Social Impact Mindset

Description

Looking to build your social entrepreneurship skills through hands-on exploration of real societal challenges? This course combines practical learning with collaborative teamwork, helping you understand social issues and co‑create entrepreneurial ideas rooted in social impact.

Participants follow a clear pedagogical sequence: they begin by identifying challenges they observe in their own environment, then work in groups to analyze the problem in depth and understand who is affected and why. Through this collaborative process, participants are encouraged to step outside their own bubble, gaining exposure to diverse perspectives that broaden their understanding and enrich their idea‑generation. As the course progresses, they learn how to develop realistic ideas, explore what makes a solution socially responsible, and reflect on what communities actually need. They also practise communication, active listening, collaboration, and basic problem‑solving methods that support socially oriented entrepreneurship.

Throughout the course, the emphasis remains on practical learning: identifying a problem, exploring its social implications, developing a better idea, and refining that response based on feedback and limitations. Participants will focus on developing the fundamental mindset and skills that support socially conscious entrepreneurial work, including essential foundations in leadership, strategic thinking, co‑creation dialogue, and coaching, applying these directly to the project they design throughout the program.

The program culminates in a final pitch in which each group presents their refined idea, explains how it aims to make a meaningful impact on society, and demonstrates their ability to work collaboratively, think critically, and communicate their proposal clearly. By the end of the course, participants gain a realistic understanding of social entrepreneurship skills as a practice rooted in teamwork and thoughtful action.

Partner Opportunities

This course provides meaningful opportunities for organizations, institutions, and companies interested in contributing to or learning from socially oriented entrepreneurial work. Partners may submit a societal challenge that aligns with their mission or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) priorities. Participants' groups can choose to explore these challenges as their project, which will be focused on social impact, offering fresh perspectives grounded in careful analysis, co‑creative teamwork, and socially responsible problem‑solving.

Partners may also join selected sessions- such as feedback rounds or final pitches- to share insights, pose questions, or offer real‑world considerations that help participants refine their ideas. This light‑engagement model provides organizations with valuable reflections on issues they care about, while also supporting the learning and development of future socially conscious entrepreneurs.

Partnership involvement is flexible, and organizations are not required to commit time beyond what they find meaningful. The goal is to create mutually beneficial interactions that enrich the educational experience while giving partners access to thoughtful, socially aware exploration of challenges relevant to their work.

Lecturers

Hamed Noori

 Hamed is the author of Coaching Across Continents, a handbook shaped by years of practical experience supporting people through change. His career has taken him from entrepreneurship and CEO roles to executive coaching, where he discovered his passion for helping individuals and communities grow.

He founded the Online Coaching Center and the Online Coaching Academy, initiatives that have supported students and individuals across the world and that he continues to build and grow into a diverse community of emerging and experienced coaches. His work now reaches across the EU, where he develops programs that support belonging, understanding differences as a source of learning, and growing together. He has also contributed to major national and international initiatives, including the Dutch National Education Programme (NPO) and the EU MILAGRO project Migrant and Local Grow Together.

Hamed’s contributions have been recognized at Utrecht University with multiple honors: a Diversity and Inclusion Award nomination, a Game Changer in Education Award, and recognition as a Role Model for Student Well-being.

Visiting Experts:

Based on their expertise, the expert will guide specific days in the programme.

Friedemann Polzin

 

Dr Friedemann Polzin, is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University School of Economics, member of the Sustainable Finance Lab (SFL) and co-founder of the European Centre for Alternative Finance (ECAF). Friedemann holds a PhD in Management and Business Economics from EBS Business School. He investigates the financing of sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship, corresponding organizational, institutional and political arrangements required for a transition towards a sustainable economy. This includes changes to the financial sector itself, such as forms of alternative finance and crowdfunding. Recent projects focus on scaling the hydrogen economy (Hy-Success), improving finance modules in integrated assessment models (DIAMOND), finance and business models for positive energy districts (EmpowerED) and the role of the financial sector for regenerative agriculture (RE-GE-NL). His research has been published in leading innovation, entrepreneurship, management, sustainability and energy journals.

Danielle Vlaanderen

 

Danielle Vlaanderen has worked for more than 30 years at the Utrecht University in the department of Educational Sciences as an assistant professor. Her areas of expertise are coaching and training (non-directive supporting of learning processes of individuals and groups) and action research.

Important in her development was her training in Transactional  Analyses (TA) that brought her more understanding and self awareness of her own patterns in life, and the TA gave her a conceptual framework to understand communication in general in a more profound way. 

With Action Research and working with community partners on their questions for change, she experiences the full circle back to her roots in sociology. 

Her vision is that learning becomes more meaningful when it is linked to experience. In her courses action learning is a recurring characteristic. The awareness of the full complexity of coaching is part of the learning and within that complexity specific elements are highlighted. As coaches we are never finished with learning and developing; coaching is a way of being. When supporting others in their personal learning journeys as coaches, we need to know what change and learning feels like in our own development. 

Bruna Chieko Magaña Izawa

Bruna C. M. Izawa is a legal, governance, sustainability, and compliance professional with over fifteen years of international experience across multinational organizations in Europe, particularly within the energy trading, logistics, and corporate sectors. With a background in law and an LL.M. in Commercial and Company Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam, she has developed strong expertise in sustainability, ESG-related frameworks, legal governance, regulatory compliance, negotiation, and business operations.

Throughout her career, Bruna has worked across legal counsel, contract management, procurement, governance, sustainability, and negotiation functions, supporting international companies and multidisciplinary teams. Her experience includes commercial agreements, stakeholder negotiation, corporate governance, compliance frameworks, regulatory implementation, risk management, and European regulatory developments including GDPR, CSRD, and ESG-related frameworks.

Bruna is passionate about advancing sustainability and building practical solutions that strengthen governance, compliance, and responsible business practices while supporting collaboration across international and multidisciplinary environments. She combines legal expertise, analytical thinking, negotiation skills, and a continuous learning mindset to contribute to sustainable and resilient organizations.

Target audience

This course is designed for individuals working in, or preparing for roles in, social impact and community‑focused environments. It is suitable for those who want to apply practical skills to real societal challenges in their work.

Especially relevant for:

• CSR and sustainability professionals
• NGO and non‑profit staff
• Public sector workers involved in community or social programs
• Early‑career social innovation professionals
• Students pursuing careers in social entrepreneurship or community engagement

Participants strengthen practical competencies in leadership, strategy, co‑creation dialogue, and coaching, applicable across these professions.

Aim of the course

By the end of the program, participants will be able to:

• Identify a societal challenge using clear methods.
• Work collaboratively in teams to explore the social impact of the chosen challenge.
• Develop a realistic and socially responsible idea that responds to the identified issue.
• Create a constructive execution approach, considering feasibility, partnerships, and potential obstacles.
• Apply practical skills in leadership, strategy, negotiation, and coaching throughout the project.
• Communicate their idea clearly and confidently in a final pitch that demonstrates critical thinking and social awareness.

Study load

Participants are expected to complete approximately 5 hours of preparation before the first day of the course. Every day, the course runs from 10:00 to 15:00, followed by one hour of group practice from 15:00 to 16:00. Participants will also complete one to two hours of homework to prepare for the next day.

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