The importance of entrepreneurship in vocational training was discussed in a recent session featuring speakers from Castilla y León, Aragón, and the Basque Country in Spain. The session emphasized the need for a culture of entrepreneurship, the development of students' entrepreneurial competencies, and the creation of incubators and competence ecosystems. Successful programs and resources were shared, including entrepreneurship classrooms, a digital guide for entrepreneurship classrooms, and business incubators in VET schools. The speakers highlighted examples of good practices, such as the "Emprender en la Escuela" program in Aragón and "Urratsbat" in the Basque Country, which help students develop their entrepreneurial skills and create businesses.
The session started with an introduction on excellence in entrepreneurship. The support tool to know the different areas of excellence in Vocational Training was mentioned and is available at the link provided.
A center is excellent in entrepreneurship when:
- It develops an entrepreneurial culture, including the management teams, teachers, and students. This is a very important point that is frequently referenced in meetings of European centers of excellence: for a center to be excellent, it has to be entrepreneurial, meaning that its management team and teachers must be entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs, in the broad sense of the word: they detect opportunities to improve their offerings, have ideas and act on them, mobilize people, obtain resources by participating in projects, seek collaborations with companies to improve their educational offerings, etc.
- It works with local partners to develop students' entrepreneurial competencies, while responding to real-world challenges.
- It provides business incubator services or establishes links with local business incubators so that vocational training students can develop their entrepreneurial initiatives.
In Castilla y León, these lines are concretized through the creation of entrepreneurship classrooms. These classrooms must be dynamic and versatile spaces where the student is the protagonist of their own learning. They should inspire innovation and creativity, with different areas to develop all phases of an entrepreneurial project. The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework EntreComp was mentioned as a reference for entrepreneurship classrooms.
Another important tool available in the Castilla y León community is the "Digital Guide for Entrepreneurship Classrooms," which aims to support teachers working in entrepreneurship classrooms. The guide proposes an entrepreneurship itinerary to carry out in the classroom and provides contacts of business organizations and agents in the community that have committed to collaborating with entrepreneurship classrooms.
The session continued with speakers from Aragón and the Basque Country sharing their experiences and knowledge about the importance of reinforcing and developing excellence centers as innovative incubators and competence ecosystems. They talked about implementing business incubators in VET schools, which provide resources, assessment, and dynamic spaces for entrepreneurship and innovation and create synergies between educational centers, local companies, and development agencies.
The speakers provided examples of successful programs such as "Emprender en la Escuela" in Aragón and "Urratsbat" in the Basque Country. These programs help vocational training students develop business skills and acquire the necessary skills to become entrepreneurs. They offer workshops related to project markets, economic viability, communication, and agile methodologies. The programs also provide high-quality training for teachers and hold regional-level contests for business ideas and projects. The speakers also shared their experience in implementing business incubators in vocational training centers. The purpose of these incubators is to provide a work environment where entrepreneurs can develop their entrepreneurial projects, receive personalized advice and guidance, and have access to resources and tools that help them overcome common challenges associated with creating a company.
In addition to the information shared in the session, it was also announced during the meeting that a pilot project will be launched in Castilla y León to create seven business incubators during the 2022-2023 academic year. This initiative aims to promote the development of entrepreneurial projects in vocational training centers and provide support to those who want to start their own businesses. The creation of these incubators will provide an environment for students to develop their projects, receive guidance and resources, and interact with local companies and organizations.
In conclusion, the session provided valuable knowledge about the importance of entrepreneurship in vocational training centers, the creation of innovative incubators and competence ecosystems, and the various programs and resources available for teaching entrepreneurship. The speakers shared their experiences and knowledge, highlighting successful initiatives and programs that have helped students develop their entrepreneurial skills and create businesses.
The speakers who participated in this training session were:
- Benjamín Luengo, Administrative Secretary of the Innovation Center for Vocational Training in Aragón, and Carmen Sánchez from the Department for Observation, Research, and Innovation of CIFPA in the Autonomous Community of Aragón.
- Pili Alonso, Director of the Applied Innovation Area in Strategic Environments at Tknika, and Salomé Olaetxea from the Miguel Altuna Vocational Training Center, Coordinator of Urratsbat.
Thank you :)