Description
As laid down in the Lisbon Strategy, Europe needs a higher education focusing better on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The project partners launch together a project in order to raise awareness on these aspects, to improve competencies of staff and students and to develop a thorough and effective entrepreneurial curriculum in particular for non-business students. The project will implement one of the most effective teaching methods and will develop an interactive learning tool. The main outcome of the project will be a web-based learning tool, by which non-business students can experience peer-learning in business situations and can develop a specific set of competences applicable in working life. The donor partner in the project is the Bergen University College and their role is to design the major part of the curriculum, but all project activities are carried out in close cooperation. The Bergen University College has already experience in entrepreneurship education targeted to business and non-business students, and intends to further improve its curriculum and to benefit from the interdisciplinary approach of the project and the online tool being developed. Moreover, there will be start-up interdisciplinary working-groups to link business and non-business students and to enhance the emergence of new business ideas while competencies to be developed in the web-based learning tool are defined. This process will be mentored and guided by business practitioners of the third project partner, BusinessWorks Ltd. The partnership will achieve close collaboration between higher education and business. It will also boost innovation potential of the academic partners. Students from both countries can benefit from the international cooperation and development of transversal skills, such as entrepreneurship and teamwork, will enhance their employability.
Summary of project results
As laid down in the Lisbon Strategy, Europe needs a higher education focusing better on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The project partners launched together a project in order to raise awareness on these aspects, to improve competencies of staff and students and to develop a thorough and effective entrepreneurial curriculum in particular for non-business students. The project implemented an interactive learning tool by which non-business students can experience peer-learning in business situations and can develop a specific set of competences applicable in working life. The tool is available for introducing in the education at participating universities. Students and professors were involved to the development that contributes also a strengthened university innovation community. The partnership already achieved close collaboration between higher education and business. It will also boost innovation potential of the academic partners. Students from both countries can benefit from the international cooperation and the development of transversal skills, such as entrepreneurship and teamwork, which will enhance their employability. Within interdisciplinary start-up seminars, students can experience how innovative ideas are generated in a multidisciplinary team. This process is mentored by business practitioners. Develoment of this process was led by BusinessWorks Ltd. The donor partner, the Bergen University College had the role to design the major part of the curriculum, but all project activities are carried out in close cooperation. The Bergen University College transferred their experience in entrepreneurship education targeted to business and non-business students that contributed to further improve its curriculum and to benefit from the interdisciplinary approach of the project and the online tool developed.
Summary of bilateral results
BusinessWorks Human Resources Development Ltd. supported the project by the overall co-ordination of an interdisciplinary start-up seminar series. Cooperating with the Business School of the Central European University, they developed a seminar programme in order to contribute to the creation of the entrepreneurial skill development part of the SIMpLe - Start-up and Innovation Management simuLation software. Seminars are organised with the purpose to collect experiences from students as end-users. However, participating students took advantage of generating innovative ideas in multidisciplinary teams and peer-learning with business mentors. BusinessWorks also took part in promoting the workshop series through youth career advisors and other related organisations. BusinessWorks participated in other events related to the project in order for the whole team to get acquainted with as many contributors as possible and make co-operation as smooth and flawless as possible. Bergen University College contributed to the project with their great learning experience in teaching entrepreneurship and what else is moving on in Europe within innovation. As part of the highly developed Norwegian innovation ecosystem, they have expertise in this field and also have many projects of simulation games. Project partner was responsible for the creation of the entrepreneurial curriculum, which will be the core part of the SIMpLe-Start-up and Innovation Management SimuLation software. This project gives the Bergen University College professional contribution to increase the quality of teaching in entrepreneurship and help them in co-creating an online learning tool for their students in both campuses within an international cooperation.