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• Borderstep and ESCP Business School cooperate

The Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability and ESCP Business School officially announce their collaboration in a new research and transfer area: Sustainable Business Models. The cooperation agreement, which was signed in early August, runs from September 2024 to August 2026 and marks the beginning of intensive joint research work that will take place under the umbrella of the Borderstep Institute and the ESCP STAR Center. Prof. Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund, Head of the Chair of Corporate Sustainability at ESCP Business School in Berlin, will lead the project.

“We measure what counts!”

The collaboration will focus on the transformation of entrepreneurial business models and how sustainable business models can be effectively supported and expanded.

Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter, founder and director of the Borderstep Institute, is very pleased about the cooperation with ESCP Business School and the opportunity to establish the joint research and transfer area “Sustainable Business Models” with Prof. Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund and his team. “We are pooling the excellent research expertise of Professor Lüdeke-Freund and the Borderstep Institute in the fields of sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainability innovations and impact measurement,” says Fichter. “We see ourselves as one of the global hotspots in the research of sustainable business models and the provision of know-how for the practical implementation and dissemination of sustainable entrepreneurship. Our motto: We Measure what Matters!”

Tackling future issues in concrete terms – cooperation focuses on application-oriented sustainability research

Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter and Prof. Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund have enjoyed a close scientific collaboration for over ten years, which is now being intensified and made more visible to the public. The aim of the alliance is to pool the expertise of both partners and jointly advance application-oriented sustainability research. By developing the “Sustainable Business Models” research area, the aim is to solve pressing future issues in the long term and take a leading role in research into sustainable business models.

Prof. Dr. Florian Lüdeke-Freund, holder of the Chair of Corporate Sustainability and co-founder of the ESCP STAR Centre, sees the cooperation as a unique opportunity for scientifically sound and practice-oriented research. “For over 20 years, the Borderstep Institute has proven with independence and foresight that it is a leader in researching and supporting sustainability innovations and sustainable entrepreneurship,” says Lüdeke-Freund. “I am delighted that we will be working together to further develop the research area of sustainable business models. Practice-oriented projects and the exchange with stakeholders from business and politics will play an important role in this.”

Borderstep and ESCP Business School are pursuing several specific goals with the alliance:

• Acquiring research funding: The partners want to jointly secure funding for research projects.
  High-ranking publications: Joint scientific articles in renowned journals are targeted.
  Transfer of science into practice: A central concern is to transfer research results into practical applications.

Initial projects and future plans

Although the official collaboration will not begin until September 2024, a joint project has already been acquired for the German Energy Agency (dena). This first project deals with business models for smart building technology and will be completed by November 2024. Further projects and transfer formats are already being planned.

ESCP Business School is an international business school with campuses in 6 major European cities – Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Turin and Warsaw. Founded in 1819, ESCP is the first business school in the world. The academic focus at the Berlin campus is on entrepreneurship, sustainability and digitalization as well as diversity and inclusion.