Academy

The ISTE Academy is an educational platform that accompanies companies and their employees on the path to sustainable, regenerative economic practices. The Academy focuses on comprehensive knowledge transfer, individually tailored to various levels and target groups, and aims for sustainable transformation through company-specific knowledge and interdisciplinary learning. The long-term goal is to create a platform that goes beyond a mere educational institution and serves as a knowledge management system that promotes learning and development for all actors in society.

  • Promoting sustainable transformation: Imparting knowledge and skills to act sustainably in accordance with the planet’s ecological boundaries.
  • Promoting broad access to education: Providing educational opportunities that convey sustainability in general and industry-specific terms, tailored to different value and action levels.
  • Revolutionizing education:
    Using modern didactics and AI-supported methods to make learning and knowledge exchange efficient and personalized.

The Academy follows a multi-level approach that adapts to the specific requirements and roles within a company:

  • General level: Basic understanding of sustainability and its dimensions, such as circular economy, climate protection, educational equity, regulations.
  • Industry and business model-specific level: Imparting knowledge for industry-specific sustainability strategies and business models.
  • Company-specific level: Adapting content to a company’s value orientation and strategic direction.
  • Workplace-specific level: Tailored training content adapted to the requirements of various roles and positions such as production management, purchasing, business management.

The ISTE Academy relies on dialog-based, AI-supported interactions to further optimize exchange and learning processes:

  • Dialog assistants and chatbots: Language models and artificial intelligence guide users through the training materials and provide support for specific questions.
  • Use of AI for further education and community building: AI analyzes and utilizes questions and content to continuously develop and strengthen the learning community.

The ISTE Academy employs diverse and flexible didactic methods to accommodate different learning styles and enable effective learning:

  • Self-paced learning: Self-determined learning that allows participants to adjust the pace and content of the training.
  • Synchronous – online or in-person – and asynchronous training: Wide selection of learning modes to promote location and time-independent education.
  • Multimedia content: Use of various media forms (images, texts, podcasts) and learning methods (group work, individual work) to accommodate different learning preferences.

To meet the specific requirements of a company, the ISTE Academy integrates company-specific knowledge and expands it through comprehensive knowledge management:

  • Company-specific content: Recording and maintaining internal knowledge, e.g., on processes, research and development, product information, and workflows in the field of sustainability.
  • Knowledge management concept: Using the platform as a knowledge management system for long-term integration and application of sustainable practices.

The platform aims to create a sustainable learning community that networks both within companies and across company boundaries:

  • Internal and external networks: Promoting knowledge exchange among employees of a company and with external learners and/or knowledge bearers.
  • AI-supported community matching: Use of artificial intelligence to network and align individual learning paths, questions, and concerns.
  • Promoting collaborative learning: Support in the further development and application of sustainable practices through collaborative learning and exchange.

By building a network of companies, educational institutions, and research facilities, the ISTE Academy creates a dynamic and interactive platform:

  • Knowledge transfer through expert lectures and workshops: The platform offers exclusive insights through expert lectures, case studies, and best practices that arise from collaboration with leading actors. This allows participants to benefit directly from the experiences and insights of leading companies and researchers.
  • Joint learning projects and co-learning: The Academy promotes co-learning initiatives where employees from different companies and institutions work together on topics or projects, creating a practice-oriented and interdisciplinary learning environment.
  • Promotion of innovation projects and pilot programs: Through the integration of expertise and resources from various partner organizations, innovations and pilot projects that directly transfer sustainable practices into operational practice are also supported.

Community building is further strengthened by the inclusion of an expert network:

  • Professional exchange forums and discussion groups: The platform offers experts and participants the opportunity to exchange ideas in topic-specific groups, ask questions, and share experiences. These forums promote continuous exchange and reflection on new developments and challenges.
  • Mentorship and peer learning: Experienced experts can act as mentors, answering specific questions, providing new impulses, and thus building a closer relationship between the various partners and learners.

The ISTE Academy pursues an integrative approach that relies on expertise and knowledge from various areas such as business, science, education, and other relevant actors. Through these collaborations, the platform aims to become a comprehensive, vibrant knowledge space that integrates current developments and in-depth expertise into sustainable business practices.

  • Involvement of experts from practice: The platform is enriched through partnerships with companies and their sustainability experts. These experts contribute valuable knowledge on industry-specific requirements, innovative solutions, and best practices, which are prepared for the Academy’s training paths.
  • Scientific collaboration: Cooperations with universities, research institutes, and scientific experts ensure the integration of the latest research results and well-founded insights. This scientific basis ensures that the learning content corresponds to current findings and standards, and that participants receive practical and scientifically sound information.
  • Educational institutes and educators: The ISTE Academy also works with educational institutions and didactic experts to develop effective learning methods and didactic concepts based on the latest educational technology approaches. This allows for continuous optimization of learning paths and content.

The ISTE Academy aims to create an inclusive education and knowledge space that enables long-term and comprehensive sustainable transformation. Through close collaboration with experts from business, science, and education, the platform becomes a vibrant network that continuously provides current knowledge and promotes innovative learning. This vision sees the ISTE Academy not just as an educational platform, but as an interdisciplinary knowledge center that supports sustainably acting communities and organizations.

  • Continuous knowledge updating: The platform is constantly kept up to date through cooperations with companies, research institutions, and education experts. This ensures that the learning content is both practical and scientifically sound, and that participants always receive relevant and current information.
  • Promoting innovation through interdisciplinary collaboration: The ISTE Academy combines expertise and perspectives from various fields, creating a breeding ground for new approaches and innovative solutions that can be put into practice. This not only strengthens learners but also promotes innovative ideas within the participating companies.
  • Strengthening a collective understanding of sustainability: The involvement of different experts and actors promotes a holistic understanding of sustainability that integrates ecological, social, and economic aspects. This broader perspective enables participants to comprehensively understand and apply sustainable strategies.
  • Access for various social groups: In the long term, ISTE Academy plans to make its educational and knowledge offerings accessible beyond corporate boundaries to other social actors such as municipalities, schools, and students. This way, the platform could contribute to the sustainable transformation of society with low-cost or free offerings.

Course Overview

The ISTE Academy is thus more than an educational platform: it is an integral education and knowledge management system for sustainable business practices and actions. By combining adaptive learning methods, an engaged learning community, and company-specific knowledge, ISTE Academy aims to create the foundation for sustainable transformation while revolutionizing how knowledge is imparted in the context of sustainability. The vision is to create a comprehensive and accessible learning space in the long term that promotes and reinforces sustainable action both within companies and in society.

Through the systematic integration and exchange of expertise from business, science, and education, ISTE Academy becomes a comprehensive knowledge platform that offers both theoretical and practice-oriented content. The concept enables sustainable transformation by providing well-founded knowledge that is constantly expanded through collaboration and integration of different perspectives. This creates an interdisciplinary space where solutions for future challenges are developed together, while simultaneously allowing participants to keep pace with the dynamics of sustainability and benefit from the collective intelligence of the community.