Enterprise and Industry Directorate General European Commission

Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through education and learning

Kirsi Ekroth-Manssila Deputy Head of Unit European Commission Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General

Political framework

•

Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs:

Member States should reinforce entrepreneurship education •

Commission’s Annual Progress Report 2006:

proposal to add entrepreneurship to all national school curricula •

Recommendation

of the European Parliament and the Council: entrepreneurship is a key competence for all

What is “Entrepreneurship Education” ?

 To develop personal attributes and horizontal skills: creativity, initiative, risk-taking, autonomy, self-confidence, leadership, team working…  Awareness of self-employment and entrepreneurship as possible career options  Learning by doing: work on concrete projects (e.g. students running mini-companies)  Specific business skills: how to start and run successfully a company.

Entrepreneurship related skills

Personal skills:

• Team working • Communication • Self-confidence • Taking initiative • Problem-solving • Taking calculated risk • Leadership

Business skills:

• Basic economics • Financial literacy • Developing market research • Drafting a business plan • Raising finance • Sales techniques • Running a business meeting

Policy instruments

Open method of co-ordination Tools:

Expert groups, studies, dialogue with governments and stakeholders, benchmarking, monitoring of progress, organisation of events.

Objectives:

To promote the exchange and dissemination of

good practice.

To

steer policy action

in the EU Member States.

Some activities of the EC

•

Education for Entrepreneurship

, especially in primary and secondary schools. Expert Reports and Guide on Good Practice • Student

Mini-companies

in Secondary Education. Expert Report and audiovisual material •

Commission’s Communication

“Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through education and learning”

Ongoing project

: • Entrepreneurship in

Higher Education

, especially in non business studies

Share of secondary schools participating in mini-company programmes

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

B C el ze gi um ch R ep ub lic D en m ar k G er m an y Es to ni a Fr an ce Ire la nd La tv ia Li th ua Lu ni a xe m bo ur g H un ga ry A us tr ia Po la nd Fi nl an d Sw ed en UK N or w ay

Commission Communication

Commission Communication - COM (2006) 33

“Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through education and learning“

Objectives:

• Set the scene, and showcase good practice • Identify key issues to be addressed • Suggest measures for a more systematic strategy • Trigger action in the Member States

Some good examples



Finland

: entrepreneurship strategy was jointly developed by different ministries and organisations 

Luxembourg

: programme for all primary schools has a section on starting up a business based on a cartoon 

Poland

: entrepreneurship is a compulsory subject in all secondary schools 

Spain, Asturias

: students run import-export mini-companies as part of the regional curriculum for secondary schools 

UK:

pilots in schools and now dissemination; Science Enterprise Challenge introducing entrepreneurship in science and technological universities

Proposed action

• Develop a coherent framework • Support to schools and teachers • Participation by external actors and teachers • Fostering entrepreneurship in higher education • Share and disseminate good practice

Oslo Conference – October 2006

“Entrepreneurship Education in Europe: Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets through Education and Learning”

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/ support_measures/training_education/index.htm

How to turn the action lines of the Commission Communication into concrete activities

The Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurship Education in Europe

• A rich

catalogue of initiatives

, based on successful experiences in Europe • Stakeholders can pick actions at the appropriate level • Possible actors are indicated for each one of the proposed actions

Actions proposed

Framework for policy development:

• Ensure political support at high level • Better integrate entrepreneurship education into the Lisbon monitoring process • Set up a European-wide framework of objectives • Launch national strategies • Create Steering Groups: European and national • Ensure coordination at EU level in the evaluation

Actions proposed

Support to educational establishments:

• Integrate entrepreneurship in curriculum • Commission to support curricular reforms • Support the use of practice-based tools • Ensure sustained funding/support • Build European and national platforms for exchange • Develop research to assess the impact

Actions proposed

Support to teachers and educators:

• Attach training to teachers to curriculum reforms • Adopt innovative methods to train teachers • Set-up incentives at school level to enable teachers • Support the mobility of educators across Europe

Actions proposed

Entrepreneurship activities in schools and in higher education:

• Raise awareness of the role of entrepreneurs • Introduce innovative pedagogies into all courses • Test entrepreneurial competences of students • Link students to companies and business people • Allow and support the spontaneous initiative of student associations • Engage alumni in the activities

Actions proposed

Entrepreneurship activities in schools (contd)

• Offer training to disadvantaged groups • Integrate entrepreneurship across different subjects • Bring entrepreneurs into the classroom, and involve students in enterprise projects • Increase the production of European case studies • Give entrepreneurship more academic esteem • Embed evaluation into all programmes

Actions proposed

Building links and opening education to the outside world:

• Encourage the creation of learning communities • Businesses to donate a part of the working time of staff to activities in school / university • Create label for “entrepreneurial schools” and “entrepreneurial universities” • Establish entrepreneurship centres at a local level

Actions proposed

Communication activities:

• Launch awareness campaigns: EU and national • Celebrate entrepreneurship programmes that work well • Establish awards to acknowledge enterprises that donate funds and time

Next steps

•

Dissemination

to policy makers in public administrations and to other stakeholders • A

source of inspiration

for any strategy or specific measures to be implemented at national and regional level •

The Commission

will use the Agenda to establish its priorities, and to draw ideas for future actions