Course Syllabus
Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Europe B |
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Spring 2026 - DIS Copenhagen |
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Core Course - 3 credits |
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Core Course Week: Stockholm |
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Business, Entrepreneurship, Leadership Studies As professionals, we approach this course as a regenerative learning process where every contribution counts. |
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None |
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Marta Juarez Peña & Kirsten Søndersted-Olsen |
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Monday 14:50 - 16:10 Classroom: V7-11 |
Course Description:
Welcome to Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Europe, a hands-on, learning-by-doing course where you will work with real cases, projects, guest speakers, and field visits from day one. The course explores innovation and entrepreneurship as cultural, contextual, and regenerative processes, using a Nordic–Mediterranean perspective.
You will work within key sectors such as tourism, medtech, gaming, and social innovation, meeting founders and entrepreneurs and developing your own ideas in teams. Through frameworks such as Design Thinking, Customer Requirements, Business Model Canvas, and Value Proposition Design, and through study trips to Denmark, Sweden, and Spain, you will gain practical experience and cultural insight. The course concludes with a Regenerative Innovation Pitch, preparing you to create impact beyond the classroom.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Understand entrepreneurship as a process shaped by culture and context
- Apply theory to real-world cases and ecosystems
- Compare Nordic and Mediterranean innovation environments
- Identify opportunities through interviews and fieldwork
- Develop and test ideas through prototyping and business modelling
- Communicate ideas through storytelling and professional pitching
- Strengthen cultural intelligence, critical reflection, and a regenerative mindset
Study Trips as Living Labs
The study trips are an integral part of the course and function as living labs, where students observe, interact, and test ideas in real contexts. Fieldwork, interviews, and reflection during the trips provide key insights that directly shape project development and learning outcomes.
Faculty: Kirsten Søndersted-Olsen (she/her/hers)
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Since 2016, Kirsten has been a dedicated mentor for early-stage startups through the Nordic Mentor Network for Entrepreneurship (NOME), providing guidance to teams across Scandinavia and the UK. Her mentoring approach combines structured learning, clinical expertise, and commercial insight, enabling founders to transform complex concepts into actionable, results-driven strategies. Kirsten holds an Executive MBA and has completed the Executive Board Program at INSEAD. Additionally, she is certified in adult pedagogy and facilitation, which enhances her ability to teach, coach, and inspire in a variety of learning contexts. With over 30 years of experience in the MedTech and Diagnostics sectors, Kirsten has held several global leadership positions at Agilent Technologies (Cancer Diagnostics) and Ambu A/S (Resuscitation/Cardiology). Her areas of responsibility have included international commercialization, strategic planning, marketing execution, pricing strategy, business model innovation, and go-to-market execution. |
Faculty: Marta Juarez Peña (she/her/hers)
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PhD in Sociology (University of Málaga), with Danish accreditation in Sociology and Political Sciences. Specialized in Nordic welfare states, social policy, and the labour integration of skilled immigrants in Denmark. Former staff member at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Danish Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, she is also an experienced researcher on migration, gender, and social sustainability. Marta has extensive teaching experience in higher education at Copenhagen Business School and Zealand Academy of Technologies and Business, where she lectures on Tourism, Service Management, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. She has been a guest lecturer at DIS and is actively engaged in academic research on tourism, cultural integration, and regenerative development in Denmark. With a strong passion for Service Innovation, she explores how organizations can design and deliver value through customer-centered and sustainable service strategies. |
Approach to Teaching and Learning:
This course is grounded in experiential learning, so we encourage you to bring your own experiences, examples, and reflections to class, because we believe the best learning happens when knowledge is contextualized. Our sessions are discussion-based, and we expect you to participate actively, challenge ideas (not people), and maintain an open, curious, and respectful attitude toward different perspectives. There is no single “right” way to start a business, so acknowledging varied opinions and experiences is essential and while you have every right to question factual statements, please do so constructively.
Study Tours:
We will visit Stockholm, Sweden top score on the European Innovation Scoreboard in 2025.European Innovation Scoreboard 2025 , and on our long tour we will visit Madrid and Malaga in Spain. Spain is scored as a strong innovator country. Let's observe the difference being a strong innovator country vs an innovation leader country
Notably, Denmark and Sweden are consistently rank among the world’s top startup hubs, securing positions within the top 50 globally in both the Global Startup Ecosystem Index (GSEI) 2025 and the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) 2025.
The Nordic region has a long-standing reputation for offering robust entrepreneurial support and fostering a strong startup ecosystems.
Core Course Week: Copenhagen and Stockholm
This week is entirely dedicated to the core course, and all other electives will be put on hold. The purpose is to have an intense focus on the course through a three-day study tour to Stockholm followed by workshops in Copenhagen. This is a great opportunity for you to bond with your new teams and to learn from entrepreneurs you will connect with both in Stockholm and Copenhagen.
Mediterranean-Inspired Innovation and Regenerative Experiences: Madrid–Málaga
This study tour explores Madrid and Málaga as complementary entrepreneurial ecosystems, where culture, creativity, digital innovation, and regenerative practices shape new business opportunities. Students engage with entrepreneurs, investors, and innovation hubs, gaining insights into how local identity, hospitality, technology, and sustainability drive entrepreneurship in Southern Europe.
The experience further encourages a Nordic–Mediterranean comparison, using the Spanish contexts of Madrid and Málaga to highlight how cultural intelligence and place-based thinking support opportunity recognition, regenerative innovation, and long-term value creation.
Assessment Structure:
| Assessment Overview (Click to Expand) |
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Participation & Engagement (Individual)Attendance is required for all scheduled classes, field studies, and study tours. Attendance is taken and engagement will be assessed every time we meet. This course also requires a high level of motivation and active participation - both in class and on the study tours. Although this grade is individual, it will be heavily influenced by how well you work with your team throughout the semester. This means:
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20% |
Entrepreneur and Startup Interview report/reflection- On Study TourWrite an engaging interview-based report/reflection featuring an entrepreneur or startup founder you've personally interviewed in Copenhagen/Sweden and Spain during study tours (both Core Course Week and on Long Study Tour). While the class will collectively meet various entrepreneurs, you must independently arrange 1-on-1 interviews with an entrepreneur of your choice. Your chosen entrepreneur cannot be someone introduced during scheduled class visits but may represent any type of entrepreneurial venture, ranging from multinational organisations operating in Copenhagen, Sweden or Spain to small local ventures. Further instructions, submission guidelines, and helpful resources are available in the Assignments section on Canvas. |
10% Sweden Tour |
Business Model and Value Proposition (Group)This assignment requires you to submit a 3000 word group paper and complete a short presentation in class. Your submission will need to:
Refer to the Assignments section in Canvas for instructions and submission guidelines. |
20% |
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) Video Demonstration (Group)You will be required create a video demoing your working Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This video should explain your decisions around defining 'the minimums' for your product and how you plan to engage with customers to learn for your next iteration. You will be graded on efforts to build something that can generate feedback from customers and so will need to demo a live, working, usable product. Refer to the Assignments section in Canvas for instructions and submission guidelines. |
15% |
Investor Pitches (Group)You will pitch your startup to a panel of investors and will have a maximum of 10 minutes per team to speak. The panel members may ask questions for clarification which you will need to be prepared to answer. Refer to the Assignments section in Canvas for instructions and submission guidelines. |
15% |
Literature list (*):
- David Bland & Alex Osterwalder: Testing Business Ideas, 2020
- Steve Blank & Bob Dorf: The startup owner’s manual, 2020
- Osterwalder, Alexander, et.al.: Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers and Challengers, 2010
- Osterwalder, Alexander, et.al.: Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want, 2014
- Ørom, S. Did you get the point? Cultural intelligence and diversity in global collaboration. Samfundslitteratur, 2022
(*) Additional specialized articles may be recommended by instructors in connection with specific cases or guest speaker sessions during the course.
Course Policies:
Attendance:
Attendance is required for all scheduled classes, academic visits, field studies and study tours. If you are unable to attend class due to illness, family bereavement, or use of a pre-approved accommodation, you must proactively communicate with us to receive an excused absence. If granted, you remain responsible for catching up on any material covered or assigned in class during your absence. To read more about DIS attendance policy, please refer to the DIS Academic Expectations and Honor Code.
Grading and Feedback:
This course involves identifying real problems, creating solutions, and transforming them into viable businesses. Learning here is experiential - you’ll engage with actual businesses and customers to test and refine your ideas. As such, prioritize process and experimentation over grades, and don’t let grade anxiety keep you from taking intellectual or creative risks.
The assessments weighted so that a poorer performance in one assessment will not derail your entire semester performance. The grading will be an honest snapshot of your performance in relation to the grading criteria, not a reflection of you personally or your effort. Any feedback from me or other collaborators (e.g., founders, investors) should be viewed as guidance for improvement, helping you grow throughout the course.
Late Assessment Policy:
For every 24 hours an assignment is late, you will lose 10 points. We will not accept assignments that are more than 5 calendar days late due to the fast-paced nature of the course. Please plan ahead and turn everything in on time. If your foresee yourself submitting work late, please write before the deadline. If an extension is granted, you will be required to submit work you have completed so far by the original due date.
Use of ChatGPT or AI :
You are welcome to use ChatGPT and other AI language models for brainstorming, idea generation, drafts, etc. but remember to apply good academic practices: consider biases and omissions, check the information and sources. All final submitted work must be yours, but you may use AI tools to assist you in the process.
Note: If you decide to use AI tools in any part of your assessment process, you must include a short note at the end of your work describing how these tools were used. If you do not include this note, you will receive a grade penalty (up to 50%).
Use of Laptops or Mobile Phones:
The use of laptops is allowed and encouraged for many class sessions. However, if your laptop becomes a distraction and you are not using it for course purposes, you will be asked to put it away.
Unless there is an emergency or you are instructed to do otherwise, you are to refrain from using your cell phone during class, guest lectures, and site visits. During site visits, please use a notebook for note taking as opposed to your phone.
Academic Accommodations:
Your learning experience in this class is important to us. If you have approved academic accommodations with DIS, please make sure we receive your DIS accommodations letter within two weeks from the start of classes to ensure the least disruption to your learning experience. If you can think of other ways I can support your learning, please don't hesitate to talk to me. If you have any further questions about your academic accommodations, contact Academic Support academicsupport@dis.dk
Course Summary and Schedule:
The course schedule is subject to change if necessary and students will be provided with as much notice as possible. Scheduled classes and assessments may be moved due to various factors including: guest lecture availability and illness.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
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