Pressure Cooker Workshop

HOW DOES IT WORK?

During the Pressure Cooker, students go through the ideation process step-by-step. For instance, they start by identifying their own passions, skills, knowledge and networks, after which teams are created that then look for situations where innovation is desperately needed. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used for this purpose.

Afterwards, students go through several steps to gain insight into that situation(s), identify end-users and finally start brainstorming possible solutions to the problem they have identified. The end point of the Pressure Cooker is that each team creates a low-fidelity prototype or mock-up of their idea.

Because the process is broken up into several steps and explanations are provided at each step, the Pressure Cooker is accessible to any student - regardless of their study background or prior knowledge. Moreover, each step not only explains what needs to be done, but also why it needs to be done. In this way, students develop entrepreneurial competences, such as spotting opportunities and valuing ideas.

The Pressure Cooker methodology can be used in two ways:

Timed Event

During a 2 x 4-8 hour event, a group of 15-30 students in teams of 3-4 people go through the steps of the Pressure Cooker. All steps have a time limitation which sometimes causes less detail in how the steps are worked out. But, under pressure everything becomes fluid and this often promotes creativity.

Self-Paced

The steps can also be completed individually by students (teams) at their own pace. This way, there is often more time to arrive at detailed elaborations, without time pressure. It does ensure that students who have participated in a pressure cooker before can use the method ‘for real’.

WHICH ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCES DOES THE PRESSURE COOKER FOCUS ON?

The following entrepreneurial competences are addressed during the Pressure Cooker Workshop:

• Recognizing/signalling opportunities
• Acting sustainably and ethically
• Learning through practice
• Taking initiative
• Analysing and valuing ideas
• Promoting self-awareness and self-reliance
• Promoting creativity
• Encourage effective cooperation and teamwork

PARTICIPATE OR ORGANIZE

The Venture Centre AUAS offers the Pressure Cooker in different ways:

• Programmes and minors can use the Pressure Cooker to have their students work on these (entrepreneurship) skills within the curriculum. The starting point for this workshop is the experience students have gained in practice during their internship. We encourage them to recognize problems they encountered during their internship, and come up with a solution.
• Centres of Expertise and Lectorates can use the Pressure Cooker to make the connection between their (research) themes and education by having students think about new creative solutions and sustainable innovations.
• External partners can organize a Pressure Cooker event around a challenge that is important to them, in cooperation with the Venture Centre AUAS.
• Student associations can organize a Pressure Cooker event with and for their (prospective) members that specifically focuses on their field of study.
• Individual students (teams) can use the methodology to search for an innovative and sustainable idea themselves.

AFTER THE PRESSURE COOKER

The purpose of the Pressure cooker is to let students experience how they can come up with new creative solutions and sustainable innovations. But, the Pressure Cooker also generates ideas that students develop further after the Pressure Cooker. They can do this, for example, at our 10K Incubator Programme, or by joining our entrepreneurial Venture Centre Community. They can also make an appointment at the Student Startup Helpdesk.

CURIOUS ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE PRESSURE COOKER FOR YOUR PROGRAMME?

Are you curious about how we can integrate the Pressure Cooker Workshop within your programme or do you have further questions? If so, please send an e-mail to r.slikker@hva.nl.