and innovative food systems.
assessment
In order to receive a certificate from the bootcamp, students need to actively participate during the bootcamp days, create a business plan and presentation together with their team and hand in an individual written reflection assignment.
Active participation: 30%
Group project report and presentation: 50%
Written Individual reflection assignment: 20%
ELIGIBILITY & SELECTION
All students and alumni of SSES member universities are eligible to apply to this weekend workshop. We get many applications and unfortunately cannot accept everyone. The selection process is outlined below:
SELECTION PROCESS
- Application is reviewed
- Selection is made and confirmation email is sent out
- Participant must confirm his or her seat in order to secure the spot
- If spots are not confirmed in time, the waitlist will be reviewed and new participants selected
About the instructors
Anna Maria Orrù, PhD
Anna Maria Orrù’s work is embedded in biomimicry, food systems and nature-inspired design. She is and affiliated Senior Lecturer at Konstfack where she is responsible for embedding nature-inspired sustainability. She is also co-founder of Nordic Biomimicry where she directs the center dedicated to collaborate with nature towards sustainable futures. Based in Sweden and Italy, she holds a PhD in Architecture & Artistic Research from Chalmers University. To further underpin her service to ’nature’, she is a beekeeper and takes care of a biodynamic vineyard and olive grove.
Image of Anna Maria Orrù by Christopher Backholm
Maria von Euler
Maria is Senior Lecturer, Associate Faculty SSES at Konstfack. She teaches and develops courses within design, sustainability and entrepreneurship on both bachelor and master level. Maria specialized in innovation management, with a history as founder of several accelerator operations, startups and design lead in B2B as well as B2C companies.
