Learn to master the needs-driven approach and apply it in the agri-food sector. You get to use your professional skills, learn new creativity-tools, and work in interdisciplinary teams close to practice.
The BioSustainability Design programme educates one cohort of fellows per year. As a fellow, you will follow a 10-month full-time structure consisting of a Bootcamp and a four-step process containing Field Immersion, Need validation, Invention, and Commercial skill building.
During the programme, you will receive feedback from mentors and experts to strengthen your innovation competencies and entrepreneurial skills along the way.
The curriculum may be subject to minor changes from year to year.
During the bootcamp you are taught and trained in the design thinking and needs-driven innovation approach to ensure you are able to conduct your field work during field immersion at you host company.
You will be introduced to the BSD staff, selected topics related to the agri-food value chain, your team, and your host organisation in the food industry.
(The bootcamp last approx. 3 weeks and will require travel across the country for selected seminars)
During the field immersion period, you and your team will observe different aspects and daily routines at your host company to identify and discover challenges and gather insights. You will be shadowing staff across functions and make individual arrangements with staff, organisations and partners to uncover needs and wonderings along your way.
During the field immersion phase, you and the other fellows will identify and log hundreds of insights and observations at your fellow office to discover patterns that can lead to two-three needs with high potential-value for the next phase.
You have to expect some commuting during this phase back and forth to you host company.
In the end for the period, you will be working in a Host Design Sprint. Here, you and your team will work on a concept or solution for the host company based on your insights and needs. The sprint will be choosen by the host.
(The field immersion phase lasts approx. 8 weeks)
During the need validation phase the focus is on creating and validating different observations and insights in relation to your selected needs. Through data review, dialogue, pitches, and discussions with mentors and experts, you will refine your findings into two-three high–quality needs before the Christmas break.
(The need validation phase lasts approx. 5 weeks)
During this phase the focus is on creating different solution concepts through ideation sessions based on the needs you have identified. You and your team refine and generate as many ideas as possible in a parallel process where you are working with multiple needs at once.
Along with the BSD team, DTI experts and BSD mentors will be available to help validate technical, operational and market potentials. They will also support you and the team in pretotyping, stakeholder involvement and search for existing technologies to help you develop innovative sustainable solutions. In this phase, you will begin to sow entrepreneurial seeds and explore future collaborations.
(The invention phase lasts approx. 11 weeks)
At the beginning of this phase, you and your team mates will select one lead concept and begin prototyping and testing. You will develop Business model and commercialisation strategies focused on key sustainable business aspects.
You will work with experts to explore stakeholder mapping, regulatory and Intelligent Properties (IPR) with experts so your entrepreneurial skills are sharpened and ready to go further with your concept/solution after the programme, if you decide to do so.
It could be in a startup, but also in collaboration with an established company.
(The Commercial skills phase lasts approx. 14 weeks)
After 10 months, you will make a final presentation of your lead concept to the advisory board, collaboration partners, external stakeholders and relevant participants. You will then graduate as a BioSustainability Designer at a pitch event to celebrate your achievements.
If you have questions about the programme or whether it is right for you, please read through our Why become a fellow or Do you fit the programme pages or consult our FAQ section. If this did not answer your question, please send us an email at info@biosustainabilitydesign.dk, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
