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Shooting for the Moon: Good Practices in Local Youth Entrepreneurship Support

January 2010

DOI:10.1787/5km7rq0k8h9q-en

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Authors:

Andrea Rosalinde Hofer

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Austin Delaney

University College London

Entrepreneurship is considered a key driver of economic growth and job creation all over OECD countries. Within this framework, promoting youth entrepreneurship is an area of growing policy interest for OECD national and local governments. Public policy can play an important role in stimulating motivations and entrepreneurial attitudes in young people and to provide the right set of skills to start-up and run a business. For framework conditions conducive to fostering the development of talents and youth entrepreneurship, taking appropriate action at the local level is of crucial importance…

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Please cite this paper as:

Hofer, A. and A. Delaney (2010), “Shooting for the Moon:

Good Practices in Local Youth Entrepreneurship Support”,

OECD Local Economic and Employment Development

(LEED) Working Papers, 2010/11, OECD Publishing.

doi: 10.1787/5km7rq0k8h9q-en

OECD Local Economic and

Employment Development (LEED)

Working Papers 2010/11

Shooting for the Moon:

Good Practices in Local

Youth Entrepreneurship

Support

Andrea-Rosalinde Hofer*, Austin Delaney

*OECD LEED Trento Centre, Italy

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON:

GOOD PRACTICES IN LOCAL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON:

GOOD PRACTICES IN LOCAL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT

Cover picture

Idea by Andrea R. Hofer; layout by Lucia Toffolon - www.hgblu.com

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON SHOOTING FOR THE MOON

2 3

PROMOTING YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Youth entrepreneurship is a critical element in the development of sustainable knowledge economies due to the creativity

and innovation of young people. It is appropriate for the current times as young people are most severely affected by the

ﬁnancial crisis as evidenced by the signiﬁcant rise in youth unemployment. In this context, we need to reﬂect upon the role of

public employment agencies, universities, incubators and business plan programmes in promoting youth entrepreneurship.

In the framework of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance, this handbook explores a surprisingly

neglected issue in the current debates about entrepreneurship support – the role of tailored support for youth entrepreneur-

ship. It presents the results of a diverse range of initiatives to promote and to support youth entrepreneurship and outlines

their experiences in addressing the major challenges faced by policy makers to meet the needs of young entrepreneurs

and innovators. The studied material is categorised by dimensions, with their associated principles, that build a template

for understanding the dynamics of youth entrepreneurship support and how best to develop initiatives and organisations

for these emerging themes. For practitioners, a number of suggestions and recommendations are provided. In the area of

entrepreneurship education, it stresses, among other issues, the importance of integrating entrepreneurship in the broader

curriculum, using interactive training methods and the use of successful entrepreneurs as inspiring teachers and mentors.

This publication is one amongst a number of recent and forthcoming works on the local importance of entrepreneurship

prepared by LEED Programme and from my experience in working in Pobal, I have found information garnered from LEED

to be invaluable. This publication will highlight the importance of support to young entrepreneurs and the need for this to be

part of a policy package to generate economic development and innovation.

I would like to thank the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance for this work and I hope it inspires policy

decision makers and practitioners to take a keen interest in youth entrepreneurship support.

Denis Leamy

Chief Executive of Pobal, Ireland

LOCAL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT

Entrepreneurship is considered a key driver of economic growth and job creation all over OECD countries. Within this frame-

work, promoting youth entrepreneurship is an area of growing policy interest for OECD national and local governments.

Public policy can play an important role in stimulating motivations and entrepreneurial attitudes in young people and to pro-

vide the right set of skills to start-up and run a business. For framework conditions conducive to fostering the development

of talents and youth entrepreneurship, taking appropriate action at the local level is of crucial importance.

The fundamental goal of the OECD LEED Programme and its Trento Centre for Local Development is to support policy-

makers, practitioners and other relevant stakeholders who have to deal with local economic and employment development

to evaluate and address the crucial questions related to policy choices and modes of implementation among development

options based on an understanding of local potentials and limits. As such, through its activity programme, the OECD LEED

Trento Centre seeks to develop capacities for the effective design and implementation of policies that are tailored to lo-

cal needs and focused on the key drivers of local economic growth and well-being. LEED case study work, a review of

the literature on youth entrepreneurship, and the input of members of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local

Governance have contributed to the development of a criteria list of good practice with three dimensions and a number of

important principles. The criteria list can act as an aide in designing public policy and local action.

I hope you will ﬁnd the handbook useful for your work and will be inspired by the selection of twenty-eight good practice

initiatives in twelve countries that sketch out the approaches and steps undertaken by national and local governments,

schools, universities and other organisations to create entrepreneurial mindsets and to enhance business start-up activities

amongst the young.

Stefano Barbieri

Head of OECD LEED Trento Centre for Local Development

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................7

Local youth entrepreneurship support: good practice criteria ..........................................................................................9

Opportunity Creation .................................................................................................................................................... 10

Entrepreneurship education..........................................................................................................................................11

Start-up support .......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Good practice initiatives in local youth entrepreneurship support ..................................................................................13

OPPORTUNITY CREATION

Finland. Y4: Promoting an entrepreneurial society in Central Finland ............................................................................. 16

Germany. Gruender-mv.de: support portal for entrepreneurship in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern .......................................18

United Kingdom. Flyingstart: online community for graduate entrepreneurship .............................................................. 20

United States of America. Opportunities for New York’s hidden innovators ....................................................................22

Germany. School in! Business planning in Sachsen-Anhalt ............................................................................................ 25

Canada. Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in New Brunswick...................................................................................... 27

Germany. Berlin-Brandenburg’s business plan competition ........................................................................................... 29

United States of America. Entrepreneurship in Northern California: more bang for your buck .........................................31

Ireland. Ballymun: area-based comprehensive and concerted youth entrepreneurship support ......................................33

Finland. Opening doors for youth: business succession in Finnish universities ............................................................... 36

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

United States of America. Coolcash: Talbot Hill Elementary School’s MicroSociety ........................................................38

Austria. Work4U: Empowering youth in Gmunden ........................................................................................................41

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Andrea-Rosalinde Hofer of the OECD LEED Programme developed the criteria list and edited this handbook together with

Austin Delaney, research trainee at the OECD LEED Trento Centre.

Special thanks are extended to Alain Fayolle of EM Lyon and Jonathan Potter of the OECD LEED Programme for their use-

ful comments on the criteria list, to Mark Steve Beittel of the University of Trento for explaining the ‘Shooting for the Moon’

concept – and to all the people, who provided information on the initiatives presented in this book, for their openness and

collaboration.

The handbook beneﬁtted from the October 2009 Trento Centre capacity building seminar ‘Getting the young into jobs. The

Role of Partnerships’. Thanks are extended to all delegates for engaging in a lively discussion about the relevance of youth

entrepreneurship in today’s public policy approaches towards youth employment. Some of the good practices discussed in

Trento are presented in this handbook. Very helpful support in organising the seminar and all the work around the handbook

was provided by Elisa Campestrin, Laura Nardelli and Roberto Chizzali of the OECD LEED Programme, and Irena Jatro, Inga

Krekele, Natalie Akstein, Lucy Pyne, and Adele Pezo, research trainees and at the OECD LEED Trento Centre.

The handbook and the seminar are part of the activities of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance.

The OECD LEED Programme would like to acknowledge the ﬁnancial support of the European Commission DG Employ-

ment, Social Affairs & Equal Opportunities, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection,

and Pobal, Ireland.

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INTRODUCTION

Very often becoming an entrepreneur is the result of a personal decision making process including assessments of op-

portunities and their costs (being employed, being unemployed, being one’s own boss), risk-reward relationships (what

is at stake), and others. Values, beliefs and behaviours, embedded in the culture of a country and a place, inﬂuence this

decision. Entrepreneurship education and start-up support, with its two-fold purpose of contributing to the creation and

development of entrepreneurial attitudes and motivations and developing the skills needed to successfully run and grow

a business, can play an important role in the decision making process. Promoting youth entrepreneurship has become

an area of growing policy interest all over OECD countries and beyond. This OECD deﬁnition of entrepreneurship encom-

passes both the act of running one’s own businesses, and being the entrepreneurial manager or employee of a ﬁrm. This

book draws on this deﬁnition, but sets the focus on the former. Over the last decade, the OECD Local Economic and

Employment Development Programme (LEED) has produced policy documentation about the positive role of youth entre-

preneurship in local development and gave advice on how youth entrepreneurship can be promoted and supported locally

by partnerships of public and private agents, underlining the key functions carried out by schools, universities, incubators

and business support agencies.

LEED works – Putting the Young in Business: Policy Challenges for Youth Entrepreneurship (2001); Entrepreneurship and

Higher Education (2008) and Universities, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2009) – show that many young job-seekers,

aged between 16 and 35, have positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship, but only few will generate value through the

creation or expansion of economic activity by identifying and exploiting new products, processes or markets. Only a small

percentage of youth prefer starting their own business instead of dependent employment. Difﬁculties in accessing ﬁnanc-

ing and appropriate premises are in survey studies often listed as the key barriers. Also, only few young people learn at an

early age about entrepreneurship. Many inputs are required for successful entrepreneurship. Most important are entrepre-

neurship skills and competences. Motivated people need the right set of skills to identify entrepreneurial opportunities and

to turn their entrepreneurial projects into successful ventures. Starting early in getting familiar with the idea that running

one’s own ﬁrm can be a potential career option is important and education has a core function in this. LEED research

conﬁrms that it is the local context that triggers the start-up and growth of new businesses. Generating and strengthening

an entrepreneurial culture that attracts and stimulates talents should therefore be a core objective of local youth entrepre-

neurship support frameworks with entrepreneurship education, start-up support and opportunity creation, that is, making

places conducive to youth entrepreneurship as key components. Local partnerships, involving schools, higher education

institutions, training providers, business development services, local authorities and local businesses, are crucial to the

creation and sustainability of such entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Canada. Camp Je: entrepreneurship vacation in Quebec ..............................................................................................42

Ireland. Skills Development Programme for Young Entrepreneurs in Dublin ...................................................................44

Denmark and Sweden. Facelift for entrepreneurship with new social media in the Øresund region .................................45

Germany. Wismar on the way to the entrepreneurial university ...................................................................................... 48

Portugal. Entrepreneurship masters – developing an individual route to success in Porto .............................................. 49

France. Educating entrepreneurs for the World: entrepreneurship education at the EM Lyon Business School ............... 51

United Kingdom. Cambridge Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning ..................................................................................52

France. OPPE: resource tool in entrepreneurship education ..........................................................................................54

START-UP SUPPORT

Germany. Enterprise: journey for young people to succeed in Brandenburg ..................................................................56

Canada. Making access to money easier: Youth strategy in Quebec ............................................................................. 57

Germany. Metropolis goes business: start-up incubation and business support for media ﬁrms in Babelsberg ............... 59

Finland. Business clinic services for young companies in Jyväskylä ............................................................................... 61

Sweden. Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship: matching technology and entrepreneurship ......................................... 63

Germany. Incubation in Berlin: Beuth University ............................................................................................................65

United States of America. Make or Break: Concept2Venture at the University of Illinois-Chicago ...................................66

Ukraine. YBU: capacity building for entrepreneurship in Donetsk ...................................................................................67

About the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development .......................................................................... 70

The OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development ........................................................................ 70

The OECD Programme on Local Economic and Employment Development .................................................................. 71

The OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance .................................................................................. 71

The OECD LEED Trento Centre for Local Development ................................................................................................. 72

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LOCAL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT: GOOD PRACTICE CRITERIA

This criteria list for good practice in local youth entrepreneurship support is directed to those who are designing strategies

and infrastructure for youth entrepreneurship; and to those who are active in entrepreneurship education and start-up sup-

port for young entrepreneurs.

The criteria list can be read as a tool to self-assess and re-orient strategies, structures and practices in youth entrepreneur-

ship support grouped into the following three dimensions:

Opportunity creation

Making places conducive to youth entrepreneurship. The higher the recognition and appreciation for entrepreneurship in

a place and the deeper entrepreneurial behaviour is embedded in society, the greater the public support for creating the

necessary framework conditions, such as availability of ﬁnancial, human and physical resources and information, the ‘easier’

it is to recognise opportunities and to turn them into business ventures.

Entrepreneurship education

Generating motivation, attitudes and competencies for entrepreneurship. Assisting the establishment of new ﬁrms is a key

objective for entrepreneurship education, but not its only one. Creating entrepreneurial mindsets that drive innovation in

existing ﬁrms is of equal importance, yet success is much more difﬁcult to measure.

Start-up support

Providing a helping hand in business start-up without taking away the ‘do it on your own’. It is all about making, entrepre-

neurship support systems accessible and attractive for young future entrepreneurs, and about rectifying market and system

failures in ﬁnancing and premises.

This handbook takes the discussion of what constitutes successful local entrepreneurship support frameworks further and

seeks to provide a gateway for further exchange of good practices on this topic. It presents a criteria list that has emerged

from LEED work on youth entrepreneurship, the academic debate and the work of practitioners. Its three dimensions are:

opportunity, creation, entrepreneurship education and start-up support. The criteria list can be read as a ‘tool’ to self-assess

and re-orient current strategies, structures and practices in youth entrepreneurship support. The selected good practice

initiatives – ranging from Øresund Entrepreneurship and its extensive use of Facebook for student recruitment, to Finnish

business succession courses that involve young entrepreneurs in ‘real-life’ incubation – offer inspiration, but also pressure,

to adapt and go beyond the prevailing paradigms that some policy makers and practitioners may have with regard to youth

entrepreneurship.

Work is underway to develop this criteria list further. It will be employed as assessment framework in LEED policy develop-

ment and capacity building activities, with Skills for Entrepreneurship and Local Strategies for Youth Employment as two

main projects in the next biennium. Readers are also invited to contribute to this exercise by sending comments on the

criteria list and/or information on good practice initiatives to andrea-rosalinde.hofer@oecd.org.

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

• There is commitment for entrepreneurship education at the management level of education institutions, and appropriate

funding is available.

• Entrepreneurship education is part of elementary, secondary, vocational, and tertiary education.

• Entrepreneurial pedagogies with varying formats and learning environments are used.

• When entrepreneurship education is an option and not compulsory, the entrepreneurship education offer is widely adver-

tised amongst students and measures are undertaken to increase the rate and capacity of take-up. For certain courses

active recruitment is practiced.

• There is early exposure to the ‘world of business’. Entrepreneurs, ﬁrms, business support organisations and alumni are

involved in the design of entrepreneurship education and its delivery.

• Possibilities for training in entrepreneurship teaching are available and take up is incentivised.

• Exchange of experience and lessons learned amongst entrepreneurship education initiatives is promoted and a network

of institutions practicing entrepreneurship education exists at appropriate geographic/administrative level.

• Evaluation of entrepreneurship activities is systematically organised at the level of the education institutions and the

relevant governmental organisation. Monitoring of impact includes immediate (post-course) tracking, and for secondary

and tertiary education mid-term (graduation), and long-term (alumni and post-start-up) tracking is also practiced.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION

• There is broad appreciation for youth entrepreneurship in the local society.

• Clear incentives and rewards are in place for individuals in education institutions, such as teachers, professors and

researchers, to motivate youth and support entrepreneurship through education, mentoring and the sharing of re-

search results.

• There is appropriately designed outreach to potential young entrepreneurs in various environments, including the

unemployed and those outside education.

• Opportunity promoting activities are regularly organised for young people to identify, understand and make produc-

tive, innovative use of assets, unmet demand and market niches in their local economy.

• Regular stock-taking, performance checking and improvement of youth entrepreneurship support activities are un-

dertaken.

• Success is celebrated.

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GOOD PRACTICE INITIATIVES IN LOCAL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT

The following section presents twenty-eight good practice initiatives set in place by national and local governments, schools,

universities and other organisations in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden,

United Kingdom, the United States, and Ukraine. All of these initiatives demonstrate good practice across a wide range of

the criteria that have been established. For each dimension some initiatives were chosen that illustrate very well how they

met the criteria on that dimension.

Below an overview of the assignment of the initiatives to the different dimensions.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION

Y4: Promoting an entrepreneurial society in Central Finland. The Y4 initiative aims to involve all of the local society in

a process whose result should be the broad appreciation for entrepreneurship, in particular for young entrepreneurs.

Gruender-mv.de: support portal for entrepreneurship in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Making information about en-

trepreneurship attractive, easily accessible and ubiquitous is the function of this Internet information and support portal in

north-eastern Germany.

Flyingstart: online community for graduate entrepreneurship. Whether it’s just an idea, an international high-tech

venture, a social enterprise or a small consultancy, FlyingStart is geared up to support graduates realise their ambitions and

support new businesses and to reward UK universities for establishing entrepreneurship support systems.

Opportunities for New York’s hidden innovators. The US Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship in New York provides

opportunities for entrepreneurial activities for young people from socially disadvantage backgrounds near one of the world’s

most successful business area, Manhattan.

School in! Business planning in Sachsen-Anhalt. Students from the age of 13 years are put in contact with the ‘world

of business’ in a one-year programme that cumulates with a business plan competition.

Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in New Brunswick. This is an annual bilingual entrepreneurship contest that com-

bines with its ‘green’ agenda the spirit of entrepreneurship with environmental awareness.

Berlin-Brandenburg’s business plan competition. This business plan education for the metropolitan area of Berlin with

three phrases – ﬁrstly focusing on concept development, secondly on market research and ﬁnally on the ﬁnancial dimen-

sion – uniquely lasts 8 months.

START-UP SUPPORT

• An entrepreneurship support structure with clear and accessible routes for youth is in place including attractive and

speciﬁc youth support measures.

• There is close co-operation and referral between the different organisations involved in the support framework for youth

entrepreneurship and roles are clearly deﬁned.

• Entrepreneurship education activities and start-up support are closely integrated.

• Mentoring is organised.

• Facilities for business incubation exist and assistance is offered for youth to gain access.

• Access to ﬁnancing is facilitated.

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Entrepreneurship masters – developing an individual route to success in Porto. The course aims to instil an entre-

preneurial mindset into its students by challenging them to be leaders and by focusing on personal development.

Educating entrepreneurs for the World: entrepreneurship education at the EM Lyon Business School. Students

are trained and supported in being entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs or entrepreneur managers in different geographical

and cultural contexts.

Cambridge Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning ensures that entrepreneurship courses at the University are taught by

entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business angels and bankers.

OPPE: resource tool in entrepreneurship education. OPPE, an Internet information data base in French language on

entrepreneurship education in secondary and higher education, facilitates learning from good practices in teaching methods

and pedagogical tools.

START-UP SUPPORT

Enterprise: journey for young people to succeed in Brandenburg. The initiative aims to motivate young people to stay

in Brandenburg and qualiﬁes them for planning, starting and ﬁnally running a business.

Making access to money easier: Youth strategy in Quebec. Youth Strategy offers young people, aged 18 to 35, ﬁnanc-

ing and advice for running their own business. This successfully counters youth out-migration from rural areas.

Metropolis goes business: start-up incubation and business support for media ﬁrms in Babelsberg. This start-up

incubation centre is speciﬁcally for the media industry and helps transforming innovative ideas into entrepreneurial activities.

Business clinic services for young companies in Jyväskylä. Young ﬁrms are offered systematic coaching and assist-

ance services, which can be a crucial during their ﬁrst years of existence.

Chalmers School of Entrepreneurship: matching technology and entrepreneurship. Chalmers School of Entrepre-

neurship is an educational platform for entrepreneurship skills and a pre-incubator for early-stage business ideas.

Incubation in Berlin: Beuth University. The initiative provides business incubation in proximity to research, assists team

building and free use of ofﬁce space and laboratories.

Make or Break: Concept2Venture at the University of Illinois-Chicago. This annual event identiﬁes student business

start-ups with high potential for success and signals to the University and the business community where to invest.

YBU: capacity building for entrepreneurship in Donetsk. YBU develops entrepreneurship opportunities for youth in

post-industrial Ukraine.

Entrepreneurship in Northern California: more bang for your buck. Evaluation concluded that participants who at-

tended and completed the Entrepreneurship Camp have a greater comprehension of entrepreneurship and community

involvement and basic sustainability principles than their non-participating peers.

Ballymun: area-based comprehensive and concerted youth entrepreneurship support. Youth entrepreneurship is

important for Ballymun quarter in Dublin and there is a set of concerted actions in place for helping the young to start-up

and run their own businesses.

Opening doors for youth: business succession in Finnish universities. This example demonstrates how business

succession can function like a ‘real-life’ incubator that provides the young entrepreneur with opportunities for innovation

and commerce.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

Coolcash: Talbot Hill Elementary School’s MicroSociety. Every October a school internal job fair is organised for

elementary school students to choose their preferred activities and to get hired by a student run ﬁrm and government or-

ganisation or to start-up their own business.

Work4U: Empowering youth in Gmunden. Learning how to deal with ‘real-life’ issues is what Work4U-ers are doing

daily in their own workshop. For the 15-18 years old this includes taking on responsibility for their ‘job’, working in a team,

making decisions, and so on.

Camp Je: entrepreneurship vacation in Quebec. Camp Je offers teens, aged 13 to 17, a great opportunity to get famil-

iar with the idea that becoming an entrepreneur is a very realistic and desirable career to follow.

Ireland Skills Development Programme for Young Entrepreneurs in Dublin. This initiative assists those who have

considered self employment as an alternative to being unemployed or becoming long-term unemployed in getting the right

skills base to run their own business.

Facelift for entrepreneurship with new social media in the Øresund region. Øresund Entrepreneurship demonstrates

that cross-border university entrepreneurship education works well and that the use of new social media can make entre-

preneurship education attractive.

Wismar on the way to the entrepreneurial university. Entrepreneurial skills development at the University of Wismar is

integrated into all study programmes, also with the aim to reach those who have not considered an entrepreneurial career

path so far.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

16 17

as additional criteria to local decision-making. This created a

common understanding of business and community needs,

in particular also what concerns the needs and expectations

of young entrepreneurs.

Achievements.

• 10 000 active players.

• Number of enterprises has almost tripled since Y4-start.

• All the municipalities in Central Finland region are involved

in promoting Y4 through their own organisations and the

Y4 Entrepreneurial Agreement.

• 61 partner, or “Entrepreneurship Agreement”, organisations.

• Winner of European Entrepreneurship Award competition.

Website.

www.y4.ﬁ

Contact.

Petri Palviainen; petri.palviainen@y4.ﬁ

Notes.Rationale and general information. The Y4-entrepre-

neurship process “Yrittäjyys Ylös Yhteiskunnassa Yhteistyöl-

lä” (English: Promote Entrepreneurship in Society by Co-

operation) started in 2002 as an initiative of various public

and private actors in Central Finland with the aim to create

a conducive overall framework for entrepreneurship devel-

opment. The goals are the promotion of an entrepreneurial

culture, instilling entrepreneurship into local decision mark-

ing and the removal of administrative and cultural barriers to

entrepreneurship. In 2005, with the creation of the post of

a Y4 process co-ordinator and a Y4 web site, further steps

towards the institutionalisation of the Y4 process have been

successfully completed.

Timeframe. Since 2002, no time limit.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget is EUR

200 000 plus around EUR 76 000 annual salary costs for the

co-ordinator. The budget is funded by the Municipalities of

Central Finland (50%), and by the Regional Council of Cen-

tral Finland, and the EU.

Human resources. 1 co-ordinator (full-time).

Activities. Every year over 100 activities, including work-

shops, seminars, and conferences, as well as open-days

of participating institutions are organised to gather, discuss

and disseminate information about business and commu-

nity needs. The activities have also been expanded to other

regions.

Start-up and young companies are offered free access to a

mentor and patron panel.

The work of the co-ordinator includes co-ordination of the

Y4 process as a whole, further strengthening key traits of

entrepreneurial thinking and action, and the evaluation of re-

lated policies and programmes throughout Central Finland.

The following four sectors have therefore been underlined:

entrepreneurship evaluation; entrepreneurship juries at the

regional and sub-regional levels; Y4 entrepreneurship agree-

ments; and Y4 development projects.

Partners. 42 organisations are partnering in the process.

The long list includes local companies, business associa-

tions, the Chamber of Commerce, local governments, elect-

ed ofﬁcials, civil servants, schools, vocational and profes-

sional training institutions, public and private employment

services, trade unions and employer organisations, the

universities of Jyväskylä and other institutes of higher edu-

cation, and different non-governmental organisations. The

Chamber of Commerce has taken over the leadership.

Success factors.

Creation and maintenance of an entrepreneur-friendly

environment, where supportive and pro-active attitudes to-

wards entrepreneurship have been anchored within the pub-

lic administration and public and private support structures.

Local governments added prior impact assessment of

policies and regulations on entrepreneurship development

Finland

Y4: PROMOTING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL SOCIETY IN CENTRAL FINLAND

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

18 19

insufﬁcient local market capacity. The E-Commerce Award

initiative is complementing the virtual market place, where

start-ups and young companies can present their business-

es and advertise their products and services for free.

Partners. Key partners are Chambers of Industry and

Commerce and the Chambers of Crafts in Mecklenburg-

Vorpommern, public employment agencies, entrepreneur-

ship centres of higher education institutions, technology and

business incubation centres, public development bank of

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Success factors.

• Offer up-to-date and tailored services.

• Be ﬂexible and non-bureaucratic.

• Take things serious and being professional.

• Maintain and expand networks, also beyond Mecklen-

burg-Vorpommern.

Achievements. Most importantly, GRUENDER-MV.DE with

its publicity has signiﬁcantly contributed to the emergence of

business friendly environment and a ‘fertile ground’ for busi-

ness start-ups in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

At the moment GRUENDR-MV.DE has around 1 300 clicks

per day. Most clicks in the download area: sample busi-

ness plan and videos with around 1 400 downloads per

month.

Website

www.gruender-mv.de

Contact.

Grit Gehlen and Matthias Sachse: redaktion@gruender-mv.de

Notes.

Rationale and general information. Making information

about entrepreneurship attractive, easily accessible and

ubiquitous is GRUENDER-MV.DE’s motto. GRUENDER-MV.

DE offers direct, up-to-date and in due course assistance

for business founders and young enterprises. Information

and services are delivered through the Internet, which great-

ly helps to prepare for, accompany and facilitate business

start-up and early establishment processes.

GRUENDER-MV.DE functions as a ‘virtual’ bondage for

start-up support projects and organisations and provides

easy access to them. The Internet portal also allows to dif-

ferentiate the service offer and intensify and tailor certain

components to the needs of their target groups, such as for

example students and university people. GRUENDER-MV.

DE creates synergies and enhances innovation in business

start-up support services and their delivery.

GRUENDER-MV.DE was the ﬁrst Internet-based information

and service portal for business start-ups and remains one

of the regional entrepreneurship internet portals in Germany.

Internet usage in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is high as popu-

lation density is very low (72 inhabitants per square kilometre)

and the Internet is an important means for business founders

and entrepreneurs to access information and support inde-

pendent from location and business hours. All information

and services have are focused on characteristics and assets

of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the aim is to enhance the

development of innovation in products and services.

Timeframe. GRUENDER-MV.DE started in 2000 and has

grown since then in terms of content and functions.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget of

EUR 170 000 is co-ﬁnanced by the Ministry of Economics,

Labour and Tourism of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the

European Social Fund.

Human resources. Two full-time on-line editors.

Activities. GRUENDER-MV.DE serves as key platform for

other business start-up support projects in Mecklenburg-

Vorpommern, such as the Mentoring Programme and Bridge

MV, the business succession support initiative. GRUENDER-

MV.DE runs a telephone hotline assisting start-ups, radio

and television spots, advertising and articles in newspapers

and magazines, as well as raising awareness in schools.

Would-be-entrepreneurs and business founders get from

the GRUENDER-MV.DE website up-to-date news and in-

formation on business start-up and growth, contact de-

tails of people in charge of support programmes and useful

projects, downloads (sample business plans, etc.), video

podcasts on successful young entrepreneurs.

The E-Commerce Award, ﬁrst issued in 2006, aims at foster-

ing entrepreneurial growth by increasing the understanding

of opportunities resulting from ICT application in sourcing

production means and selling products and services. It helps

increasing interest in business growth as especially in periph-

eral areas e-commerce can help to overcome the barrier of

Germany

GRUENDER-MV.DE: SUPPORT PORTAL FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

IN MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

20 21

Website.

http://www.ﬂyingstartonline.com

Contact.

Paul Hannon, paul.hannon@ncge.org.uk

Notes.Rationale and general information. Whether it’s just an

idea, an international hi tech venture, a social enterprise

or a small consultancy FlyingStart is geared up to support

graduates, up to ﬁve years out, realise their ambitions and

support new businesses. FlyingStart is an Internet platform

where students and graduates get information and access

to services. It also facilitates the establishment of Enterprise

Societies at UK universities.

FlyingStart is an initiative of the National Council for Gradu-

ate Entrepreneurship in the UK.

Activities. As a personal system FlyingStart offers students

and graduates help to develop and start their business and

make it succeed. Members have access to a database of

all available funding and grants in the UK, can network with

over 10 000 graduate entrepreneurs, and can ask hundreds

of experts in accounting, tax, law, sales, marketing, PR,

business support, planning, etc. for advice. Members can

set a proﬁle page and a ‘marketplace’, and can choose a

(online) mentor and a support team. Furthermore FlyingStart

regularly published features of successful FlyingStart-ers.

FlyingStart is an important tool to establish and to develop

Enterprise Societies (clubs, dedicated events, etc.) at UK

universities. FlyingStart is offered free to universities. The

system allows to create own websites and offers a system

to recruit and network with members and create blogs and

forums, and upload events and documents to keep mem-

bers/supporters informed. FlyingStart is wholly customised

for each of the participating universities; a content manage-

ment system allowing each society complete control over

the content, communications and presentation. FlyingStart

also offers funding for university entrepreneurship support

through workshops and other activity.

FlyingStart manages a number of national programmes. Na-

tional FlyingStart Programmes have the sole aim of having

graduates trading or growing businesses within 12 months.

Programmes have up to 30 participants and provide one-to-

one mentoring, support and training needed to turn ‘every

idea into a business’. It starts with a 3 day residential fol-

lowed by 12 months support and is free. Each Enterprise

Society will be offered places on all national and regional

programmes.

Success factors.

• Easy access.

• Internet based.

• Involvement of universities.

Achievements.

• A network of 13 000 + students/graduates already reg-

istered.

• Over 25 000 members online.

• 442 active mentors.

• Investment secured from National FlyingStart Pro-

grammes: GBP 1 095 540.

• 524 workshops organised with 7 684 attendees.

United Kingdom

FLYINGSTART: ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR GRADUATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

22 23

ship programmes. These programmes are located at 50

sites throughout the four boroughs (Queens, Manhattan, the

Bronx, and Brooklyn) of New York. The NFTE NY Metro is

reaching more and more young people in the New York met-

ropolitan area through expansion of its existing programmes

as well as through the formation of new partnership with

local public services and NGOs.

Youth Entrepreneurship Programmes is an interactive

programme which seeks to replicate business environments

by having ﬁeld trips to the wholesale district, selling events

and also by engaging with local entrepreneurs. In addition,

there are classes in entrepreneurship, on its own or interwo-

ven with other relevant subjects include mathematics, busi-

ness and economics. The outcome of this programmes see

each student present their own business plan.

BizCamp is a two six week intensive programme operated

in the summer and includes interactive ﬁelds trips as well

as engagements with successful entrepreneurs so students

can get an insight into the world of business and entrepre-

neurship. In addition, there are competitions for funding of

businesses proposed by the students.

Business Incubator Programme is a matching programme

that links NFTE alumni who want to start their own company

with experienced business mentors. There are organised meet-

ings twice a month and the young entrepreneurs should beneﬁt

from the transfer of practical knowledge of business formation

and expansion as well as the psychological encouragement of

seeing a successful entrepreneur. There are 2 incubators run-

ning in New York, one facilitated by the NY Junior League for

students at the beginning state of their business and the other

one is for students with more advanced business plans.

Partners. New York City Council, New York City Depart-

ment of Education, YMCA of Greater New York.

Success factors.

Staff development. NFTE has greater emphasis on teach-

ing training to ensure successful induction into the NFTE

work and also for to try to ensure a high level of staff reten-

tion. NFTE has a four-day intensive training programme that

prepares teachers and youth workers to deliver fun and en-

gaging entrepreneurship education by focusing on the tools

and methodology for teaching school students the dynam-

ics of entrepreneurship. These motivated teachers are then

able to bring these successful innovative teaching strategies

to the classrooms and groups which are critical to inspire

students into entrepreneurial activity.

Interactive programmes. The orientation of these pro-

grammes is towards more practical engagement with the

world of business rather than the theoretical study of com-

merce and entrepreneurship. The incorporation of interac-

tive features into the programme is more likely to grab the

student attention, by challenging them to do some business

activity and so there is no passive learning which could al-

ienate the students. This will also lead to a real understand-

ing of the challenges of setting up and running a company.

Rationale and general information. The Network for

Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is an international non-

proﬁt organisation which aims to provide entrepreneurship

education programmes and initiatives to young people from

socially disadvantage backgrounds. NFTE was founded in

New York and its headquarters remains there, it is also very

appropriate area for NFTE operations as socially disadvan-

tages communities exist alongside one of the world’s most

successful business area, Manhattan, which also has the

world ﬁnancial capital, Wall Street. The NFTE programmes

in New York are among its oldest and largest operations and

arguably, one of its most successful operations, reﬂecting

the success of the organisations’s curriculum and its under-

lying principles. NFTE achieves its mission by:

1. Creating engaging, experiential curricula and tools to im-

prove academic, business and life skills.

2. Training and supporting teachers and youth professionals.

3. Partnering with schools, community-based organisa-

tions, and post-secondary institutions.

4. Offering volunteers opportunities that link students to

practical work experiences.

5. Connecting the educational and business worlds in the

classroom.

6. Providing support services to programme graduates.

7. Demonstrating outcomes of entrepreneurship education

through research.

8. Building public awareness to expand entrepreneurship

education.

The curriculum of the NFTE generally involves the teaching

of business concepts, practice skills including negotiation

and pricing, this skill in particular is enhanced by organised

ﬁeld trips to a wholesale district, where the students buy

goods to sell later in a ‘selling event’ at their school or after-

school programme. There is also the development by each

student of a business plans for their own individual busi-

ness, which are then submitted to Business plan competi-

tions. The successful winner of the individual programme

competition can then partake in the regional competitions,

organised by the NFTE ofﬁces and programme partners in

an area. Following on from that, there is a national business

plan competition for NFTE students each year with the win-

ning students receive a trip to the annual awards dinner

in New York City and a grant to apply toward their busi-

ness or college expenses. The curriculum may be used in a

semester-long or year-long entrepreneurship course. It can

be part of an existing course, or used for an after-school

programme or intensive camp. The programs are offered in

a variety of settings, including public schools, after-school

programs at community-based organisations, and intensive

summer business camps.

Timeframe. From 1987 ongoing.

Activities. There are four main programmes in New York:

NFTE NY Metro Area Programmes is the main pro-

gramme in New York which each year sees close to 2,500

students graduating from the various NFTE’s entrepreneur-

United States of America

OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW YORK’S HIDDEN INNOVATORS

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

24 25

Rationale and general information. futurego. Sachsen-

Anhalt is a business plan competition for students from 8th

grade on (13 years and older). The objectives are to bring

students already at this age closer to the world of business

and to increase the number of business start-ups. Students

have one year to prepare business plans. Seminars and in-

dividual coaching sessions are organised to support the stu-

dents in this activity. The 10 best team or individual proposals

receive awards ranging from EUR 200 to EUR 1 000. The

best business plans in the areas of mathematics, information

technology, natural sciences and technology are awarded a

special prize of EUR 300. All prizes are sponsored from re-

gional ﬁrms. There are cases in which regional ﬁrms became

mentors of partners in the realisation of business ideas. To-

day 36 schools are participating in futurego. Sachsen-Anhalt.

Trainings are also organised for teachers. The contents and

formats of the seminars and workshops are developed by

futurego. Sachsen-Anhalt Staff in close collaboration with

business people and business support specialists.

In May 2009 a new project, proego. Sachsen-Anhalt, started

with the aim to establish early on contacts between students

and the region’s leading entrepreneurs. Intensive meetings

are organised in on a small scale for around 30 student par-

ticipants, aged between 15 and 21 years, and a couple of

ﬁrms, who are regularly sponsoring future ego competitions,

to solve in collaboration some key real business issues. The

idea is not to perform best on technological knowhow, but

to demonstrate soft skills, such as creativity, team sense and

problem solving. Students are invited to apply with a letter of

motivation. The letter is the main basis for selection.

The Institute for Innovation und Entrepreneurship at the

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg is co-ordinating

futurego. Sachsen-Anhalt and proego. Sachsen-Anhalt.

Timeframe. Annual competitions from 2005 onwards; con-

ﬁrmed until 2011.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget of

EUR 136 500 is ﬁnanced by the Ministry of Economics and

Labour of Sachsen-Anhalt and the European Social Fund.

Regional ﬁrms sponsor the prizes for the annual competi-

tions in the amount of EUR 10 000 are sponsored by re-

gional ﬁrms.

Human resources. One full time and one part-time staff.

Activities. On futurego. Sachsen-Anhalt: The business plan

competition is organised in two-phases. In the ﬁrst phase

students present their business idea in an “idea paper”, of

approximately 5 pages. All “idea papers” are developed into

a business plan in the second phase of the competition.

Region-wide seminars and individual coaching sessions are

organised over the period of 12 months.

On proego. Sachsen-Anhalt: regular intensive problem solving

workshops for selected students and regional leading ﬁrms.

Partners. Both initiatives partner with schools and ﬁrms in

Sachsen-Anhalt and with government agencies.

Germany

SCHOOL IN! BUSINESS PLANNING IN SACHSEN-ANHALT

Achievements. NFTE has taught more than 280 000 young

people, has more than 1 500 active Certiﬁed Entrepreneur-

ship teachers and has programmes in 21 states in America

as well as in 11 other countries.

Through various programs, the NFTE in New York works

with 5 000 students each year in more than 100 middle

schools, high schools, and community-based organisations.

Evaluation by Harvard Graduate School of Education found

that NFTE’s entrepreneurship programme is effective in

keeping students in school and is a signiﬁcant factor in mo-

tivating students to engage in education and learn new skills

and competencies. In speciﬁc ﬁgures:

• Interest in attending college increased 32%.

• Occupational aspirations increased 44%.

• Independent reading increased 4%.

• Leadership behavior increased, 8.5% as starters/found-

ers of activities and 13.2% as leaders.

Website.

www.nymetro.nfte.com/

Contact

nyvolunteer@nfte.com

Notes.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

26 27

Rationale and general information. Youth Entrepreneur-

ship Challenge is a fully bilingual entrepreneurship contest

designed for high school students. Its mandate is to foster en-

trepreneurship by rewarding students who demonstrate crea-

tivity, leadership, communication skills and innovativeness.

Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge receive approximately 60

team submissions totalling roughly 180 students; the gender

breakdown is very close 55% female and 45% male. Partici-

pation is fully managed online through the Youth Entrepre-

neurship Challenge web portal.

The prize award ceremony is held at the prestigious Capitol

Theatre every year in May.

This year’s competition has an additional theme, “Green”, in

order to combine the spirit of entrepreneurship and environ-

mental awareness together to help ﬁnd ideas and solutions

for the well-being of the planet. The best green business

ideas developed as business plan for a product or service

can win up to CAD 3 000.

Timeframe. This is an annual competition that coin-

cides with the academic year. The competition is normally

launched in November and students have until mid-April to

submit their entries, with the ﬁnale held in mid-May.

Budget and financing sources. The total budget for the

Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge is approximately CAD

45 000. The event is fully financed by contributions from

private and public sector partners.

Human resources. Enterprise Greater Moncton dedicates

one person to overall coordination and management of the

event, with additional resources assigned as needed for

various functions. The Youth Entrepreneurship Development

Initiative Network also provides resources in support of the

event.

Activities. Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge is organised

in three categories.

1. Creating a Business Idea, with a business plan for a

product or service. The prize for winning ideas is up to

CAD 3 000.

2. Summer Venture. Developing a real business plan gives

students the opportunity to create and run their own

business for the whole summer. Winners receive up to

CAD 1 000 in addition to a CAD 3 000 government loan.

3. Youth Community Engagement. Individuals, groups or

even entire schools can participate by submitting an

idea for a new community service. Winners will receive

a CAD 500 donation to the charity or non-for profit or-

ganisation of their choice.

Partners. Enterprise Greater Moncton is the lead organisa-

tion with the support of the Youth Entrepreneurship Devel-

opment Initiative Network, Co-op Atlantic, the New Bruns-

wick Innovation Foundation, TD Canada Trust, the Province

of New Brunswick and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities

Agency.

Canada

YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE IN NEW BRUNSWICK

Success factors.

• Get students motivated for entrepreneurial thinking and

acting.

• Network of schools and collaboration with other youth

entrepreneurship support initiatives.

• Establishing contacts and relationships between schools,

students and regional ﬁrms.

Achievements.

On futurego. Sachsen-Anhalt:

• First round 2005/06: 300 students, 59 teams and 80

seminars, 58 business plans.

• Second round 2006/07: 431 students, 121 teams, 92

seminars, 62 business plans.

• Third round 2008/09: 440 students, 110 teams, 103

seminars, 65 business plans.

• Fourth round 2009/10: 350 students, 135 teams, 114

workshops, 93 business plans.

• Fifth round: 2010/11: started in July 2010.

On Proego. Sachsen-Anhalt:

• Second round 2009: 27 students, 3 ﬁrms.

Website.

www.futurego.de

Contact.

Ulf-Marten Schmieder; schmieder@iie-halle.de and Sabrina

Möller; moeller@futurego.de

Notes.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

28 29

Rationale and general information. An important instru-

ment to promote entrepreneurship in the metropolitan area

of Berlin-Brandenburg is the Business Plan Competition

Berlin-Brandenburg (BPW). BPW is organised by Investi-

tionsbank Berlin, Investitionsbank Brandenburg and Vereini-

gung der Unternehmensverbände (consortium of business

associations) in Berlin and Brandenburg, in conjunction with

the Minister of Economics of the Federal State Brandenburg

and the Senator for Economics, Technology and Women’s

Affairs Berlin.

Timeframe. Since 1996 every year; BPW has a duration of

8 months.

Budget and financing sources. Plan Competition Ber-

lin-Brandenburg is fully privately financed. Annually ap-

proximately EUR 250 000 of sponsor’s money are avail-

able for activities and prizes.

Human resources. The number of people involved in the

organisation of the competition and its activities depends

upon the number of participants.

Activities. The competition itself has three phases: the

first phase focused on the idea and concepts of potential

products and services, second phase is about analysis

of the existing market place and the third phase is about

the financial tools and requirements of the potential en-

trepreneur. Participation is free of charge and registra-

tion is on-line. The support offered include: learning and

know-how; feedback by a jury; coaching; contacts; prize

money. Participants can enter the competition also in the

second or third phase. Participation to seminars, coach-

ing sessions and networking is also open to people not

submitting a market analysis or a business plan. In the

third phase 26 business plans are awarded prize money

of up to EUR 10 000.

Partners. A vast number of companies, universities and

other institutions are partners of the competition.

Success factors.

• BPW is open for everyone who has an idea and wants to

turn it into a business venture.

• BPW is open to any kind of organisations or individuals

that want to contribute with their know-how in entrepre-

neurship.

• Professional support and recognition of excellency and

uniqueness.

Achievements. In the period 1996-2007, 4 354 business

ideas were submitted and served as the basis for the for-

mation of several companies. 1 126 companies with 5 154

jobs are still in the market.

Germany

BERLIN-BRANDENBURG’S BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

Success factors.

• Increased awareness of entrepreneurship as a career

option.

• Development of key entrepreneurial skills.

• Engagement of private sector in youth development ac-

tivities.

Achievements. Increased participation from both schools

and total number of students in each of the ﬁve years the

programme has run.

Winners have come from throughout the province.

Some Summer Venture winners have maintained their enter-

prise over multiple seasons.

Website.

www.entrepreneurshipnb.ca/

Contact.

John Thompson; john.thompson@greatermoncton.org and

Chad Peters; chad.peters@greatermoncton.org

Notes.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

30 31

Rationale and general information. The Northern Rural

Training and Employment Consortium organises a 3-day En-

trepreneurship Camp. This initiative is part of the Northern

California Employment Network’s (NCEN) activities and was

strategically designed to provide career, higher education,

civic involvement, social development and most importantly,

entrepreneurship development for youth. On average 18

young people participate each year.

Based on NCEN’s staff, the project team, workshop trainers,

parents and independent observers’ experience with the

students, the support and delivery of the Entrepreneurship

Camp was customised to meet the needs of all participants.

The Entrepreneurship Camp demonstrated to be a proven

success. Entrepreneurship Camp surveys and evaluations

conducted by Insight, the project implementing team, has

concluded that participants who attended and completed

the Entrepreneurship Camp have a greater comprehension

of entrepreneurship, career choices, community involve-

ment and basic sustainability principles than their non-par-

ticipating peers.

Timeframe. The assessment information is from the origi-

nal initiative July 28 – August 1, 2008. The programme is

ongoing.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The budget of USD 50 000

is co-ﬁnanced by the US Department of Labor (USD 10 000)

and by private sector donations (USD 40 000). The US De-

partment of Agriculture is also involved.

Activities. The 3-day Entrepreneurship Camp offers a rich

programme including the following activities:

Understanding the local market. All participants learn

how to identify and evaluate market opportunities through

research, interviews and surveys of local people, and they

learn how to build and maintain relationships by network-

ing in a business environment and how to get involved with

community development. Game activities and simulations

are organised.

Using computers, basic communications and other

technologies. Participants learn how to use different com-

puter programmes, print media and Internet to support their

business.

Time management skills and task completion. Partici-

pants get familiar with the concept of keeping up with tight

timelines and multiple task accomplishment by doing their

Camp assignments. There was a 90% punctuality rate in

relation to workshops and Entrepreneurship Camp attend-

ance. 97% of students completed the required workbook

assignments, business plan development and presentation,

developed and presented PowerPoint presentations, partici-

pated in all Business Camp. Each student completed the re-

quired 30-second elevator pitch, and submitted a 20-page

business plan.

Working in co-operative groups. All participants actively en-

gaged in group activities and simulations that included in-

United States of America

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

Website.

www.b-p-w.de/2010/index.php

Contact.

Andreas.bissendorf@ibb.de

Notes.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

32 33

Rationale and general information. Youth entrepreneur-

ship is important for the Ballymun quarter in Dublin and there

is a set of concerted actions in place for helping the young

to start-up and run their own businesses. Ballymun White-

hall Area Partnership is a local development company that

engages with schools and provides training for teachers to

help students set up micro-businesses in Ballymun. Local

Development Companies in Ireland are funded by The Local

and Community Development Programme managed by Po-

bal on behalf of the Irish Department of Community, Equality

and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership supports youth entre-

preneurship with programmes in three main areas: ﬁrstly

teaching secondary school teachers to develop their entre-

preneurial teaching skills, secondly teaching entrepreneur-

ship to young people, and ﬁnally the establishment and sup-

port of a local enterprise centre. The aim is to develop an

area-based comprehensive and concerted support system.

The ﬁrst programme assists teachers with ideas that com-

pliment the current school curriculum, speciﬁcally for visits,

projects and lesson planning and is supported by the School

Principals Network that meets monthly and oversees educa-

tion in all schools in the area. Support is given to teachers

in two ways: ﬁrstly, a teachers network bulletin, which is de-

livered to teachers’ email addresses and secondly by intro-

ducing new teachers to the community, which offers them

ﬁrst-hand experience of where their students live.

The second programme teaches entrepreneurship to young

people to enhance their economic productivity by improving

their business, academic and life skills and is delivered both

in-school as part of the school curriculum and out-of-school

in youth clubs and special projects. Each business receives

a small grant to start their business to give the initial cash

injection to produce a product or service. Students get to

engage with successful established entrepreneurs in both a

business and social context and get exposure to community

leaders and successful businesses both locally and nation-

ally. This programme is part of the Network for Teaching En-

trepreneurship (NFTE), Ireland.

Finally, young people are supported during business start-

up and thereafter with a special incubation programme. The

Ballymun Whitehall Enterprise Centre is a 700 square me-

ter social enterprise with 21 incubation spaces in Ballymun.

The Centre offers business development and entrepreneur

training which seeks to develop entrepreneurial skills and

thought processes necessary for company development.

Companies can locate their business in the Centre for four

years and are encouraged to recruit local residents as there

is a high rate of unemployment or underemployment, that is

people tend to work within unskilled and semi skilled manual

labour, in Ballymun. Most of the centres clients are under 35

years old.

Activities. The ﬁrst programme creates and distributes a

Teachers Bulletin which highlights enterprise in the commu-

Ireland

BALLYMUN: AREA-BASED COMPREHENSIVE AND CONCERTED

YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT

teractive learning strategies, public speaking and analytical

thinking using a multi-disciplinary approach.

Partners. Northern Rural Training and Employment Consor-

tium (NORTEC) is the lead organisation with local banks,

chambers of commerce, Rotary and Soroptimist Clubs,

community based organisations participating.

Achievements. NCEN conducts a pre- and post-Camp

evaluation which measures student’s business opinions, at-

titudes, as well as, business knowledge.

In the July 28 – August 1, 2008 NCEN Youth Entrepreneur-

ship Camp students surveyed for the pre-evaluation scored

a 51.5% correct in a business knowledge test as a whole

group. The males in this programme scored 47.5% correct

and the females scored 55.5%. Most impressive in this pro-

gramme was that in just 3 short days, the post-evaluation

showed that the entire group increased 22.5% for a score of

74% correct in the same test compared to the pre-evalua-

tion. Pre-survey results also showed that only 16.6% of the

participants felt they had the skills to make good decisions

about business in the pre-evaluation survey compared to

the post evaluation results of 50%.

Website.

www.nortec.org

Contact.

Stewart Knox; sknox@ncen.org

Notes.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

34 35

2. Creation of further employment opportunities in the local

area.

3. Creation of a culture of entrepreneurship.

Website.

www.ballymun.org; www.pobal.ie; www.nfte.ie

Contact.

Declan Dunne; declandunne@ballymun.org and Elizabeth

Tierney, elizabeth@ballymun.org

Notes.nity and documents enterprise ideas for teachers to incor-

porate into their lesson plans. Teachers are introduced to

the incubation centre and enterprise and entrepreneurship

programme of services. The second programme organises

entrepreneurship training in secondary level schools. Stu-

dents work in teams of three to set up micro businesses.

The programme includes teacher participation in the youth

entrepreneurship training to help teachers deliver the pro-

gramme. This year one of the businesses promoted was a

talent competition based on X Factor. A large number of

students participated as competitors in a half-day event that

had 400 spectators, a differentiated pricing strategy and an

incentivised attendance strategy. The event has great po-

tential for replication and generated a net proﬁt of more than

EUR 800.

The Enterprise Centre activities consist of:

• One to one business mentoring sessions.

• One to one advice and guidance sessions.

• Basic FETAC accredited pre-incubation training.

• City and Guilds business start up programme.

• Grow Entrepreneurs Through IT (GET-IT) Three tiered

computer training programme.

• First Steps to Success – micro ﬁnance business mentor-

ing programme.

• Revenue Tax Online Programme and Bookkeeping Training.

Partners. Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership is partnering

with local banks, local Schools, North Dublin Chamber of

Commerce, the Job Centre, social welfare agency, Pobal

and NFTE.

Success factors. For the first programme, there are 60

teachers signed up to receive the bulletin which offers vis-

its, projects and lesson planning for teachers in the local

area. It helps students to relate to the subject as the mate-

rial is connected to their local area.

The second programme results in significant personal and

professional successes for students as the business ven-

tures allow for expression of their creative nature and also

for them to interact and understand the world of com-

merce and in particular, the operations of local businesses.

The Enterprise Centre’s success is due to its structured

training programme; an affordable business location and

like-minded entrepreneurs provide a personal support

network.

Achievements. From the entrepreneurship education in

second level schools one business venture ‘Trinity’s Got

Talent’ successfully got through to the Regional Finals and

will compete in the National Finals in the Helix Theatre,

Dublin.

The number of teachers and students beneﬁting from the

second programme is constantly rising.

The Enterprise centre has seen a:

1. Reduction in the number of people on social welfare.

OPPORTUNITY CREATION OPPORTUNITY CREATION

36 37

Activities. Activities are organised around 3 themes: edu-

cating business successors (project work, business succes-

sion plan as thesis project), practical experience (working in

enterprises, entry/take-over strategy), and assistance with

business succession (ownership transfer process, compe-

tences transfer process, management transfer process).

The programme for business succession mentors conduct-

ed at the University of Applied Sciences of Satakunta has

certiﬁed 8 mentors so far.

National meetings amongst BSS educators are organised

every 2 years. Networking meetings for students are also

organised on a regular basis.

Partners. Main partners are the 8 involved UASs, the FIN-

PIN, regional representations of the Ministry of Labour and

Economics, entrepreneurs/business associations at the na-

tional, regional and municipal levels, business incubation

centres, business support organisations, and individual en-

trepreneurs and ﬁrms.

Success factors.

• Multidisciplinary background of students.

• Co-operation and networking.

• Involvement of representatives of the private and public

sectors.

• Need for business successors in Finland.

Achievements. All participating UASs are in their second or

third programme cycles. Also in Lappland a consortium of 1

university, 2 UASs and 2 vocational schools will soon start

a Business Succession School. There is increasing interest

in business succession and the amount of BSS graduates

taking over businesses is growing.

Website.

www.jatkajakoulu.ﬁ, www.ﬁnpin.ﬁ

Contact.

Sakari Kuvaja; sakari.kuvaja@lamk.ﬁ

Notes.

Rationale and general information. The Business Suc-

cession School (BSS) was established in 2005, by the Lahti

University of Applied Sciences and FINPIN. FINPIN was

founded in 2002 at the initiative of the Rectors Association.

Its mission is to promote knowledge and innovation-based

entrepreneurship in Finnish higher education institutions.

The goals of FINPIN are to develop interesting teaching op-

portunities horizontally amongst the Finnish universities of

applied sciences, and to increase awareness on the impor-

tance of entrepreneurship education and its impact on the

Finnish economy, in particular with regard to business suc-

cession. 26 out of 28 universities of applied sciences partner

in the FINPIN initiative.

The initiative was started in recognition of the national

need for business successors. In 2004, it was believed

that 60 000 to 70 000 firms out of the 240 000 ﬁrms mak-

ing up the total business stock in Finland, would close their

doors by 2014 due to succession uncertainties. The number

of retiring entrepreneurs in western EU countries is estimat-

ed at 675 000 over the same period. Business ownership in

Finland is estimated to last an average of 25 years, which is

twice the Swedish average (12-14 years) and more than 3

times the US average (7 years).

The BSS trains business successors and assists retiring

companies in organising the hand- over process. After a

one-year research period on the role of universities of ap-

plied sciences (UAS) in the business succession process,

the ﬁrst BSS was established at the Lahti University of Ap-

plied Sciences. A questionnaire was completed by 600

students out of which 112 were selected for a test and 60

passed a detailed interview. 32 students were then selected

to participate in the pilot programme. During the 2006-2008

period, 7 other universities of applied sciences implemented

their own business succession support programmes. Grad-

uates are awarded a nationally recognised certiﬁcate issued

by FINPIN, the respective university and the Finnish Ministry

of Employment and Economics (15 ECTS).

The pilot programme was carried out from October 2005 to

April 2008. Since then, BSS activities have been integrated

into curricula. An evaluation of the programme was carried

out for the 2006-2009 period under the request of the Min-

istry of Labour and Economics.

Timeframe. From 2005 ongoing.

Budget and financing sources. Total expenses dur-

ing the pilot programme added up to approximately

EUR 264 000. The budget was financed by the European

Social Fund, the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry

(Ministry of Labour and Economics as of 2008), and par-

ticipating UASs.

Human resources. During the pilot programme, 1 project

manager, 2 private consultant companies, over 30 teachers

from 8 UASs, experts from business support organisations,

and entrepreneurs were involved.

Finland

OPENING DOORS FOR YOUTH: BUSINESS SUCCESSION IN FINNISH UNIVERSITIES

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

38 39

Activities. Talbot Hill’s MicroSociety programme includes

three afternoons per week for every student participating

in a for-proﬁt business, a government agency, or a non-for-

proﬁt organisation. First and second year students work on

their MicroSociety activities with their teacher in the class-

room, whereas three to ﬁve year students either do their

jobs they are employed for, or run their own small business.

Salaries and all transactions are paid in Cool Cash, Talbot’s

currency.

Some examples of employing student organisations are: The

Mad Scientists conduct science investigations and create

science presentations and products for other students, the

schools newspaper, the Eye of the Tiger, sells subscriptions

and single issues, just like newspapers in the adult world,

and in the Arts Explosion student employees learn about

various artists and artistic styles to sell their own artwork, to

organise exhibitions and to hire themselves out as assistants

for art projects.

To start-up a business students will need to prepare a busi-

ness plan and an operating budget and submit them for

approval to the student run City Hall in order to obtain a

license. By operating their own businesses students learn

many real life lessons: they are responsible for purchasing

supplies through the student run wholesale store, and for

marketing and sales of their products as well as for keeping

track of revenues and expenditures.

Teachers act as facilitators for each student organisation

and train students in their speciﬁc jobs, gradually diminish-

ing their roles as students grow into leadership.

Partners. The Talbot Hill Educational Trust is a non-proﬁt-

organisation that is made up of staff, parents and commu-

nity members. It meets monthly to support the MicroSociety

programme ﬁnancially and in securing community partners.

The notion that elementary students are receiving excellent

preparation for their future professional life is appealing to

local business people. Numerous in-kind partnerships have

been developed with local businesses and organisations.

Volunteers mentor or work with teachers and students to

help with the various activities.

Success factors.

• Expanded staff development. Talbot ‘banks’ ﬁve minutes

a day to the four-and-a-half days of annual training time

increasing the total time for training to nine-and-a-half

days.

• Time for teacher collaboration. Teachers work every day

for 45 minutes in grade level teams.

• Encourage leadership at all levels of the organisation,

from administrators, to teachers to external partners to

parents.

Achievements.

• Student academic achievement continues to grow: stu-

dents improved 14.3% in math and 11.6 percent in read-

ing, far exceeding yearly progress goals of 6% and 4%

respectively.

Rationale and general information. Every September is

Micro Academy time at Talbot Hill Elementary School!

Talbot Hill Elementary School, an accredited elementary

school in the Renton School District, southeast of Seattle,

is one of around 250 schools in 40 US states that imple-

ment a MicroSociety programme. The MicroSociety philos-

ophy, developed in 1967 by George Richmond, a teacher

in a public school in Brooklyn, acknowledges that students

learn best when they can connect schoolwork with the out-

side world. Its principles are: promoting student voice and

choice, enabling students to learn by doing, take advan-

tage of student’s entrepreneurial spirit, providing real world

experience, enabling teachers to serve as facilitators, and

sharing responsibility and authority amongst teachers and

students.

Talbot has a student government, modelled on US govern-

ment and its electoral process with about 230 students

running for ofﬁce. In the ﬁeld of business, every October a

job fair is organised where students choose their preferred

activities, ﬁll out job applications and are hired. For-proﬁt

businesses a pay business tax, and employees and indi-

vidual income tax. Complementing the business activity is

the technology component of Talbot’s Micro Society. The

student bank, for example, maintains records of all ac-

counts by computer, and Hall of Justice employees main-

tain computerised records of trafﬁc tickets. The school’s

TV station produces their own videos, and a student ﬁrm,

the Tech Tigers, manages the computer lab and provides

technology troubleshooting. This combination of tech and

business components prepares the students for competi-

tive entrepreneurship in the modern era.

In Talbot Hill over recent years, ethnic diversity amongst the

school’s 480 students has grown rapidly: at present approxi-

mately 34% are Asian, 20% African American, 16% Hispanic

and 3% American Indian. About 160 students have English

as a second language. This sets out some key challenges.

However, thanks to a comprehensive school improvement

plan, a technology integration plan, which is part of the

school’s MicroSociety programme, and regular performance

assessments and systemic evaluation, the percentage of

students that meet the standards in Math, Reading, Writing

and Science of WASL (Washington Assessment of Student

Learning) is increasing.

Timeframe. From 1993 ongoing.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The district average

budgeted annual expenditures per student are USD 9 028

(2009). The school district funds are not sufﬁcient to cover

all extra costs of the MicroSociety programme. Talbot has

applied and received many grants and awards from Boe-

ing Company, Social Ventures Partners Seattle, The Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation, Intel’s 21st Century Schools of

Distinction programme, and others.

Human resources. There are 873 classroom teachers.

United States of America

COOLCASH: TALBOT HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL’S MICROSOCIETY

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

40 41

Rationale and general information. Work4U is a grass-

root designed initiative in Upper Austria’s district Gmunden

to empower young people, who are between 15 and 18

years old, who have just ﬁnished school and have difﬁculties

because of their social-emotional peculiarities to ﬁnd a job.

Central to the initiative is the Youthnetwork Salzkammergut,

with 36 member organisations, who conducted in 2009 a

survey amongst all secondary schools in the district, inter-

viewing the teachers, on the risk of labour market exclusion

of young people. The result was that around 5 to 10% of

high school graduates are likely to face difﬁculties in ﬁnding

an apprenticeship; 84 students were identiﬁed for empow-

erment measures. Yet, there were no initiatives available for

this particular target group.

Learning how to deal with ‘real-life’ issues is what partici-

pants in Work4U are doing every day in their own workshop.

This includes taking on responsibility for their ‘job’, working

in a team, making decisions, and so on. The leading partici-

pation of Work4U-ers in the reconstruction of an old school

building into the workshop is a good example of empower-

ment and learning to become self-conﬁdent.

Timeframe. Work4U is a pilot that runs initially from Sep-

tember 2009 to December 2011.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget of ap-

proximately EUR 520 000 is co-ﬁnanced by the school and

education budget of the government of Upper Austria, the

labour market service and the European Social Fund.

Human resources. Three full-time teachers to run the of-

ﬁcial school-part and two managers to run the project for

the young.

Activities. The activities include work on projects, social

competences/skills training, 1-1 coaching and group work.

The Youthnetwork Salzkammergut is in the process of estab-

lishing a permanent steering group involving parents, teachers

and social workers to guide and monitor Work4U activities.

Partners. 56 partners are involved in Work4You.

Success factors.

• Individual service and 1-1 coaching with low or no ﬂuc-

tuation of teachers and trainers.

• A ﬁrst mover, who wanted to act and to change some-

thing.

• The support of the regional government and local key

players.

Contact.

Walter Rechenmacher; bvj@eduhi.at and Martin Kamrat;

kamrat.m@akooe.at

Notes.

Austria

WORK4U: EMPOWERING YOUTH IN GMUNDEN

• Programme positively affects student empowerment and

the application of real world, business and technology

skills. Evaluation results show that students believe that

they can make a difference and they are also willing to

demonstrate it.

Website.

www.talbothill.rentonschools.us/

Contact.

Sheryl Dunton; sheryl.dunton@rentonschools.us

Notes.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

42 43

Success factors.

• A good campaign to promote Camp Je in schools.

• A solid coordination.

• Good teaching and coaching made by professionals dur-

ing the camp.

Achievements. Since 2000, the Réseau des SADC du

Québec and CFDC’S have organised more than 20 Camp

Je and over 600 young people have been introduced to

entrepreneurship. 10% have clear intentions to start-up a

business.

Website.

www.reseau-sadc.qc.ca

Contact.

Hélène Deslauriers; hdeslauriers@ciril.qc.ca

Notes.Rationale and general information. Entrepreneurship is

extremely important for the development of the regions in

Québec, and hence there is a need to develop the entrepre-

neurial skills of today’s youth. Camp Je offers teens, aged 13

to 17, a great opportunity to learn about themselves, and it

also lets them know that becoming an entrepreneur is a very

real and desirable career to follow.

The only requirement to become a Camp Je-er is to be a

team player interested in learning the basics of entrepre-

neurship. Participants are chosen in partnership between

the local CFDC’S (Community Future Development Corpo-

ration) coordinator, teachers and parents.

Camp Je is different from other summer camps: it is an op-

portunity to learn business basics in a fun, vacation like at-

mosphere. In a period of two weeks youths will learn all the

ins and outs of being an entrepreneur. The participants will

work with a team to create a small business, ask for a loan,

produce, market, and sell a product. And, if the team makes

a proﬁt, they can share at the end of the camp.

Camp Je has become an event that municipalities all over

Québec compete for hosting it. Camp Je has been founded

by the Réseau des SADC du Québec, a network of non-

proﬁt organisations that works at bringing out the best in

Québec’s regions and ensuring each region’s development.

It currently boasts 57 CFDCs and 10 CBCDs, each one in-

dependent. It enjoys the contribution of 1 350 volunteers

and 400 professionals who, for more than 25 years, have

worked towards identifying solutions and enhancing their lo-

cal communities!

Timeframe. Camp Je runs simultaneously every year in

participating municipalities all over Québec for two weeks

in June.

Budget and financing sources. The budget of CAD

55 000 includes a-two week allowance for participants

and covers their travelling from regions. The Business

Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is the major partner.

CFDC’S corporations contribute and find money in the

municipality for the youth’s fees.

Human resources. The organisation committee consists

on average of 7 persons (including the coordinator). During

the Camp 24 mentors are coming from the local and wider

CFDC ofﬁces.

Activities. Work as a team > Learn about entrepreneurship

> Meet new people from across the province > Experience

the excitement of starting a business, including creating a

business plan and meeting real bankers > Create produce

and market a product > Sell the product during a farmer’s

market > And maybe even make a proﬁt > Not only be learn-

ing... but having fun too! > Volleyball > Swimming > Softball,

drama > Campﬁres > Awards ceremony.

Partners. CFDC’S, BDC, schools, municipalities.

Canada

CAMP JE: ENTREPRENEURSHIP VACATION IN QUÉBEC

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

44 45

Rationale and general information. Øresund Entrepre-

neurship is a cross-border organisation in the Øresund Re-

gion (Capital Region of Denmark and Southern Sweden) that

works to promote entrepreneurship education at university

level in Denmark and Sweden. The overall goal of the organi-

sation is to improve regional growth and make the Øresund

Region an internationally acknowledged centre for entre-

preneurship education. Øresund Entrepreneurship is part of

Øresund Org and was established in September 2006 as an

Øresund University initiative, with ofﬁces in both Denmark

and Sweden. Øresund Entrepreneurship is an innovative or-

ganisation, not only in its cross-border conﬁgruation but also

it use of new social media to engage its curent and potential

students.

Øresund Entrepreneurship’s aim is to become an interna-

tionally recognised academy of entrepreneurship. Øresund

Entrepreneurship will ensure a high level of entrepreneurship

education at the universities in the Øresund Region to stim-

ulate growth and development. The organisation will con-

tribute to unite the region’s strengths and create a strong

collaboration between the educational institutions in the

Øresund Region.

Facebook is currently the third biggest source of trafﬁc to the

Øresund Entrepreneurship’ webpage, which opens up new

avenues of development.

Timeframe. Established in 2006.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The organisation is coﬁ-

nanced by the Danish and the Swedish Governments,

Scania Region, The Capital Region of Denmark and Region

Zealand together with the participating universities.

Human resources. An organisation consisting of nine

persons with academic, administrative and organisational

competencies in reaching the organisation’s goals. Adding

to this is a substantial network that helps us getting the right

competencies and knowledge to enhance the organisation’s

efforts and endeavours.

Activities. Entrepreneurship education leads to knowl-

edgeable and independent students that will contribute to

economic growth in the Øresund Region by establishing

their own businesses or by innovating existing organisa-

tions.

Therefore Øresund Entrepreneurship supports educators

at the 9 universities in the region in developing and estab-

lishing entrepreneurship courses and motivates students

to do these courses. In addition, Øresund Entrepreneur-

ship facilitates cooperation between academia and busi-

ness for the benefit of students, educators and people

from business organisations.

Strengthening Competencies. Øresund Entrepreneurship

arranges conferences, seminars and workshops to promote

and present the most up-dated knowledge in the ﬁeld of

entrepreneurship education.

Denmark and Sweden

FACELIFT FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP WITH NEW SOCIAL MEDIA

IN THE ØRESUND REGION

Rationale and general information. This Skills Develop-

ment Programme for Young Entrepreneurs has been de-

signed to respond to the growing number of young unem-

ployed people in the area and to address their emerging

needs. It is designed to assist those who have considered

self employment as an alternative to being unemployed or

becoming long-term unemployed. Young Entrepreneurs, in

particular, have energy and enthusiasm which, when prop-

erly channelled can be very effectively utilised. This pro-

gramme offers encouragement and support to this entre-

preneurial interest.

Timeframe. This training initiative commenced in 2009 and, due

to the unprecedented demand for it, continues through 2010.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. Funding to deliver the

training element of the programme is received through FAS

(National Training Authority) and through the Department of

Social and Family Affairs.

Human resources. Two Enterprise Ofﬁcers are dedicated

to providing one-to-one support and mentoring in assisting

entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses. These sup-

ports include business planning, ﬁnancial awareness, mar-

ket awareness and identifying other needs which prospec-

tive entrepreneurs may encounter. This ensures that all who

commit to the training programme are fully aware of what

the training entails and also reduces the risk of drop out from

the programme. A specialist in Entrepreneurship / Enterprise

Start-up is engaged to deliver the formal training.

Activities. Training is delivered over seven modules on two

evenings per week. All training receives recognised certiﬁca-

tion from the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).

Training modules include: Assessing ones own suitability for

Self Employment, Legal & Regulatory Requirements, Mar-

ket Research and Marketing, Finance and keeping ﬁnancial

records and Business Planning. On completion of the formal

training programme each participant continues to receive

one-to-one mentoring and support from the Northside Part-

nerships Enterprise Ofﬁcers.

Partners. Key partners are FAS and Department of Social

& Family Affairs.

Success factors. During 2010 17 females and 45 males

under 35 years of age engaged with this training programme.

Achievements. To date 30 young people have set up their

own businesses over a wide variety of activities including

graphic design, domestic appliance repairs, architectural

technician, and property maintenance.

Website.

www.northsidepartnership.ie

Contact.

Cepta Dowling; Cepta.Dowling@nspartnership.ie

Notes.

Ireland

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN DUBLIN

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

46 47

Website.

www.oresund.org/entrepreneurship

Contact.

Jakob Stolt, jakob.stolt@oresund.org

Notes.Creating Awareness. Øresund Entrepreneurship arrang-

es business idea competitions, and fun, creative, serious,

and social events for students to promote entrepreneur-

ship education – often in collaboration with student or-

ganisations.

Using Social Media. Øresund Entrepreneurship is cur-

rently using Facebook, Twitter and a Blog as a strategic

way to communicate with its network. Using these plat-

forms means being represented in a world of communica-

tion that the target group already uses and therefore feels

at home in. Using a blog as supplement to a newsletter

means that the content can be made more personal and

direct and at the same time is always available (and up-

dated!) for potential readers. Connecting social media to

Øresund Entrepreneurship’s webpage has increased the

number of visitors to the page and reaches out with deep-

er information to more people. Through these channels

Øresund Entrepreneurship are able to reach out to groups

that are traditionally hard to reacted out. Dialog is essential

to create the close connection and commitment these me-

dias offer. This can be very timeconsuming and demands

a great deal of engagement from the sender, which Øre-

sund Entrepreneurship prioritise in its efforts to reach the

target groups.

Networks. . Øresund Entrepreneurship offers access to a

wide network of people involved in entrepreneurship teach-

ing as well as established entrepreneurs. In this network

contacts can be made with people from both business and

academia, regional as well as international.

Partners. All the universities in the region, public authorities,

society, business, entrepreneurs.

Success factors.

• Putting innovation and entrepreneurship on the agenda

of universities.

• With regard to students: prioritise and choose education

and courses within entrepreneurship.

• With regard to educators: develop and improve the

amount, quality and understanding of entrepreneur-

ship education (professionally and pedagogically/di-

dactically).

• With regard to management: enhance entrepreneurship

education at the institutions.

• With regard to management: enhance entrepreneurship

education at the institutions.

Achievements.

• More than doubled the amount of students engaging into

entrepreneurship education.

• Co-developed and funded more than 80 courses;

strengthened the capacities and competencies of

educators.

• Played a significant role in the changing of mindset

and efforts with regard to entrepreneurship in higher

education.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

48 49

Rationale and general information. The aim of this

course is to empower students so that they can start en-

visioning themselves as entrepreneurs. Through an inte-

grating study of leadership and opportunity recognition

students begin to develop the type of mindset needed for

successful new venture creation, social entrepreneurship

and corporate venturing. This is accomplished by having

students focus on various forms of leadership, personal

marketing, social media and networking. Students learn the

non-business planning aspects required in developing an

enterprise. To further demystify the entrepreneurial process

students are required to interview an accomplished entre-

preneur or intrapreneur.

The course is enhanced by approaching entrepreneurship

from the individual level which sees students start the en-

trepreneurial process through building their concept of what

their personal brand stands for, how it is conceived and how

to get their message across. At the end of the course, stu-

dents are required to submit a transcript and conclusions

from their entrepreneur interview as well as Personal Leader-

ship Plan (PLP), which can be either written or videotaped.

The PLPs typically integrates various portions of the course

material including lectures, results from self-assessment

leadership tests, online proﬁle development as well as feed-

back from their colleagues and professor.

An addition novelty is the use of new social media as the

majority of students already have an online proﬁle, the

course utilizes assignments that incorporate developing or

redeveloping their personal marketing strategy through sites

such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Timeframe. It consists of 1 university semester and the

masters started in the Spring semester of 2010.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The course developed

at the Faculty of Economics and Management at the Uni-

versidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal and is self-

sustainable.

Human resources. 1 professor, 1 teaching assistant

Activities.

• In-Class Discussion and Participation ................. 20%

• Group Assignment and Presentation .................. 30%

• Individual Assignments: .....................................50%

- Network assignment ..................................... 10%

- Entrepreneur Interview ................................... 20%

- Self-Assessments Questionnaires ....................5%

- LinkedIn Proﬁle ................................................ 5%

- Personal Leadership Plan ..............................10%

Partners. The Center for Entrepreneurship Education in

Portugal (CEEP).

Success factors.

• Introduction of the beneﬁts and risks of pursuing an en-

trepreneurial career.

• Learning the tools for opportunity recognition.

Portugal

ENTREPRENEURSHIP MASTERS – DEVELOPING AN INDIVIDUAL ROUTE

TO SUCCESS IN PORTO

Rationale and general information. The University of Wis-

mar started in 2009 with its turn towards becoming an “En-

trepreneurial University”. The main objective is to spread an

entrepreneurial spirit across the campus by integrating the

set of entrepreneurial skills into study programmes to impact

students who might have not considered an entrepreneurial

career path. Hence, all entrepreneurial activities on campus

are organised by one unit, led by university management.

The champions behind the approach want to demonstrate

opinion leaders and policy makers that an entrepreneurial

university is central to economic development and a wider

culture. The approach is set up as a dynamic pilot project,

which is expected to grow over the oncoming years.

In 2009, the University of Wismar was the main partner of the

Global Entrepreneurship Week in Germany. More than 200

partners organised more than 250 events in this week and

demonstrated their willing to foster young entrepreneurship.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. About EUR 500 000, ﬁ-

nanced by local ministries of education and economy, spon-

sors and Wismar University.

Human resources. Team of 2 full time and 3 part time people.

Activities. The following are core activities:

• Integration of entrepreneurship education into all study

programmes and existing courses

• Involving professors (e.g. Start-Up Night)

• ‘Idea Camp’ events, assisting in R&D teambuilding and

organising scouting events – also involving youth from

outside the university.

• ‘Meet the Entrepreneurs’ evenings

All entrepreneurship activities are organised in 4 strategic

pillars:

1. Sensibilisation: Curricula integration of entrepreneurial

thinking development.

2. Research: Research and entrepreneurship education.

3. Entrepreneurship support: free premises for incubation

and mentoring.

4. Institutional development: Entrepreneurship friendly ad-

ministration and a comprehensive support infrastructure.

Partners. The University of Wismar has established a broad

network of regional, national and international scope.

Achievements.

• 30 start ups.

• Winner of the federal competition ‘most successful cam-

paign that fosters entrepreneurial spirit amongst youth’.

Website.

www.gruenderbuero-hswismar.de

Contact.

Norbert Grünwald; norbert.gruenwald@hs-wismar.de

Notes.

Germany

WISMAR ON THE WAY TO THE ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

50 51

Rationale and general information. The Educating Entre-

preneurs for the World initiative was started by Patrick Molle,

the President of the EM Lyon Business School in 2003. It

is part of EM Lyon’s vision that entrepreneurship can bring

economic and social wealth into societies and countries.

The initiative is part of a broader set of activities to train and

support students allowing them to act as entrepreneurs,

social entrepreneurs or entrepreneur managers in different

geographical and cultural contexts. The educators’ team is

part of the EM Lyon’s Strategy & Organisation Pedagogy

and Research Unit.

Timeframe. No time limit.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget of

approximately EUR 1.5 million is covered by the EM Lyon

Foundation, private companies and public funds.

Human resources. 9 full-time professors in entrepreneur-

ship and 1 in small business management.

Activities. Activities include education and teaching (semi-

nars, Masters degree courses and extra-curricular activi-

ties), entrepreneurship research and entrepreneurship edu-

cational research, and start-up support through provision of

infrastructure (business incubator), support programmes,

and access to networks. 2 entrepreneurship research cen-

tres have been established and in 2008 the World Entrepre-

neurship Forum was held at the EM Lyon.

Partners. Main partners include alumni, professional net-

works, the Rhône-Alpes Region.

Success factors.

• Strategic commitment.

• Vision and leadership.

Achievements.

• Regular evaluation conﬁrms that the initiative has sup-

ported the development of an entrepreneurial mindset

and orientation amongst students, as well as business

start-up and ﬁrm growth.

Website.

www.em-lyon.com

Contact.

Alain Fayolle; fayolle@em-lyon.com

Notes.

France

EDUCATING ENTREPRENEURS FOR THE WORLD:

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AT THE EM LYON BUSINESS SCHOOL

• Developing an understanding of the importance of per-

sonal branding and the effective use of social media for

entrepreneurs.

• Developing understanding and appreciation for the dif-

ferences between established companies and new ven-

tures.

• Encouraging the development of an entrepreneurial

leadership-based mindset, important to successful

start-up performance, new venture creation, social en-

trepreneurship and corporate venturing.

• Introducing basic concepts and theories of entrepre-

neurship and the function of different entities in the en-

trepreneurial support structure for both domestic and

international endeavors.

Achievements. Ongoing evaluation that includes testing

of the following subscales: knowledge; personal attraction;

social norms; self-efﬁcacy; and intentions through the Entre-

preneurship Intentions Questionnaire (EIQ) that is adminis-

tered at the beginning and end of each course. Data reveals

good results so far but further research is required.

Website.

http://www.porto.ucp.pt/feg/mestrados/m_gestao/discipli-

nas/Entrepreneurship_Leadership_Opp_Rec.html

Contact.

Dana T. Redford; Dana.Redford@RedfordResearch.com

Notes.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

52 53

with uncertainty, learning by trying, trial and error, learning

from mistakes and failures) instead of to a ‘how to approach’

that emphasises business administration skills and tools to

develop a (successful) business plan.

Achievements. The achievements of 10 years of entrepre-

neurship education at the University of Cambridge are:

• 12 000+ participants.

• 165+ programmes and events completed, 60+ University

of Cambridge Undergraduate and Postgraduate entre-

preneurial courses delivered.

• 140+ business ventures created by CfEL alumni.

• 350+ entrepreneurs and practitioners have contributed

to CfEL activities.

• 14 business plan competitions organised with Cambridge

University Entrepreneurs (CUE).

• Advanced Diploma in Entrepreneurship –ﬁrst accredited

entrepreneurship course at the University of Cambridge.

Website.

cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk

Contact.

cfel@jbs.cam.ac.uk

Notes.Rationale and general information. The focus of Cam-

bridge Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) is on plan-

ning and implementing entrepreneurship courses, within

the whole University, using a speciﬁc philosophy and a

well-thought learning approach. The actual delivery of en-

trepreneurship courses is largely taken care of by some

200 entrepreneurs and practitioners (entrepreneurs, venture

capitalists and business angels, bankers, etc.). CfEL was

established in 2003 from the division of two units formerly

belonging to the University of Cambridge Entrepreneurship

Centre founded in 1999. Teaching and training moved to

CfEL (part of Cambridge Judge Business School), and Cam-

bridge Enterprise became the ofﬁce for university-industry

relations and knowledge transfer alongside with the Tech-

nology Transfer Ofﬁce and the University Challenge Fund.

Timeframe. CfEL was established in 2003.

Human resources. CfEL has nine full-time staff to plan

and organise entrepreneurship courses, including a director,

programme managers, a centre manager and administrative

staff.

Activities. All activities aim at developing self-conﬁdence

and self-efﬁcacy amongst students. Entrepreneurship is un-

derstood as a set of skills, attitudes and behaviours rather

than just venture creation. Teaching methods range from

lecturing, video and online assignments, to problem-based

learning, project work on real technologies, entrepreneurs

in the classroom. A broad recruitment package includes

a website, brochures, posters, and a series of information

events. Close collaboration with the different departments

allows circulation of information to student mailing lists and

the organisation of tailored information events.

Advanced Diploma in Entrepreneurship. Started in 2009

by the Institute of Continuing Education (Division of Profes-

sional Studies) and CfEL, the Advanced Diploma provides

a highly practical programme designed speciﬁcally for en-

trepreneurs. It is organised as part-time programme over

the duration of 15 months between 27 months and leads to

the qualiﬁcation of Advanced Diploma in Entrepreneurship

awarded by the University of Cambridge. The Advanced

Diploma addresses people who are either considering em-

barking on an entrepreneurial career pathway or have taken

the ﬁrst steps in starting-up a business (new technology, so-

cial enterprise, opportunities in the arts or creative media,

taking an innovation forward within a larger or more estab-

lished ﬁrm). Sponsorships by employers or other organisa-

tions are possible.

Success factors.

A people approach instead of a ‘how-to-approach’. The

main strength of the approach followed by CfEL is its clear

focus on the development of entrepreneurial skills, attitudes

and behaviours through an entrepreneurial pedagogy. This

means focusing on soft skills (developing student self-conﬁ-

dence, self-efﬁcacy, helping students to understand the why

and the when of becoming an entrepreneur, learning to deal

United Kingdom

THE CAMBRIDGE CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

54 55

of entrepreneurial mindset creation, skills development and

business start-up support.

Website.

www.entrepreneuriat.net

www.freefondation.be/fr/index.asp

Contact.

Aïni Hannachi, hannachi@apce.com

Notes.Rationale and general information. The Observatory of

Pedagogical Practices in Entrepreneurship, Observatoire

des Pratiques Pédagogiques en Entrepreneuriat (OPPE),

functions as resource centre for professors, educators,

higher education institutions and entrepreneurship support

structures. Its main goal is to promote and enhance an en-

trepreneurial spirit within the education system. OPPE is an

information data base on entrepreneurship education in sec-

ondary and higher education that facilitates development of

and learning from good practice in teaching methods, con-

tents and pedagogical tools.

The conceptual development phase lasted for two years

and included intensive collaboration between the founding

partners.

Timeframe. Since 2001, no time limitation.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. OPPE’s annual budget is

approximately EUR 150 000.

Human resources. Two full-time staff are involved. Scien-

tiﬁc working groups exist in various ﬁelds and beneﬁt from

the contribution of numerous professors.

Activities. OPPE provides on-line information on around

300 entrepreneurship education initiatives in higher edu-

cation, more than 100 entrepreneurship education ac-

tions in secondary education and 30 initiatives that involve

secondary and tertiary education institutions. Also, more

than 30 on-line pedagogical tools are downloadable. On

a yearly basis, OPPE organises conferences to generate

and develop new pedagogical ideas and to facilitate net-

working amongst professors, educators and other stake-

holders; on average 150-200 people attend these events.

OPPE also manages relationships with international struc-

tures dealing with similar topics such as FREE pour en-

treprendre in Belgium and OFQJ, a French-Québécois ini-

tiative for education and skills development of the 18-35

years-old. For researchers OPPE offers more than 300 on-

line academic references on entrepreneurship education

as well as a specific research area on the entrepreneurial

intentions of students.

Partners. OPPE was founded in 2001 by the French

ministries of research, education, economy, industry and

SMEs, the French Agency for the Creation of Enterprises,

Agence pour la Création d’Entreprise (APCE), Académie de

l’Entrepreneuriat, the academic association of entrepreneur-

ship, DIESE, the French external corporate venturing asso-

ciation, and universities, engineering and business schools,

such as CPU and CDEFI.

Success factors. OPPE has contributed to greater at-

tention to and take up of entrepreneurship education in

secondary and tertiary education institutions. The political

leadership was crucial for establishing and promoting stra-

tegic embedding of entrepreneurship promotion in educa-

tion. The partnership of education institutions and entrepre-

neurship support providers helped to advance integration

France

OPPE: RESOURCE TOOL IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION

START-UP SUPPORT START-UP SUPPORT

56 57

Rationale and general information. Entrepreneurship is

extremely important for the development of the regions in

Québec, and hence there is a need to support youths who

are or desire to be entrepreneur. The Youth Strategy pro-

gramme, launched by the Réseau des SADC du Québec in

1997, has for objectives: to encourage the acquisition, im-

plementation, expansion or modernisation of a business by

one or more young people, and to enhance young people’s

employability and develop their social, cultural and eco-

nomic commitment to their community. The success of this

business project attracts youth to the region and therefore

Youth Strategy counters the migration of young people to

large urban centres.

Youth Strategy offers to a young person aged 18 to 35, ﬁ-

nancing, advises and support within their business project.

A personnel loan (CAD 5 000 - 15 000) without interests for

two years gives to the young entrepreneur an equity to per-

suade the bank to complete the ﬁnancial plan. Youth Strat-

egy is more than a ﬁnancial product, it is a complete process

which offers to the young entrepreneur training and advices

in many areas such as marketing, accounting, market de-

velopment, management, etc. In exchange the youth accept

the monitoring of the project.

The Youth Strategy has been founded by the Réseau des

SADC du Québec, a network of non-proﬁt organisations

that works at bringing out the best in Québec’s regions and

ensuring each region’s development. It currently boasts 68

CFDC’s (Community Future Development corporations),

each one independent. It enjoys the contribution of 1 350

volunteers and 400 professionals who, for more than 25

years, have worked towards identifying solutions and en-

hancing their local communities.

Timeframe. Youth Strategy is an ongoing initiative who is

available all year round, for 13 years.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. Each CFDC’s has his own

Youth investment funds of an average of CAD 300 000 and

an annual operational budget of around CAD 80 000. The

Youth Strategy is finance by the Government of Canada.

Human resources. In each CFDC’s a Youth agent pro-

motes the programme, provides information, creates ac-

tivities to develop entrepreneurship, supports youths in the

development of business projects and manages the invest-

ment funds.

Activities. Promotion of entrepreneurship in schools and

colleges, accompaniment of young entrepreneurs, ﬁnancial

analysis, monitoring, networking and training for the par-

ticipants.

Partners. Government of Canada, ﬁnancial and other in-

vestments institutions, organisations working with youths.

Canada

MAKING ACCESS TO MONEY EASIER: YOUTH STRATEGY IN QUÉBEC

Rationale and general information. Since 1999, ENTER-

PRISE supports young people in starting their own business.

The aim of ENTERPRISE is to respond to high unemploy-

ment rates in the federal state of Brandenburg, in eastern

Germany, and to growing numbers of young people leaving

the region to ﬁnd work elsewhere in Germany.

The project aims to motivate and qualify young people by

providing optimal conditions for planning, starting and ﬁnally

running their business. A mixture of individual face-to-face

support by a business advisor, group learning in workshops

and ﬁrst working experiences in the enterprise business in-

cubator, helps young entrepreneurs to shape their idea. As

many of them need additional ﬁnancial means in order to

realise their concept, ENTERPRISE offers them micro-loans

out of a special fund or faciliates the contact with local ﬁ-

nancial institutes. To this end, ENTERPRISE organises net-

working events where young business starters get together

with regional ﬁrms. ENTERPRISE has ofﬁces in ﬁve different

locations in Brandenburg and ofﬁces in Berlin.

ENTERPRISE is an initiative of iq consult, a social enterprise

that has been developing since 1994 innovative concepts in

business start up support, regional development and cultur-

al industries. Having started as a pilot project in the federal

state of Brandenburg in 1999, enterprise has over the years

been adapted to other federal states in Germany. For initiat-

ing social innovation by setting up this project, the director

of iq consult, has been awarded in 2008 a fellowship of the

international network for Social Entrepreneurs ASHOKA.

Timeframe. Since 1999, no time limitation.

Budget and financing sources. The annual budget is

EUR 25 000.

Human resources. Six business advisors and trainers.

Activities. The activities of ENTERPRISE are grouped into

the categories start up support, business incubation and

networking. Both 1-1 and group counselling and coaching

activities exist.

Partners. Ministry of Labour of the Federal state of

Brandenburg, Labour municipalities, Department for Busi-

ness Development, ﬁnancial institutes, Chamber of Com-

merce, Chamber of Crafts, regional business networks, local

youth organisations.

Success factors.

• Provide individual, professional support.

• Offer access to a regional network.

• Facilitate access to ﬁnancing.

Achievements. Over 300 business start-ups have been

supported.

Website.

www.iq-consult.com

Contact.

Thorsten Jahnke: jahnke@iq-consult.com

Notes.

Germany

ENTERPRISE: JOURNEY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO SUCCEED IN BRANDENBURG

START-UP SUPPORT START-UP SUPPORT

58 59

Rationale and general information. MEDIA EXIST started

in 2007 at the “Konrad Wolf” Film & Television Academy in

Potsdam-Babelsberg (HFF) as an entrepreneurial support

project for creative individuals in the media industry. It is

the only start-up incubation centre hosted by a German ﬁlm

school. The main goal is to set up a sustainable framework

for transforming innovative ideas into entrepreneurial activi-

ties. This also includes enhancing creative thinking amongst

media professionals. Also important are activities that seek

to increase international co-operation and joint-ventures.

Mentoring and coaching at MEDIA EXIST are tailored to the

needs of media professionals and the start-up and business

development environment in the media industry. MEDIA EX-

IST is open to employees in the media industry in Berlin and

Brandenburg, as well as to students, graduates, research

assistants and professors/lecturers from media universities.

MEDIA EXIST had to overcome HFF’s internal prejudices

and resistance to the ‘partnership’ vision between creativity

and business. Yet, the success of the early entrepreneurship

education activities was so signiﬁcant that they were soon

integrated as a compulsory element into the curriculum of

most HFF degree courses.

Timeframe. Since 2007.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget of

EUR 167 000 is ﬁnanced by the Federal Ministry of Econom-

ics and Technology and the European Social Fund.

Human resources. 3 employees.

Activities.

• www.Frames4Fame.com – the MEDIA EXIST Portal pro-

vides an exclusive internet community for students and

graduates of international ﬁlm schools. It is virtual net-

working platform for joint-working on projects, and a

marketing platform for the media industry. Frames4Fame

is going to be used for the presentation of future ideas.

• MEDIA EXIST CONSULTING offers support to media pro-

fessionals with a concrete business idea. Cost-free con-

sulting to develop business models, facilitation of team

building, access to ﬁnance and continued support/advice

during start-up.

• MEDIA EXIST FUTURE is a future-oriented research

project aimed at identifying innovative and technologies

in the media sector.

• MEDIA EXIST MARKETING DAY and MEDIA EXIST

PITCHINGS are adapted to the needs of media start-ups,

entrepreneurs and freelancers.

• Experienced externals are involved in entrepreneurship

education (e.g. blockbuster producer as a role model).

MEDIA EXIST also produced an entertaining and educa-

tional DVD.

• INVESTOR POOL: Biannually MEDIA EXIST organises an

event in which innovative and growth-oriented business

ideas are presented to a selected group of international

investors from the media and ﬁnancial sector.

Germany

METROPOLIS GOES BUSINESS: START-UP INCUBATION AND BUSINESS SUPPORT

FOR MEDIA FIRMS IN BABELSBERG

Success factors.

• A good ﬁnancial support of the Government over 13

years.

• The expertise and professionalism of the Youth Strategy

agent.

• A strong promotion of the Strategy and of entrepre-

neurship.

Achievements. Since 1997, Youth Strategy succeed to

support 5 700 entrepreneurs in 4 757 enterprises creating

and maintaining more than 18 000 jobs in regions. Only 6%

of the young entrepreneurs failed to reimburse their loan.

Website.

www.reseau-sadc.qc.ca

Contact.

Hélène Deslauriers; hdeslauriers@ciril.qc.ca

Notes.

START-UP SUPPORT START-UP SUPPORT

60 61

Rationale and general information. Very often young

companies do not realise that their current business ca-

pabilities and know-how are insufficient and that external

help would be a real advantage. Evidence shows that in

Jyväskylä nearly one in four newly established companies

risk ending their activities during their first five years of

existence. They are often too optimistic in their visions

about business possibilities and growth in the near future.

Young companies lack experience in developing sound

sales and marketing strategies, which may cause severe

financial difficulties, especially during the first critical years.

Systematic coaching and assistance services can be a

crucial support to such companies during their first years

of existence. In order to help firms to survive this critical

period, business clinic services have been developed. Fur-

thermore business clinic services is also used as a tool to

provide special assistance and support to growth-oriented

companies.

It is difficult to get over to young firms the message that

external advice can help fill gaps in their knowledge and

capabilities. As firms often had reservations about the

quality of the consultants offering support, a major infor-

mation and awareness programme helped to increase take

up and regular evaluations of consultants help to keep the

quality of services high. To ensure the commitment of par-

ticipating companies, a participation fee (although only a

small amount) is charged.

Timeframe. The business clinic period lasts for up to 12

months.

Budget and financing sources. The participation fee

for companies is EUR 50. Individual consulting and ad-

vice is offered up to a maximum value of EUR 3 000, of

which 30% is covered by the company and 70% by public

funding.

Activities. Annually 20-25 young companies are assisted in

this one-year process, which is a lighter version of the local

incubator model. The services have been tailored especially

for companies working in the ﬁeld of knowledge-intensive

business services, but the clinic is open to all interested

young companies.

The business clinic service identiﬁes speciﬁc barriers and

obstacles to the survival and growth of participant com-

panies. The services are also aimed at helping companies

to better plan and manage their growth, which is of great

relevance for growth-oriented companies. On a needs ba-

sis, tools to enhance the company’s capacities and ca-

pabilities are developed. The most challenging issues for

the assisted companies tend to be the development and

implementation of sound sales and marketing strategies.

Together with the company, marketing materials, includ-

ing brochures and web-sites, and strategic documents, in-

cluding sales manuals are therefore frequently developed.

Priority is given to individual consulting, but also training in

groups is practiced.

Finland

BUSINESS CLINIC SERVICES FOR YOUNG COMPANIES IN JYVÄSKYLÄ

Success factors.

• Strong network relationships.

• Involvement of the business sector.

• Close collaboration with potential investors.

Achievements.

• MEDIA EXIST made young professional and students

more aware of the different support offers for business

start-up in the media industry.

• Today, entrepreneurship education at HFF is integrated

into all faculties and departments. Participation rates are

increasing, now including students and alumni of other

German ﬁlm and media schools.

• Although the ﬁlm academy has only 500 students MEDIA

EXIST has been able to reach out to nearly 900 partici-

pants over the last 18 months.

• The close contact with potential investors helped young

media entrepreneurs to be more competitive and suc-

cessful in the market.

• 120 start-up entrepreneurs worked intensively with ME-

DIA EXIST CONSULTING during 2007-2008.

• Amongst the projects supported by MEDIA EXIST there

are traditional ﬁlm-sector business start-up projects, as

new media, technological trendsetters and innovative

service provider projects. Several MEDIA EXIST found-

ers have won German and international business idea

awards.

Website.

www.mediaexist.com; www.Frames4Fame.com

Contact.

Jörn Krug; j.krug@ibf-medien.de

Notes.

START-UP SUPPORT START-UP SUPPORT

62 63

Rationale and general information. Since 1997, Chalm-

ers School of Entrepreneurship, located at the University

of Chalmers, has been successful in matching technology

based ideas with teams of highly motivated students and

supporting them in turning ideas into viable ventures. Chalm-

ers School of Entrepreneurship (CSE) is both an educational

platform, were entrepreneurship skills can be acquired and a

pre-incubator to developed early-stage business ideas and

to start-up a company (most students start a legal company

during the project-year). Core to this is a network that brings

together innovative individuals, universities and ﬁrms inter-

ested in developing and commercialising early stage tech-

nology based ideas with high market potential.

CSE is an interesting example of an integrated approach

to university entrepreneurship support, that is, how educa-

tion can be incorporated into start-up support in the form

of incubation. Today, CSE practices an ‘Encubation’ proc-

ess, that is, offering a Master-level education combined with

business incubation through an incubator organisation –

Encubator – operating in symbiosis with the education but

owned by Chalmersinvest (see below).

The early stage high-tech ideas are provided from research-

ers and innovators, who can follow their idea and grow in

partnership with the student team and an international net-

work of experienced business people, venture capitalists

and others, and supported with coaching and advice from

CSE. When participating as an idea provider, university re-

searchers and other inventors, get an opportunity to test

their invention in a one-year innovation project at CSE. If a

limited company is founded after the project-test period the

idea provider will have a share in the new venture. IP agree-

ments play an important role in CSE; a collaboration agree-

ment is signed between CSE and the idea provider.

Since 1998 ChalmersInvest, a wholly owned incorporated

company of Chalmers University, has made seed equity

investments in university spin-off companies in the entire

Gothenburg region. ChalmersInvest owns equity, directly or

indirectly, in at present more than 40 companies. Chalmers-

Invest is in the process of attracting more external capital

from private investors, large private corporations in addition

to the several private and public ﬁnancing organisations in

and around Gothenburg. For example, KTH Chalmers Capi-

tal fund has established itself as a leading investor, and is

one of the largest privately ﬁnanced Swedish venture capi-

tal companies focusing on technology investments at an

early phase. The close collaboration with ChalmersInvest,

allowed CSE ventures to link with external private venture

capital investors.

Timeframe. Since 1997.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. Since 2001 CSE and its

incubator facility, Encubator AB, have been ﬁnanced with

seedinvestment money from Chalmersinvest, Innovations-

bron and Region Västra Götaland. Innovationsbron, Region

Västra Götaland and Vinnova (all public ﬁnanciers) also sup-

Sweden

CHALMERS SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

MATCHING TECHNOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Success factors. Address well-deﬁned needs. The busi-

ness clinic service addresses a well-deﬁned need of young

companies for support and coaching during a difﬁcult stage

of their development.

1-1 contact. Individual coaching is one of the success fac-

tors of this service. During the clinic period growth and sur-

vival obstacles are identiﬁed and removed. Concrete meas-

ures are carried out, such as strategy development, sales

and marketing promotion, etc.

Advertise the services offered. A broad information cam-

paign and mouth-to-mouth advertisement helps to keep the

interest in such services amongst regional companies high.

Achievements. Young ﬁrms accepted the business clinic

services as a concrete help in business development, which

it possible to avoid severe mistakes.

An evaluation of regional companies showed that participant

companies were less likely to go bankrupt during the ﬁrst

few years of their existence than non-participants.

Website.

www.jykes.ﬁ/

Contact.

jykes@jykes.ﬁ

Notes.

START-UP SUPPORT START-UP SUPPORT

64 65

Rationale and general information. The Beuth University

of Applied Sciences in Berlin established in 2002 a busi-

ness incubator, the Gründerwerkstatt, which originally was

for Beuth students and is now open to graduates from all

over Germany. The main aims of the initiative are to provide

proximity business incubation to the university, and to assist

team building. Gründerwerkstatt can host up to 20 single

founders or teams, who can stay up for a period of up to 18

months. It is open to university graduates from all over Ger-

many. The support provided includes a monthly scholarship

(EUR 2 000), free use of ofﬁce space and laboratories as well

as a limited provision of technical material.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. Half of the annual budget

of approximately EUR 1 Mio. is ﬁnanced by the Beuth Uni-

versity. The other half is covered with funds provided by the

Berlin Senate Administration for Economics, Technology

and Women’s Issues, and the European Social Fund.

Timeframe. Ongoing until 2014.

Human resources. 3-4 staff members are engaged de-

pending upon the number of incubatees/teams.

Activities. Every 6 months a sophisticated, two-step selec-

tion process is organised, in which individual would-be en-

trepreneurs and teams are reviewed in terms of quality of

their business idea and its market potentials.

For incubatees, seminars and in-house one-on-one coach-

ing sessions are organised. If needed, they are referred to

external business support providers. Financial support is

available for participation in international fairs.

Partners. Main partners include the Technologie Coach-

ing Centre, the Investitionsbank Berlin, the Business Angels

Berlin Brandenburg e.V., the Berlin Chamber of Industry and

Commerce, the Network of Berlin universities, Berlin incuba-

tors, the DeGut, and the Germany wide Working Group on

University Business Incubators.

Success factors.

• Good collaboration between Gründerwerkstatt and

Beuth University.

• Relationships with Business Angels.

• Selection process.

Achievements.

• Up to now 30 teams successfully passed the Gründer-

werkstatt.

Website.

www.beuth-hochschule.de

Contact.

Harald Joneleit; ttrans@beuth-hochschule.de and Kühne;

LKuehne@beuth-hochschule.de

Notes.

Germany

INCUBATION IN BERLIN: BEUTH UNIVERSITY

port CSE and Encubator through regular grants.Operating

annual budget today is approximately EUR 700 000 result-

ing in 3-4 startups and 20 examined

Human resources. CSE engages 10 teachers and coor-

dinators and Encubator has four permanent staff. Together

they also utilise a vast network of entrepreneurs and experts.

Activities. Two major business reviews per year displaying

the venture projects. Added to this CSE run social entrepre-

neurship project doing developments in Africa through the

dedicated association Insert Africa. CSE, its ventures and

students partake extensively in outreach activities and in

business networking around the world.

Partners. Apart from being a vital part of Chalmers Uni-

versity of Technology, CSE also partners with University

of Gothenburg, with the Innovationsbron incubator pro-

gramme, with Regions Västra Götaland, and several partner

ﬁrms and foundations.

Success factors.

• Recruitment and matchmaking of students and high-tech

projects.

• Action-based venture creation pedagogy.

• A structured venture development process and network

centered around Encubator.

Achievements.

• CSE has graduated more than 200 students.

• Over 35 companies have been founded through CSE.

• Total valuation of the CSE portfolio companies goes be-

yond EUR 70 million.

• Total turnover of CSE portfolio companies exceeds EUR

18 million.

• Exits includes Avinode, Vehco, Ambria Dermatology and

ICU Intelligence.

Website.

www.entrepreneur.chalmers.se

Contact.

Mats Lundquist; mats.lundqvist@chalmers.se

Notes.

START-UP SUPPORT START-UP SUPPORT

66 67

Rationale and general information. Youth Business

Ukraine Programme (YBU) was launched in 2006, ﬁrstly in

the target area of Donetsk, with the goals to develop youth

entrepreneurship and to provide equal opportunities to dis-

advantaged youth in creating own business. In Donetsk

more than 85% of the total unemployed are people under

35 years old. In a situation when young people fail to ﬁnd

jobs, they are leaving for larger cities and foreign countries in

search for better job opportunities. They are often recruited

there by illegal and informal businesses. In this situation one,

if not the only, employment opportunity is self-employment.

The situation in Donetsk is typical for many other regions in

the Ukraine. Generally speaking, in post-communist coun-

tries where the notion of private business was absent, en-

trepreneurship is still not valued as is, for example, a career

in medicine, in law, with a large corporation or with gov-

ernment. On the other side, there is a strong fear of fail-

ure in own business among young people. It is estimated

today only as few as 5% of those young people with the

capacity for entrepreneurship launch their own businesses.

Often lacking direct business experience, and almost cer-

tainly, without the ﬁnancial collateral required to secure loans

from the banking sector, self employment appears to be an

impossible dream for most potential young entrepreneurs.

However, ﬁnancing is not sufﬁcient to create sustainable

businesses. Often businesses have to close down because

of a lack of initial planning, underestimation of risks and time

involved for making a business sustainable, lack of system-

atic non-ﬁnancial follow up, and too small and too expensive

ﬁnancing. This is especially serious problem for rural and

depressive mono-industrial areas.

Today YBU has 9 regional ofﬁces all across Ukraine. YBU

works with young people aged 18-35, who wish to start up

own businesses but have no own funds and opportunities

to apply to banks or other ﬁnancial structures of Ukraine.

YBU provides access to ﬁnancial support to those young

people with a viable business idea and makes the match

with a mentor.

Timeframe. From 2006 ongoing.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget of ap-

proximately USD 80 000 is mainly ﬁnanced by the British

Government’s Department for International Development

(DFID).

Human resources. YBU has 22 full-time staff members in

its central ofﬁce and the nine regional ofﬁces.

Activities. YBU offers young people loans without collat-

eral or guarantees as well as assistance in business plan-

ning, regular support of mentors – representatives of busi-

ness community - at all stages of business start-up and

development.

Partners. Donetsk and Luhanks Oblast Councils, regional

and local public employment ofﬁces, chambers of com-

merce, NGOs, local business communities, international

funds and organisations, YBI, DFID.

Ukraine

YBU: CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN DONETSK

Rationale and general information. Concept2Venture

(C2V) was established in 2005 at the University of Illinois-

Chicago as an annual event to identify student-created

business start-ups with high potential for success. This al-

lows the university to strategically invest resources to as-

sist students who are likely to succeed as entrepreneurs,

to solicit resources from the business community, and to

showcase the best work of top students. The focus is on

student-created businesses. However, students often work

with professor-inventors to create companies that commer-

cialise the inventions of professors. This had led to a special

focus on biotechnology ﬁrms.

Timeframe. From 2005 ongoing.

Budget and ﬁnancing sources. The annual budget of

USD 100 000 is covered primarily by corporate sponsors,

with the university contributing about USD 30 000 each year.

Human resources. One director of C2V, who is assisted

part time by a graduate student and a professional event

planner.

Activities. A one-day business plan competition. Winners

of morning semi-ﬁnals advance to afternoon ﬁnals. A formal

luncheon featuring a key note address and a fast pitch con-

test take place between semi-ﬁnals and ﬁnals. The day ends

with a reception and an awards ceremony. The event gives

students an opportunity to compete for awards exceeding

USD 55 000 for their business ideas (cash plus in-kind serv-

ices). A series of workshops help students prepare for the

day of the event.

Partners. Venture capital ﬁrms, angel investment groups,

law ﬁrms, consulting ﬁrms, and industrial groups.

Success factors.

• Interaction with the business community.

• Students inspired to pursue excellence.

Achievements.

• Successful launch of 9 businesses, including 5 high po-

tential biotechnology ﬁrms.

Website.

www.Concept2Venture.org

Contact.

Rod Shrader; Rshrader@uic.edu

Notes.

United States of America

MAKE OR BREAK: CONCEPT2VENTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHICAGO

START-UP SUPPORT START-UP SUPPORT

68 69

NOTES

Success factors.

• Creating an environment conducive to the needs of

young entrepreneurs.

• Revolving funds.

• Involvement of the local business communities in se-

lection panels, the regional steering committees and as

mentors.

Achievements.

• 96 young people could realise their dreams and started

own businesses.

• 9 regional ofﬁces providing support services to young

people from depressive areas.

• Creation of a mentorship culture in Ukraine.

• YBU is the only accredited programme in Central Eastern

Europe.

Website.

www.sesp.org.ua

Contact.

Marina Cherenkova; mcherenkova@wtd.com.ua and Natalya

Lapardina; ofﬁce@sesp.org.ua

Notes.

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON SHOOTING FOR THE MOON

70 71

THE OECD PROGRAMME ON LOCAL ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT

The OECD Programme on Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) has advised government and communi-

ties since 1982 on how to respond to economic change and tackle complex problems in a fast-changing world. LEED’s

mission is to contribute to the creation of more and better jobs through effective policy implementation, innovative prac-

tices, stronger capacities and integrated strategies at a local level. It draws on a comparative analysis of experience from

some 50 countries in the Americas, Asia, Australasia and Europe in fostering economic growth, employment and inclusion.

LEED also draws on additional expertise provided by some 100 organisations (sub-national governments, development

agencies, business and non-proﬁt organisations) grouped in its Partners’ Club. For more information on the LEED Pro-

gramme, please visit www.oecd.org/cfe/leed.

THE OECD LEED FORUM ON PARTNERSHIPS AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE

The OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance is a worldwide network of local development practitioners.

The Forum informs its members on local development innovations, organises capacity building seminars and study visits,

releases handbooks and training materials, and provides networking opportunities through international conferences and

an Annual Meeting held in Vienna. Today the Forum has over 2 600 members in some 53 countries. All institutions and

organisations involved in local development may join the Forum. The activities of the Forum are supported by the European

Commission, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economy and Labour and Pobal, Ireland. For more information on the OECD

LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance and its activities and events, please visit www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/

forum/partnerships or contact Ekaterina.Travkina@oecd.org.

ABOUT THE ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a unique forum where the governments of 31

market democracies work together to address the economic, social and governance challenges of globalisation as well

as to exploit its opportunities. The OECD’s way of working consists of a highly effective process that begins with data

collection and analysis and moves on to collective discussion of policy, then decision-making and implementation. Mutual

examination by governments, multilateral surveillance and peer pressure to conform or reform are at the heart of OECD

effectiveness. Much of the material collected and analysed at the OECD is published on paper or online; from press re-

leases and regular compilations of data and projections to one-time publications or monographs on particular issues; from

economic surveys of each member country to regular reviews of education systems, science and technology policies or

environmental performance. For more information on the OECD, please visit www.oecd.org/about.

THE OECD CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP, SMES AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

The OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development (CFE) was created in 2004 in recognition of the

need to take an integrated approach to development. The CFE works together with national, regional and local govern-

ments of OECD member countries and several non-Member economies in fostering the development of an entrepreneurial

society, and assists governments and their civil society and business partners in designing and implementing innovative

policies to promote sustainable growth, integrated development and social cohesion. Within the OECD, the CFE suc-

cessfully strengthens synergies between the work of different OECD directorates on entrepreneurship, SMEs and local

development. For more information on the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development, its areas of work

and current activities, please visit www.oecd.org/cfe.

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON

THE OECD LEED TRENTO CENTRE FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

The OECD LEED Centre for Local Development was established in 2003 by the OECD, the Italian Government and the

Autonomous Province of Trento in recognition of the need to build capacities for local development. The Centre builds on

the LEED Programme’s longstanding commitment to provide assistance in the design, implementation and assessment

of local development strategies, and its expertise on entrepreneurship, social inclusion, evaluation and local governance.

Its three main objectives are:

• Improving dissemination of good practices in designing, implementing and evaluating local development strategies,

and to stimulate and guide a “learning from each other” process between OECD Member and non-Member countries.

• Strengthening ties between those designing and those implementing policies, and academia.

• Enhancing participation in local development policy processes and action.

Since 2003 over 5 300 policy makers and practitioners have beneﬁted from the Trento Centre’s capacity building activities.

For more information on the Trento Centre and its activities and events, please visit www.trento.oecd.org.

Shooting for the Moon. Aim high with great goals for yourself and do

your best. And, even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.

In the framework of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local

Governance this handbook presents a criteria list of good practice that can

be read as a ‘tool’ to self-assess and re-orient current strategies, structures

and practices in youth entrepreneurship support. Short descriptions of good

practice initiatives from Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,

Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United States, and Ukraine

provide useful guidance.

Shooting for the Moon: Good Practices in Local Youth Entrepreneurship Support

Abstract

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