Esade will offer a new degree in Transformational Business and Social Impact, starting in the 2021-2022 academic year. This three-year, blended degree in English will include courses in technology, humanities and business. This new programme is based on hands-on work in real-life projects and focuses on creating and transforming business models with three-fold value: for the planet, for society and for organisations and companies.

This new degree aims to provide students with the necessary skills to design innovative business models that offer solutions for society’s great challenges. After graduation, students can set up their own company, work as a CIO (Chief Innovation Officer), or lead organisations seeking to make a social impact such as NGOs, foundations, and national or international organisations involved in socio-economic development.

Esade has designed this new bachelor’s degree to foster the development of multidisciplinary skills, such as critical and analytical thinking, business management, data analysis, creativity, technology design and entrepreneurship. “In today’s uncertain environment, the job market needs highly-qualified professionals with expert knowledge, outstanding humanistic skills and business acumen, who also understand the transformative power of technology”, said Xavier Ferràs, the director of Esade’s new degree in Transformational Business and Social Impact. “We seek action-oriented students with an enterprising mindset, who are passionate about what they believe in and want to change the world,” he emphasised.

Innovative learning ecosystem with no classrooms or subjects

The new degree steps outside the physical classroom and into the Esade Creapolis innovation park and the Esade Rambla of Innovation, the two learning ecosystems where students will interact with companies and work on real-life projects in BCorp companies during the three-year programme. Traditional subjects are out too. The new degree’s core will consist of a series of real-life projects  – digital prototypes, impactful business models, solutions for challenges in BCorp companies and the creation of start-ups  –  giving students an introduction to all the business management knowledge necessary to implement disruptive solutions intended to make a social impact. The projects will be run by Esade professors, entrepreneurs, managers and external mentors. They will also involve constant teamwork within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Technical knowledge and skills will be introduced according to the needs of each project.

Learning to learn through humanities and emotional intelligence

Esade has entered a strategic partnership with Minerva Project, a leader in teaching innovation. Minerva contributes a solid foundation of tried-and-tested subjects, teaching methods based on the science of learning and a technological environment that facilitates them both, thereby bolstering the outcome and impact of this learning. Students will develop cognitive skills including creative thinking, critical thinking, analytical thinking and evidence-based decision-making.

Another part of the degree focuses on humanities using Socratic discussions and liberal arts education. The Socratic method consists of group discussions that help individuals to constantly reflect upon the knowledge they acquire and learn how to apply it, with a humanistic approach, to real-life scenarios that make an impact on social and economic issues. Liberal arts education is a form of personal and interpersonal development based on subjects such as history, philosophy and literature.

Development of interpersonal, social and emotional skills

Throughout the programme, the development of students’ social skills and emotional intelligence will be constantly monitored and analysed. To do so, Esade has joined forces with Pentabilities, a system for developing social and personal skills funded by the EU, that provides students with evidence-based feedback and meticulously certifies the acquisition of the soft skills essential for job performance.

The new Bachelor’s degree will include two periods abroad, each lasting three months – one in Berlin and the other in Shanghai – where students will be immersed in innovative, entrepreneurial ecosystems, where they will continue working on their real-life projects as well as developing their knowledge of humanities, technology and business management.