Flourishing Business Community Speakers Series: Stories from the Field #36
Experiences in Western Paraná, Brazil: Structuring Sustainable Business Models in Startups Using the Flourishing Business Canvas with Cristiane Fernanda Carvalho
| Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026 |
| Time: 16h00 UTC – 08h00 PST, 11h00 EST, 13h00 BRT, 16h00 BST, 17h00 CET, 01h00 + 1 day JST. To convert UTC to your timezone, click here |
| Duration: 1 hour |
| Registration: Required via Eventbrite at bit.ly/SFF36-Register |
For our thirty-sixth monthly Flourishing Business Community Speaker Series entitled “Stories From the Field”, we are delighted to welcome Cristiane Fernanda Carvalho, a doctoral student based in Toledo, Western Paraná, Brazil.
The Flourishing Enterprise Co-lab is grateful for the extensive support of our partner, Social Innovation at Georgian College, Ontario, Canada, to enable our community’s speaker series.
Cristiane holds a Master’s degree in Administration from Western Paraná State University (UNIOESTE), and is now a doctoral candidate in the institution’s Professional Graduate Program in Administration, specializing in Sustainability. Her research and practice focuses on the intersection of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation, with a particular interest in integrating economic, social, and environmental dimensions into the structure of entrepreneur’s business models.
Her Master’s thesis, in Portuguese and English, can be downloaded here:
Carvalho, C. F. (2026). O flourishing business canvas para modelagem de negócios sustentáveis em startups convencionais e startups de impacto socioambiental do oeste do Paraná / The flourishing business canvas for modeling sustainable businesses in conventional startups and social-environmental impact startups in western Paraná [Masters Thesis, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná]. tede.unioeste.br/handle/tede/8495
UNIOESTE is a multi-campus public university located in southern Brazil, in the western part of the state of Paraná. It is active in teaching, research, and extension activities. Through its Graduate Program in Administration (PPGAdm), it conducts research and projects related to management, competitiveness, sustainability, and organizational and regional development.
Cristiane’s masters research and practice with the Flourishing Business Canvas was supervised by Prof. Dr. Sandra Mara Stocker Lago. In that project she investigated how conventional startups and those considered to have socio-environmental impact in Western Paraná, Brazil, could structure sustainable business models using the Flourishing Business Canvas (FBC). The research adopted a qualitative approach, combining action research and a multiple-case study, with a final sample of eight startups linked to incubators at the Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR) in the cities of Toledo and Santa Helena, Paraná. Christiane conducted both in-person and online workshops, exploring how entrepreneurs understood and articulated economic, social, and environmental dimensions across the four perspectives on the Canvas of People (who), Value (what), Processes (how & where), and Outcomes (why).
This experience allowed her to analyze the FBC’s contributions, participant reactions, and challenges encountered, as well as to explore value co-creation and co-destruction for various stakeholders. Her research led to the identification of distinct contributions based on business orientation, ranging from making previously unsystematized socio-environmental aspects explicit, to deepening an already declared impact purpose.
These findings informed recommendations for strengthening sustainability in the business models of startups at different stages of development, through the integration of sustainability into organizational strategy, the continuous improvement of business models, and the adoption of a systemic perspective oriented toward the flourishing of people, communities, and ecosystems.
In her presentation, Cristiane will share:
- The context and potential of the innovation ecosystem in Western Paraná, Brazil, and the research conducted with startups linked to university incubators in the region.
- The experience of conducting workshops on applying the Flourishing Business Canvas.
- The structuring of startup business models through the perspectives of People, Value, Processes, and Outcomes, including reflections on stakeholders and on value creation and destruction.
- The characteristics of the participating startups and the contributions identified through the use of the FBC in both conventional startups and those considered to have a socio-environmental impact.
- Workshop participants’ perceptions regarding the tool’s utility, as well as the facilitators and challenges encountered during its application.
- Key takeaways, research limitations, and recommendations for strengthening sustainability within startup business models from the early stages.
- Her hope that the Flourishing Business Community’s work with startups will be advanced by sharing and exchanging her experience and insights with her colleagues, and vice versa!
At the end of her talk, Cristiane will take questions from members of the community.
After the event, a video of the talk plus slides will be shared in the “Speaker Series” space of the Flourishing Business Community. Please join other Flourishing Business leaders and become a full member to access.