1. Entrepreneurship Education and the Europe 2020
- How can colleges contribute?
Sannie Fisker
Brussels, June

2. Agenda Who am I? So what’s the problem?
Part of the solution: Entrepreneurship Education
A framework for working with entrepreneurship education in colleges
How can the EU help?
Discussion

3. Who am I?
New colleague in DG EAC unit A3 primarily working with entrepreneurship education
Seconded national expert from the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs
Have been working with entrepreneurship for nine years - first in an academic setting and later at both regional and national policy level
Was part of the team that did the EU-survey on entrepreneurship in higher education in 2008 for DG ENTR 3 3

4. So what’s the problem? Europe 2020: Overpopulation Low growth rates
Shift to service- and knowledge based economies
Volatile economies
Environmental problems
Rapid social change
Overpopulation
Diminishing natural resources
Ageing population
Rise of emergent economies
Low employment rates

5. Smart, sustainable, inclusive growth - the people behind it
People thinking
outside the box
People who can work
across disciplines
Leaders
Ambitious
entrepreneurs
Risk takers
Curious and
creative people
Innovators

6. Are the education systems up for it?
Great and important heritage, but more adaption to the 21st century is needed
Skills for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship is as important as literacy
But seem to educate people out of their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit
Academic versus practical inclined – all talents should be nurtured

7. Part of the solution: Entrepreneurship Education
Why?
Entrepreneurship and a sense of initiative refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives.
2006 Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning
It is a competence for life – It is one of the key competences necessary for personal fulfilment, social inclusion, active citizenship and employability

8. Three Objectives of Entrepreneurship Education
Learn about entrepreneurship
Develop entrepreneurial mindset
Learn the skills to be an entrepreneur
What role does entrepreneurs play in society?
Why are entrepreneurs needed?
What are the ethical questions facing enterprises?
What is social entrepreneurship?
Etc.
Can I become an entrepreneur?
How to become an entrepreneur?
I have an idea – how do I turn it into action?
Knowledge
Attitudes
Skills
I need to take responsibility of my own learning, career and life – how do I manage that?
Adapted from Gibb (1999)

9. What are we looking to achieve?
SKILLS – learn to become an entrepreneur
Plan; Organise; Manage; Lead & delegate; Analyse; Communicate; Evaluate; Effective representation & negotiation; Work as an individual; Work in teams; Judge & identify one’s strengths and weaknesses; Asses and take risks; Connect ideas; Mobilise commitment; Lateral thinking
ATTITUDES – learn to become entrepreneurial
Initiative; Independence & innovation in all aspects of life; Motivation; Determination to meet objectives; Risk propensity; Ambition/drive; Persistence & commitment; Self-belief; Self-efficacy; Self-awareness; Feeling of empowerment; Social confidence; Creativity & imagination; Curiosity; Tolerance to failure
KNOWLEDGE – learn to understand entrepreneurship
On how to identify opportunities
About the ‘bigger picture’ issues that provide context in which people live and work
Understanding of the workings of the economy
Ethical position of enterprises
On the processes of innovation & creativity
On the process of entrepreneurship
INTENTION
OPPORTUNITY SEARCH AND DISCOVERY
DECISION TO EXPLOIT OPPORTUNITY
EXPLOITATION OF OPPORTUNITY
PROACTIVITY
Actively seeking goals
INNOVATION
Opportunity search
Coping with and enjoying uncertainty
PROCESS
BEHAVIOUR
CHANGE
Taking risky actions in uncertain environments
Flexibly responding to challenges
ACTION
Acting independently on own initiative
Solving problems/conflicts creatively
Persuading and motivating others
Commitment to making things happen
Entrepreneurial individual
Entrepreneurship in personal, social and work life

10. Role of the education system
With the right support and environment, all people have the potential to develop and strengthen their entrepreneurial key competence
Schools, colleges, and universities are important parts of the social structure that fosters the personal development of young people and therefore they have the opportunity to support and promote the development of key competences including entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship education is not limited to a specific level in the education system. Every level have an important role to play from pre-school to adult training 10

11. Recommendations from a survey on Entrepreneurship Education
2.900 Higher Education Institutions identified in 31 countries
664 HEIs responded (23%)
198 had EE above threshold
No country comparison, but benchmarking of institutions

12. Institutional Framework for Entrepreneurship Education
Source: Survey of Entrepreneurship in Higher Education in Europe, 2008

13. Strategy
EE is often bottom-up, but it needs a conducive environment to thrive ► support from the management is crucial
Develop policies and action plans on how the institution can actually reach its entrepreneurship objectives to make sure that it is just not a fancy word in the strategy
Communicate from top level that entrepreneurship is a broad horizontal competence for life and not only for business

14. Resources
EE is often funded on a short-term project basis ► problem of sustainability and perceived importance
If possible for the institution to decide, it is important that the EE is supported by dedicated funding on a long term basis
Income generating activities can secure sustainability

15. Institutional infrastructures
Working across disciplines is key!
All students can take entrepreneurship courses
Students from different disciplines are brought together on a regular basis in both in-curricular and extra-curricular activities
Have facilities where students can test out ideas – e.g. an entrepreneurship centre
Appoint entrepreneurship champions in different departments

16. Involve Me I Understand!
Teaching and learning
Teaching methods
Problem-based,
student-oriented,
innovative,
edutainment
etc.
Extra-curricular activities
Company visits
Mentoring programmes
Competitions
Innovation Camps
Key motto
Tell Me I Forget,
Show Me I Remember,
Involve Me I Understand!

17. Outreach Access to real-life situations and problems
Problems facing companies
Problems facing local authorities
Working together with NGOs
Foster links to the local community
Understand new skills for new jobs
Funding, collaboration
Use alumni actively
To survey what skills they are missing after graduation
To involve them in EE
Role models

18. Development
The teachers are the most important component in entrepreneurship education
Therefore, it is important that the institution is supporting the teachers in terms of:
Training
Incentives
Recognition
Continuous improvement through feedback from students and their employers

19. How can the European Commission help?
Open method of coordination
▼▼▼
Facilitate sharing of good practice
Funding of projects
Generate new knowledge

20. Sharing of good practice
Various databases
EVE
KSLLL (Knowledge System for Lifelong Learning)
SBA good practice database
ESF (European Social Fund)
National projects during the year for Innovation and Creativity
Project compendiums on the LLLP at EACEA
Reports on good practices and progress
Conferences, Reflection panels, workshops etc.

21. Funding of projects
The European Commission has a number of programmes that can support projects on entrepreneurship education

22. The Lifelong Learning Programme

23. Erasmus Erasmus Multilateral Projects – 4 sub actions: Erasmus Network
Co-operation between Universities and Enterprises
Curriculum Development
Modernisation of Higher Education
Virtual campuses
Erasmus Network
Academic Networks: promote innovation in a specific discipline, set of disciplines or multidisciplinary area
Structural Networks: improve and modernise a specific aspect of higher education organisation, management, governance or funding

24. Other funding programmes
Youth in Action – Youth Initiative (DG EAC)
Tempus (joint projects with partner countries – DG EAC)
European Social Funds (DG REGIO)
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP – DG ENTR)

25. Generate new knowledge
Expert groups
Entrepreneurship in Vocational Training
Entrepreneurship in Higher Education in Europe
Call for proposals under the CIP programme
Developing new teaching materials
Developing case studies
Knowledge on female entrepreneurship
Commission surveys
Mapping of Entrepreneurship in Higher Education in Europe
Mapping of university-business cooperation

26. Discussion How many of you teach entrepreneurship?
Which of the three objectives?
If not, why?
What are the greatest challenges facing you?
What would you recommend the European Commission to do to support you?

27. Thank you for participating!
Feel free to contact me:
Sannie Fisker
Phone: 0032 (0)
Have a nice day!