The importance of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is increasingly recognised. It is becoming increasingly important to address the challenges of sustainable development in education (e.g. O'Donoghue et al., 2018; UNESCO, 2020). One way to do this is through social entrepreneurship education (SEE), where students learn how to make an entrepreneurial contribution to sustainable development. At its core, SEE is about developing new ideas and creating value in the field of sustainable development. SEE is positioned at the intersection of education for sustainable development (ESD) and entrepreneurship education (EE) (Lindner, 2018; Van der Wal-Maris, 2022). SEE can be understood as education aimed at a) compassion, empathy and caring - as a stimulus for entrepreneurial activity in the field of sustainable development; b) entrepreneurship - the process of recognising opportunities, generating ideas, developing initiatives and creating value; and c) the interaction between the two (Van der Wal-Maris, 2019).
In teacher education, SEE is adressed at the level of student teachers and at the level of students (cf. Vare et al., 2019). Five Universities of Applied Sciences from the Netherlands, Finland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Belgium developed the blended intensive programme 'SEE-ing a Better World'. It aims to familiarise student teachers with the characteristics of SEE and its practical implementation in their teaching practice. Currently, little is known about the design of an international programme for student teachers to develop their SEE competences. This research addressed this knowledge gap.
Accompanying research was conducted to answer the following question: "What are the key factors, according to the students, for an international learning programme in which student teachers develop SEE competences? Online surveys were conducted before and after the programme. The students kept diaries during the programme. Survey data were analysed using SPSS; qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the diaries.

Preliminary results show that students develop new insights and competences related to SEE through learning in an international context and that communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity can be identified as key factors.

An accompanying study (Vermunt, 2021) was conducted to answer the research question and to achieve research-based educational innovation. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from the 24 students enrolled in the programme (March 2023 to June 2023). Most of them are in their second or third year of teacher education. Half of them already have international experience. Perceptions were measured by two questionnaires, before and after the programme, with Likert scale items and open questions. Students' perceptions of their development process and the evolution of their ideas and insights were collected by students' individual use of a reflection diary, according to the method described by Altrichter et al. (2018). Students wrote in their journals continuously. The diaries inevitably reveal gaps in the programme and enable the development of a subsequent BIP (Holy & Altricher 2011, in: Altrichter et al., 2018). To deepen the understanding of the questionnaire data, the diaries were compared with the results of the questionnaires.

The analysis of the first questionnaire shows that the participating students are motivated to participate in the programme. In response to the open-ended question 'Why did you join the programme?', 21 students answered that they wanted to study with international peers; 19 students expected an international orientation, dialogue and exchange in an international student group. Most students hoped to gain a better insight into SEE (n=19) and personal enrichment and growth (n=17). The first questionnaire also provides information about the students' expectations of the programme. Three categories can be distinguished: personal interest (e.g. to gain experience in the field of SEE), professional interest (e.g. to be inspired for my teaching career in SEE) and interest in sustainability (e.g. to become more sensitive in dealing with current social challenges). The analysis of the submitted diaries shows that students develop new insights and competences regarding SEE by learning in an international context. The diaries also reveal that communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity (also referred to as the 4Cs) can be identified as key factors in an international learning programme in which student teachers develop SEE competences. These 4Cs are mentioned more or less frequently; communication and collaboration are mentioned very often, whereas critical thinking is mostly missing. Creativity is often mentioned in the diaries. The second questionnaire shows interesting aspects for the improvement of the programme. By identifying key factors for an international learning programme in which student teachers develop SEE competences, this research contributes to the improvement of teacher education in SEE. Moreover, the international nature of this programme also enhances the understanding of different perspectives and practices of SEE in general and the development of new ideas and value creation in the field of sustainable development in particular.

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