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Tools and templates

Business models methodology

Stella Karra, CSI Centre for Social Innovation, Cyprus

The co-creation methodology used in the LEVERS project guided the development of sustainable business models for the Learning Ventures. It combined participatory problem analysis, goal setting, and strategic business modeling, ensuring that each Learning Venture’s approach was both context-driven and designed for long-term viability.

To co-design viable, sustainable business models rooted in clearly defined local challenges and capable of sustaining impact beyond the project’s funding period.

A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). It acts as a strategic blueprint linking purpose to practice — showing who the beneficiaries are, what value is offered to them, how that value is delivered, and how the initiative sustains itself financially or through other forms of support. In the context of social and educational ventures, a business model goes beyond profit generation. It integrates social, environmental, and economic value, defining pathways for long-term impact and resilience. For the Learning Ventures, the business model serves as both a planning tool and a communication tool, helping teams articulate their purpose, partnerships, activities, and sustainability strategies in a single, coherent framework.

  1. Problem Tree Analysis: Identified the main challenge each Learning Venture aimed to address, mapping causes (roots) and effects (branches) to reveal underlying dynamics. 
  2. Objective Tree Development: Converted problems into positive objectives and desired outcomes, ensuring that goals directly addressed root causes. 3
  3. Business Model Canvas (BMC): Structured each Learning Venture’s strategy into nine components: Value Proposition, Customer Segments, Channels, Customer Relationships, Key Activities, Key Resources, Key Partnerships, Cost Structure, and Revenue Streams. This connected strategic goals to operational and financial planning and helped teams visualize, discuss, and refine how their ventures create and sustain value.

The methodology was implemented through online co-creation workshops using online whiteboard platform Mural, enabling participants from across Europe to collaborate in real time. Facilitated by CSI and LATRA, the process combined structure and creativity, moving from analysis to design through shared dialogue and interactive visual tools. Each Learning Venture worked on a color-coded Mural board to identify problems, define objectives, and fill in the Business Model Canvas collaboratively.

Throughout implementation, several common challenges emerged:

  • Balancing diverse stakeholder priorities: Aligning different perspectives within limited workshop time.
  • Sustainability beyond grant funding: Moving from project dependency toward diversified funding (partnerships, fees, local integration).
  • Adapting to context: Recognizing that models must be flexible rather than directly replicable.
  • Ensuring shared ownership: Strengthening governance and co-decision-making structures for inclusivity.
  • Nine co-created, locally grounded business models for climate learning and action. 
  • Strengthened collaboration and stakeholder ownership.
  • Improved understanding of sustainability, adaptability, and long-term resilience.
  • A replicable framework combining community co-creation with structured business planning.

Business Model Summaries for Each Learning Venture

Using the above methodology, each Learning Venture produced a Business Model Canvas capturing its strategy for delivering and sustaining climate-related outcomes. Below is a summary of each venture’s business model, outlining the key components:

This Learning Venture empowers communities in Brussels to mitigate urban heat through workshops, tree planting, and green-space creation. Targeting residents in densely built areas and local authorities, it partners with municipal bodies, urban planners, NGOs, and neighborhood associations. Costs focus on materials, workshops, and staff, while volunteer contributions reduce expenses. Funding comes primarily from grants and public sector support, with potential long-term community fundraising and sponsorships to sustain activities.

This Learning Venture trains youth activists and environmentally conscious adults to turn climate advocacy into sustainable businesses. Activities include entrepreneurship workshops, mentorship, hackathons, and pitch events. Partnerships involve universities, incubators, NGOs, and local entrepreneurs. Costs cover training delivery, venues, mentorship, and seed funding. Revenue streams rely on grants, corporate sponsorships, participant fees, and equity or revenue-sharing from launched ventures, creating a self-sustaining model.

Focusing on student-led climate action, this Learning Venture helps schools achieve carbon neutrality through audits, solar panel installations, gardens, and climate awareness campaigns. Targeting students, teachers, administrators, and local communities, it partners with education departments, renewable energy providers, NGOs, and parent-teacher associations. Costs include infrastructure upgrades, training, materials, and coordination, often offset by volunteer labor. Funding comes from institutional grants, energy savings, and corporate sponsorships.

This Learning Venture engages communities in transforming public land into mini-forests and edible landscapes, enhancing food security and biodiversity. Participants include residents, schools, and policymakers. Activities include planting events, permaculture training, site maintenance, and food education. Partners include local farmers, councils, schools, and co-ops. Costs are moderate, mainly for tools and seedlings, with volunteer labour reducing expenses. Funding relies on grants, fundraising, and integration into school or municipal budgets.

Aimed at protecting the Azores’ unique biodiversity, this Learning Venture combines citizen science, educational workshops, campaigns, and habitat restoration. Target audiences include 33 students, youth, nature enthusiasts, and policymakers. Partnerships involve environmental agencies, universities, schools, and media outlets. Costs include educational materials, monitoring equipment, logistics, and staff, with travel being a notable expense due to the island context. Funding comes from grants, sponsorships, donations, and potential ecotourism activities.

This Learning Venture promotes urban pollinators and beekeeping through workshops, school programs, demonstration hives, advocacy, and networking. It serves urban residents, hobbyists, students, and city planners. Key partners are beekeeping associations, universities, NGOs, and city authorities. Costs focus on training, hive equipment, and staff, with volunteer contributions lowering expenses. Funding sources include grants, CSR sponsorships, hive product sales, membership fees, and municipal support.

This Learning Venture engages youth in sustainable food systems using art, creativity, and innovation. Activities include interactive labs, workshops, curriculum pilots, and public showcases. Participants include students, educators, artists, policymakers, and the public. Partners include art schools, science institutes, farms, and government agencies. Costs cover workshops, materials, venues, and coordination. Funding comes from grants, corporate sponsorships, and potential crowdfunding or startup ventures

This Learning Venture connects stakeholders to address freshwater challenges under climate change through roundtables, knowledge hubs, advocacy, and networking forums. Participants include NGOs, water experts, policymakers, and activists. Partnerships involve international organisations, local authorities, NGOs, and the private sector. Costs are relatively low, covering events, knowledge management, and staff. Funding relies on grants, partner contributions, and embedding the Learning Venture into existing institutions for sustainability.

This Learning Venture accelerates climate action skills for industry professionals via place based learning events and programmes. Targeting sector and disciplinary organisations, purpose led businesses and regional networks, it partners with local government, educators and community organisations. Costs include curriculum development, trainers, travel, marketing, and coordination. Funding comes from grants, corporate sponsorships, training fees, and potential income from certification programs or toolkits.

Each Learning Venture’s business model above is directly traceable to its core objective and problem context, illustrating the outcome of the co-creative design process. By articulating these key components, the Learning Ventures are better positioned to implement their solutions and pursue funding or partnerships to sustain their activities.

Notably, while the value propositions differ widely (from climate education and community action to technology and policy change), all 34 models had to address practical questions of “who benefits, how do we deliver, and how will it be financially supported.” Using the common canvas framework made it easier to discuss these questions across Learning Ventures and ensure no critical element was overlooked.

The co-creation process effectively combined ideation techniques with collaborative modeling to produce robust business plans for the Learning Ventures. Problem Tree and Objective Tree analyses grounded each venture in a clear understanding of climate-related challenges and solutions, while the Business Model Canvas guided teams through operational and financial planning, resulting in nine integrated, locally tailored business models. Interactive workshops and Mural facilitated stakeholder collaboration, ensuring collective knowledge and strong buy-in. Each Learning Venture now has a concise business model detailing its value proposition, target groups, implementation steps, partnerships, and sustainability strategy. These models serve as internal roadmaps and tools for grant reporting and stakeholder engagement, demonstrating feasibility and community ownership. Moving forward, the Learning Ventures will refine and implement these models while preserving the co-created vision. This approach offers a replicable model for combining community co-creation with structured business planning to drive social innovation and climate action.

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