TIGblogs - Tiara

Imagine a business school where all your assignments are real-life projects from real clients. Imagine spending your second year in a different country working on community projects. Imagine your final exam being a sustainable project for change.

For the KaosPilots, this is reality.

I’ll just quote the post I made on MetaFilter about them:

The KaosPilots, deemed “the world’s most adventurous alternative business school“, teaches social entrepreneurship and leadership through real-life situations.

Part of their education involves international outposts in Vancouver, Buenos Aires, and Bahia, working on projects related to business, community, and sustainability. The final exam is an operational project of your own.

Many former students go on to the private sector or create projects and jobs of their own (though creative industries and non-profits are very common).

They have been nominated for design awards, are considered as worldchanging, and have published a book about their methods. New web technologies are highly utilized by both students and board members alike.

The KaosPilots have been based in Aarhus, Denmark for 15 years, but there are also schools running (or about to start) in Sweden, Norway, and The Netherlands, with more coming in other continents.

The KaosPilots are my new obsession. They are EXACTLY what I have been looking for education-wise. I’ve been looking for ways to actually learn how to run projects and gain first-hand experience, and while I was hoping to get that in QUT, I’ve been getting more theory than anything else. This actually makes things RELEVANT - your work actually matters, and your passion is rewarded. Their core values aren’t gooblyspeak, they’re six simple but powerful aims: real world, balance, being streetwise, being playful, risk taking and compassion.

I’ve applied for the Stockholm (Sweden) program, which starts next year. This would be a major change as it means I drop out of university and I have to work out how to support myself in Sweden for about three years. It also costs a LOT, and I’m not sure I can afford it. But the sheer value of the education I receive would be priceless. That’s if I can handle how hardcore it is, anyway. There will be a 2-day workshop in Stockholm in November for those shortlisted, so I’ll know pretty soon if I make it.

I know the people over at the Stockholm KaosPilots have seen this blog, and may still be reading it - HELLO! I’ll also be meeting one current KaosPilot, Kamilla, at the Youth Enterprise Symposium this weekend, and I’ll have tea with Michael Doneman, a KaosPilots board member and founder of Edgeware who also happens to be a postgrad in my faculty. How convenient. I can’t wait to pick their brains and find out what they’re all about.

Do you have any more information on the KaosPilots? Please share them to me, because they’re awesome and I want to know more. Otherwise, watch this video to see how awesome they are: (you might need to amp up the volume on your computer, as the video’s volume is very soft)

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