Framework on Entrepreneurship Education: theory into practice
The keynote speakers Wouter Schelfhout (from the University of Antwerp) & Katrien Goossens (from Vlajo, the organization of “Flemish Young Companies”) showed us that entrepreneurship education involves interaction between dimensions of powerful learning environments and dimensions of entrepreneurship. They referred to a framework for design principles and the EntreComp-model, given the importance of approaching entrepreneurship as a transversal competence. The design of Powerful Entrepreneurship Education was discussed within the context of the quality requirements of the MACS-model. With a balanced focus on Motivating, Activating, Coaching and Structuring (MACS), ‘teaching is the MACS’.
Using best practices the speakers explained how an entrepreneurial spirit can be gradually built up from primary education through secondary education until higher education and beyond. It has been proven that a vertical growth path which can start at an early age is necessary to develop entrepreneurial competencies. To achieve this, Vlajo has a wide range of practice-oriented educational programmes. For secondary education Vlajo has developed CompassMe, a digital assessment tool that makes it possible to map entrepreneurial competencies.
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Award-winning board game: ESHIP Navigating Uncertainty
Rajiv Vaid Basaiawmoit from Aarhus University explained how the serious board game ‘ESHIP - Navigating Uncertainty’ works . It is a role-playing game in which participants take on the role of characters and create stories together. Uncertainty is simulated through various elements in the game (e.g. discussions and disagreements, competition, peer pressure…). The speaker further showed how this game encourages the discovery and development of various competencies within the EntreComp-framework and how it can improve entrepreneurial spirit among students.
Coaching offer: Chambre of Commerce in the Antwerp-Waasland region
Jolein Van Eyck of the Chambre of Commerce in the Antwerp region presented different types of coaching offered by the Chambre. There is an offer for each phase in the setting up of a business. Jolein explained how the following Bryo trajectories work: StandUp, StartUp and ScaleUp.
The participants were also inspired by a testimonial from a student-entrepreneur and alumnus-entrepreneur of the University of Antwerp. Both shared experiences from their own business project and entrepreneurial coaching trajectory within the curriculum and beyond, supported by the Chambre of Commerce in the Antwerp region.
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HealthSense: testimonial of a student entrepreneur
Louis de Looze, an engineering student in his 3rd bachelor year, designed a prototype for HealthSense, a CO2-sensor that detects the freshness of air. He did this together with other students. By using small sensors all over the work environment, the sensor uses advanced algorithms to score the indoor air.
Louis and his team are students in the elective course The Company, which is part of the study curriculum of Applied Engineering. The team also followed an innovation bootcamp at the Chambre of Commerce in the Antwerp region.
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Dockflow: testimonial graduated entrepreneur University of Antwerp
Michiel Valée is a graduate student in business engineering. He is the head of the company Dockflow, a platform that enables logistics. Supply chain teams can rely on Dockflow. Michiel demonstrated how his entrepreneurial spirit developed during in his study career. More specifically, he showed how he benefited from coaching inside and outside his study curriculum and what finally persuaded him to set up his own company.
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The webinar is organised with the support of the Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO), in collaboration with the TakeOffAntwerp Alliance, the ecosystem of the entrepreneurial community in the Antwerp region.