![[Translate to English:] WFI Summer School](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/e/csm_WFI_SummerSchool_f330fdcf64.webp "[Translate to English:] WFI Summer School")
One week, seven courses, more than 70 students from five universities, and lecturers from six countries. From June 29 to July 3, the WFI Summer School 2026 tackled a question that more and more companies are facing: How can innovation be responsible? Students from KU, Bologna Business School, the University of Thessaly, ISM University of Management and Economics, and Rajagiri Business School looked for answers together, in class, in a team challenge, and at KPMG in Munich.
Seven modules, one shared theme
Prof. Dr. Shashi Matta's module "Responsible Innovation in Firms and Society" gave everyone a common starting point. The six electives then approached the theme from three directions: employees and customers, markets and business models, and technologies and their consequences.
- Corporate Social Responsibility: Employers and Employees, Prof. Agnieszka Jakubczyk-Latała and Prof. Agata Stachura (ANSiM Lublin, Poland)
- Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Prof. Hannes Thees and Ronja Schneider (KU)
- AI Revolution: Harnessing the Power & Navigating the Perils, Prof. Andrei Luchici (Romanian-American University Bucharest)
- Retail Innovation, Prof. Gabriele Pizzi (Bologna Business School)
- Patents, Innovations and Technological Change, Prof. Reinhard Weber (WFI)
- Transformative Service Innovations, Maximilian Bauer (WFI)
From team challenge to final pitch
The team challenge ran through the entire week. Teams started on Monday and spent the following days developing their ideas. On Thursday, they put them to the test in Eichstätt, working on tasks from public administration after a welcome from KU Vice President Prof. Dr. Klaus Stüwe. On Friday, KPMG Region Süd hosted us in their office in Munich, followed by a team challenge with prizes in the heart of Munich: the Viktualienmarkt.
What students take home
"Professor Matta pushes us beyond our limits and allows us to think critically and strategically about responsible innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship. We have met so many new people from other countries, and of course we have had all the fun," says one participant in the closing video. Others describe the week as challenging but very practical, because it brings the academic and the cultural side together.
A big thank you to everyone who made the week possible: Anja Kurasov, Maximilian Bauer, and Andreas Heim from the Chair of Innovation & Creativity, Dr. Simon Märkl from the International Office, and Faculty Manager Dr. Jutta Walz. The Summer School was funded as an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme.
Further information and related articles
Closing video of the WFI Summer School 2026 on LinkedIn
