The ZEEUS Sustainability-by-Design Tool has been developed to help startups, SMEs, companies and new business...
Zero Emissions Entrepreneurship for Universal Sustainability
We’re looking for great ideas for innovative and sustainable projects and companies, and also for companies that can support new entrepreneurs.
Education: ZEEUS curricula and training programs elevate entrepreneurial and sustainability skills. Hackathons and workshops, and mentorship foster collaboration.
Research: Sustainability by Design tool for assessing lifecycle and financial impacts, advancing research in climate action, circular economy, and digital transformation.
Innovation: Seed Factories incubate and accelerate startups with mentorship, funding, and global networks, producing market-ready, scalable solutions to societal challenges.
ZEEUS Project
By fostering entrepreneurial mindsets, building strategic partnerships, and integrating cutting-edge frameworks, ZEEUS reimagines the role of HEIs as the driving force behind scalable, impactful solutions for a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient world.
Vision and objectives
- Equip students, graduates, researchers, and professionals with the tools to address societal challenges, particularly in designing and deploying novel methodologies for assessing climate impacts in European and African enterprises.
- Align with EIT Climate, Digital, and InnoEnergy Strategies and strengthen the ‘knowledge triangle’ by fostering collaboration across research, education, and innovation.
- Build cross-border partnerships that integrate regional and international expertise to drive the Green and Digital transitions.
Framework and Methodology
Core to ZEEUS, Seed Factories:
- Provide mentorship, funding, and startup ecosystem insights.
- Drive innovation through accelerators, hackathons, and masterclasses, focused on sustainable ventures.
- Foster local ecosystem development and leverage the Knowledge Triangle.
- Implement a Zero Emissions Entrepreneurship Framework to measure climate impact.
ZEEUS Seed Factories empower students, researchers, and staff with entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial skills, preparing them for adaptable, innovation-driven careers. Faculties lead in identifying industry challenges and guiding participants through idea generation, research, pitching, and implementation using a Faculty-Driven Innovation model. Participants develop: Experimental openness to tackle challenges in climate, digital transformation, and energy and Prototyping and testing skills for viable solutions.
Focus areas
- Collaborative Innovation: Engages faculty, students, researchers, and external partners for shared ownership.
- Sustainability by Design: Focuses on safe, impactful solutions with environmental, societal, and economic value.
- Action-Oriented Learning: Provides hands-on, real-world challenges through Seed Factories to develop entrepreneurial skills.
- Iterative Development: Promotes rapid prototyping and testing to ensure scalable, viable solutions.
- Real-World Application: Combines faculty-led innovation with expert mentorship from Associate Partners to ensure practical impact.
Expected Outcome
- Number of Start-ups/Scale-ups Supported (58 total).
- Number of Students Trained (1,100 total).
- Number of Students Mentored (200 total).
- Number of Academic and Non-Academic Staff Trained and Mentored (300 total).
- Number of New Partnerships Established (9 total).
- Number of Improved Support Structures (13 total).
- Number of Start-ups Established/Created (8 total).
Assess sustainability early.
Design better businesses from the start.
The ZEEUS Sustainability by Design Tool supports startups, SMEs and new business ideas in identifying relevant sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities at an early stage.
- Startups
- SMEs
- Business Ideas
The following videos provide a quick introduction to the Sustainability by Design Tool.
Trailer · 54 seconds
Get a quick introduction to the tool and discover how sustainability can be integrated from the beginning.
Step-by-Step Tutorial · 7 minutes
Follow the assessment using a fictional company example.
Methodology Explained· 4:27 minutes
Learn how the SDGs, ESRS and double materiality are combined in the assessment.
Use the Sustainability by design Tool to identify relevant sustainability topics, explore potencial risks and opportunities, and integrate them into your business decisions.
The methodology was developed by Trier University of Appplied Sciences (TUAS) – Institute for Applied material Flow Management (IfaS) and visualized as a web application by students within a ZEEUS Sustainability by Design Hackathon. Read more
Discover the latest updates, upcoming events, and the progress of our initiatives for a sustainable future.
- All Post
The consortium behind the ZEEUS project – Zero Emissions Entrepreneurship for Universal Sustainability – met...
The 2026 HealthTech Accelerator officially began on 14 July, launching a 10-week incubation programme designed...
