18 November 2026 at 16:00–18:00 CET · Education Track
University of Antwerp city campus, Hof van Liere (Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp)
Organiser
Katya Schmidt Sullivan, CPsychol
The challenge
The proposed PDW contributes to current debates in entrepreneurship scholarship by foregrounding historical contingency and path dependence as central concerns for both theory and pedagogy. It further advances a "stealth learning" approach in which entrepreneurial reasoning, systems thinking, and opportunity construction emerge implicitly through structured play rather than explicit instruction.
The workshop directly engages with the RENT 2026 theme by examining how entrepreneurship both responds to and constitutes fast-changing worlds, while simultaneously inviting participants to imagine alternative futures through historically grounded divergence.
What we will do
The workshop introduces a speculative, game-based methodology that combines counterfactual business history with collaborative worldbuilding. Participants will engage as consultants in alternate worlds shaped by divergent historical trajectories, such as the early dominance of electric mobility or the persistence of guild-based labour systems, to explore how entrepreneurial action, institutional design, and value creation vary across different socio-economic logics.
Participants will also experience the "World Deck", a fully transferable pedagogical toolkit designed for teaching, research engagement, and public-facing entrepreneurship education. The approach is scalable and adaptable for groups ranging from 3 to 30 participants.
What participants will gain
Participants will leave with practical worldbuilding methods, a transferable pedagogical toolkit, and new approaches to entrepreneurial imagination. They will also gain fresh perspectives on historical contingency, opportunity construction, systems thinking, and the role of entrepreneurship in shaping alternative futures.
Who should attend
The workshop is open to entrepreneurship educators, researchers, doctoral students, and others interested in innovative pedagogical approaches. No prior experience with speculative methods or game-based learning is required.