GLOBE COP Course

The GlobeSteamSS project brings together students, educators, researchers and industry partners to work on real sustainability challenges through design‑based, interdisciplinary learning. Within this project, online courses can support participants in developing the skills, processes and competences needed to engage in challenge‑based work and international collaboration.

The Design Challenge Preparation Course is the first of these courses and provides the foundation for understanding the innovation process used in the Design Challenge Events.

Course Description

The GLOBE Space – Design Challenge Preparation Course prepares participants for the Design Challenge Events (DCEs) in the GlobeSteamSS project. It introduces the Design Thinking approach used in the challenges, structured through the six stages of the ATOM model: Explore, Analyse, Ideate, Prototype, Realise, and Evaluate.

The module also refers to the GlobeSteamSS Competency Framework which has been developed within the project. Each step of the module shows how the ATOM stages connect to these digital, entrepreneurial and sustainability competences, helping participants link the learning process to the framework.

By completing this module, users gain the essential foundations needed to confidently start the Design Challenge Event or related activities.

Course Objectives

The module has two main learning objectives. First, you will gain insight into each phase of the ATOM model and develop the skills needed to apply them during the DCE. 

  • Explore a challenge by gathering information, observing real situations and identifying both obvious and hidden insights
  • Analyse your findings, identify patterns, and define the core question behind the challenge
  • Ideate by applying creative strategies to generate, classify, and select promising ideas
  • Prototype by turning ideas into early, testable representations
  • Realise by planning how a solution or prototype can be implemented in a feasible way
  • Evaluate by gathering feedback, assessing impact, and reflecting on your own innovation process

Second, you will work on competences from the GlobeSteamSS CompetencyFramework, which draws on DIGCOMP 2.2, EntreComp and GreenComp. These competences include digital collaboration, creativity, systems thinking, ethical and sustainable reasoning, teamwork, and reflective practice. Throughout the module, these competences are linked to the ATOM steps so you can see how they develop in context.