{"id":18521,"date":"2005-12-07T17:34:00","date_gmt":"2005-12-07T16:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/janfigel.com\/?p=18521"},"modified":"2026-06-11T17:52:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T15:52:30","slug":"education-and-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/janfigel.com\/sk\/2005\/12\/07\/education-and-entrepreneurship\/","title":{"rendered":"Education and Entrepreneurship\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Education to Entrepreneurship \u2014 SME Union
Brussels, 7 December 2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download Business Coach, Meeting, Strategy. Royalty-Free Stock Illustration Image – Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ladies and gentlemen,
It\u2019s a pleasure to be here today to speak to you about entrepreneurship and education
(Slide 1).
In doing so, I would like to place my comments in the context of the wider
framework of the revised Lisbon strategy for Growth and Jobs. It is clear that
education and training are determining factors in this context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Challenges<\/strong>
We all know the socio\u2013economic challenges which Europe is facing, and the scale of
them (Slide 2). These challenges are related to rapid changes in the world of work, to
globalization, demographic change and the development of a knowledge based
economy.
The knowledge and skills acquired through learning are a determining factor in each
country\u2019s potential for meeting these challenges.
Yet, at the same time, education and training are crucial for the social dimension of
Europe, as they contribute to the transmission of values such as solidarity, equal
opportunities and social participation. In an increasingly diverse society, education,
but also training is the key to making Europe more inclusive, tolerant, democratic and
to helping citizens meet the personal challenges they face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strengthening Innovation and Entrepreneurial Culture<\/strong>
Research suggests that there is a positive correlation between entrepreneurship and
economic growth, particularly in high-income countries. In a highly competitive
world, strengthening innovation is also an important condition for ensuring growth.
For these reasons, the Commission has for some time highlighted the need to promote
an entrepreneurial culture in the European Union. Education and training systems can
clearly play a role in this respect.
With regard to innovation, , our capacity to produce new knowledge needs to be
matched with a greater capacity to make some use of it. Such capacity building is of
particular importance for SMEs, as they represent a precious and fertile ground for
creativity and experimentation. I am of the view that both entrepreneurship and
innovation must be underpinned by placing greater value on education and training.
To take one obvious example, researchers should be more aware of the potential
business impact of their ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to define Entrepreneurship<\/strong>
The Commission proposal for a Recommendation on Key Competences, adopted on
9th of November provides a reference tool for policy makers, education and training
providers, as well as employers, to create comprehensive and coherent lifelong
learning strategies.
Key competences are those needed by all individuals for personal fulfilment and
development, for the world of work as well as for personal and social life. Once
acquired at school they should be further developed, maintained and updated as part
of lifelong learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship\u2014is one of the eight competences identified in the Recommendation
and is defined as follows (Slide 3):
an individual\u2019s 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. This supports everyone in day to day life, at home and in society, and is a
foundation for entrepreneurs establishing social or commercial activity.
Entrepreneurship is therefore something we need in both our personal and
professional lives. I strongly disagree with those who would say that entrepreneurship
education represents a \u201cutilitarian\u201d view of education, whereby only those skills and
values which are of use in the job market are taught.
In the definition I have just given you, entrepreneurship is a competence which is
essential for a fulfilled and active life as a citizen, as well as something which is of
value as an employee. Is any SME really afraid of an employee who is creative,
imaginative and who takes initiatives? Does any SME really prefer employees who
are blindly obedient and bring no other contribution to the workplace? Correct me if
I am wrong, but I do not believe that this is the case.
Entrepreneurship Education (Slide 4)
Entrepreneurship\u2013related skills and knowledge, as well as practical experience should
be a main focus within both vocational and general education. More efforts are
needed to include entrepreneurship education \u2013 in its widest sense – in the early stages
of general education.
As Entrepreneurship is first and foremost a way of looking at things, it should, and
can be nurtured from an early age at all levels, from preschool to university and in
informal and non\u2013formal contexts as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning partnerships \u2013 by which I mean between providers, beneficiaries and other
stakeholders – can play a key role in supporting entrepreneurship education,
especially at local and regional levels. Such partnerships can be immensely productive in terms of developing appropriate and up-to-date content and
methodologies, but also as a means of sharing responsibilities and costs.
Hands\u2013on experience of participation in school\u2013based enterprise activities should be
promoted in the curriculum. Projects supported by the DG for Enterprise have shown
good results and I am sure you will hear more from the panel in this respect.
An increased effort is also needed to provide teachers with knowledge of the world of
enterprise and innovative teaching methods which contribute to bringing an
entrepreneurial mindset and spirit into the classroom.
Also, universities need to promote the spirit of enterprise and create a favourable
climate for the development of entrepreneurship through the development of campus
companies and targeted teacher education programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission recently carried out a public consultation on the creation of a
European Institute of Technology, as a possible way of improving Europe\u2019s
performance in transferring research and innovation to the market. Whilst we are still
analysing the 741 responses, many respondents underlined that universities should
play an active role in this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n