The Strategic Leadership for Green Business (SLGB) project, co-funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ Programme, continues to advance its mission of strengthening leadership and sustainable entrepreneurship across Latin America. After more than a year of collaboration between European and Latin American universities, businesses and civil society organisations, the project has reached a major milestone with the launch of the Diploma in Strategic Leadership for Green Business, which welcomed 258 students from Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador when it began in April 2026.
This milestone is the result of a collaborative co-creation process that has enabled the development of a training programme closely aligned with the real needs of the region's green innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Understanding the Challenges Before Designing the Solutions
The first phase of the project focused on assessing the current state of sustainable entrepreneurship across the participating countries. Through a joint needs assessment, the consortium identified existing capabilities, challenges and opportunities to strengthen sustainability leadership and accelerate the transition towards more responsible economic models.
These findings provided the foundation for an academic programme designed around local realities and aimed at delivering long-term impact.
Listening, Collaborating and Co-Creating
The project then organised a series of participatory workshops at universities in Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador, bringing together academics, students, entrepreneurs, businesses and public sector representatives.
These sessions helped identify priorities, exchange experiences and better understand the specific challenges faced by green businesses in each local context.
Rather than simply designing a training programme, the objective was to build a learning community capable of developing solutions with tangible impact.
Sharing Knowledge Between Europe and Latin America
As the project progressed, academic teams from European partner universities delivered a range of Train-the-Trainer activities, sharing methodologies, tools and expertise with their Latin American counterparts.
This exchange strengthened the consortium's capabilities and enriched the diploma programme by incorporating innovative approaches to leadership, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship.
A Diploma Programme Designed Around Local Needs
The outcome of this collaborative process is the Diploma in Strategic Leadership for Green Business—an academic programme developed through continuous dialogue with ecosystem stakeholders rather than solely from a traditional academic perspective.
This participatory methodology ensures that the curriculum addresses real-world challenges while preparing professionals to lead the transition towards a more sustainable economy.
The Next Stage: Turning Innovation into Action
With the diploma programme now underway, the project is entering a new phase focused on open innovation and solving real-world challenges.
In this context, CANUSSA, together with Latam Connect, will organise an International Hackathon next September, bringing together students, entrepreneurs, companies and universities to develop innovative solutions related to the circular economy, sustainable entrepreneurship and green business.
The Hackathon will provide participants with the opportunity to transform the knowledge acquired during the diploma programme into practical solutions with real implementation potential, while strengthening collaboration between academia, industry and society.
CANUSSA's Commitment to Innovation and the Circular Economy
For CANUSSA, participating in the SLGB project represents an opportunity to continue promoting innovation as a driver of positive transformation.
Through CANUSSA LAB, we collaborate in European projects that foster the circular economy, sustainable product development, open innovation and the development of new skills needed to address the challenges of the ecological transition.
We believe that accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable economy requires far more than developing new materials or products. It also means empowering the people who will lead this transformation, connecting knowledge with action, and strengthening collaboration between businesses, universities, entrepreneurs and institutions.
The International Hackathon we will organise in September embodies this vision: a space where talent, innovation and international collaboration come together to develop solutions with lasting positive impact.
About Strategic Leadership for Green Business (SLGB)
Strategic Leadership for Green Business (SLGB) is a project co-funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ Programme. It brings together nine universities from six countries, one company and one non-governmental organisation with the shared objective of strengthening leadership, innovation and green entrepreneurship across Latin America and Europe through education, international collaboration and open innovation.
