Entrepreneurship in the Focus

The first European Entrepreneurship Summit was held on 11-12 July in Brussels. Organised under the umbrella of the EE-HUB, the event gathered academics and experts in entrepreneurship education, policy-makers and government officials, educators, business and NGOs representatives. On the occasion of the Summit, Martine Reicherts, Director General for Education, Culture and Youth shared her vision of education systems that prepare today’s children for tomorrow. For such a system, according to her, we need to start redesigning and reorganising education from scratch and transversal skills, such as entrepreneurial skills must be in the focus of curricula of such education systems.

Mrs. Reicherts acknowledged that such education must start very early, but failed to see the role of parents and families in it. Caroline Jenner, CEO of JA Europe, one of the organisers, introduced a new phrase, a subskill that was greatly appreciated by the audience. She said that ‘sticktoitiveness’ is one of the positive outcomes of entrepreneurship education, an important skill for future success.

The Summit was also an opportunity for the Advisory Council of the Entrepreneurial Skills Pass to meet. Eszter Salamon, President of EPA is a member of the Council, attended the meeting and subsequently represented parents at the summit.  

The summit offered an opportunity for participants to:

• learn from the new Innovation Cluster for Entrepreneurship Education (ICEE) field research on the impact of entrepreneurship education
• share lessons learned and discuss policy recommendations from the EE-HUB experts
• discuss new trends in entrepreneurship education and explore future areas of investment
• showcase new innovations and good practices

The event also offered an the occasion to launch the new phase of the EE-HUB, gearing towards the establishment of the European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning in 2018.

"In two short years EE-HUB has acquired an impressive track record. We have worked hard to connect to MEPs and national governments. Five expert working groups have prepared a comprehensive set of policy recommendations and designed the 1st European Entrepreneurship Summit in Brussels in July. The summit will develop action agendas for policymakers, business people, educators and young people to work together to put entrepreneurship on Europe’s education map." Caroline Jenner, CEO, JA Europe.

The event was organised in parallel with the 28th Company of the Year Competition by JA Europe where the best young entrepreneurs from across Europe were celebrated. National winning mini-companies, comprised of JA Alumni aged 15 to 18 years old were competing in this European final. Thus participants of the Summit had the opportunity to interact with students and see entrepreneurship education in action, but also to meet the King of the Belgians who visited the mini-companies exhibition on Place Rogier.