European Commission

European Commission Enterprise and Industry Directorate General Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through education and learning Kirsi Ekroth-ManssilaDeputy Head of Unit European CommissionEnterprise 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

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

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 Agendafor 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

European Commission