Programme Content
The course will progress by building up skillsets and imparting perspectives in sequence A) Skillsets 1) Observation – the course begins with lesson around how to see the world around them. In the era of smartphones, blinded by our own comfort and privilege, most of us move through our daily lives on autopilot, blind to the friction, inefficiency, and unmet needs hiding in plain sight. This module will teach students to slow down, record their observations by paying attention, and ask why does this work this way? or who is being left out here? Fundamentally, it drives the point that everyday life is a laboratory, and immersion in the immediate context is all one needs to begin. 2) Problem Identification – students will learn how to frame and articulate problems of their interest, while identifying key stakeholders and staying within the realm of their own interest. Relative severity of candidate problems will be estimated and measures of situation at hand will be made. 3) Solution Building - This module teaches students that solutions can be a new process, a community initiative, a simple product, or even a behavioural nudge. Students will learn to brainstorm widely without judgment, evaluate ideas against real-world constraints like cost, feasibility, and impact, and then converge on the most promising direction. They will be encouraged to draw from their own lived experiences and the insights gathered during observation and problem identification, ensuring that their solutions are rooted in genuine understanding rather than assumption. Basic principles of design thinking will be taught. 4) Prototyping - students will be introduced to the art and discipline of building quick, rough, low-cost representations of their ideas — a sketch, a cardboard model, a roleplay, a mock app screen, or even a short demonstration. Students will learn that the purpose of a prototype is to invite feedback, and iterate before investing significant time or resources. They will go through at least one cycle of build, test, and improve, developing a comfort with imperfection and a bias toward action. 5) Storytelling - This final module teaches students that every innovator must also be a storyteller — someone who can make others feel the problem before presenting the solution. Students will learn to structure their narrative around three pillars: the human behind the problem, the journey of discovery, and the promise of the solution. Together, the five modules form not just a course curriculum but a complete way of being in the world — one that is curious, action-oriented, playfully creative, and empathetic. B) Perspectives 1) History of a city, its communities and associated entrepreneurial landscape 2) Ingenuity and enterprise of local businessmen 3) Social enterprises and their impact 4) Crisis and its impact on a geography, business, individuals 5) (Film) Industry as a matrix of entrepreneurial energy
