Best practices for teaching green invention: Interviews on design, engineering, and business education

This study investigated best practices in teaching environmental responsibility to inventors and innovators. Because successful invention includes engineering, design, and business, best practices in all three disciplines were investigated, as well as connections among them. The investigation sought best practices in curriculum, delivery methods, and administrative leadership to maximize environmental responsibility in invention education. To find best practices, interviews of 25 instructors, administrators, and graduates from sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship programs were performed; a small literature review provided background and validation. Results found that for curriculum, there was no “silver bullet” but a wide spread of topics for different contexts; however, core topics included business knowledge, measurement of impacts, systems thinking, communication, and inclusion of social justice for broader sustainability. For delivery methods, project-based learning in interdisciplinary teams was a best practice, especially when partnering with industry or other external stakeholders. For leadership, faculty leading with strong administrative support was often praised, though other models were also described, and barriers were mentioned. Leadership best practices also included involvement of all aspects of institutions: faculty, administration, students, facilities, and operations.