EEE National Launch at the University of Szeged – a Full Day Program about Young Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship Education Entrepreneurship Teaching Modules National Launch Regional Ecosystems University of Szeged

University of Szeged has recently held its national launch where the audience could get an insight about the challenges and opportunities of nowadays young (Generation Z) entrepreneurs and the ways how their competences can be fostered. The EEE event was attended by over 50 regional business partners, stakeholders, academics and students. The focus of the event was the EEE specialized course, that involved local entrepreneurs as lecturers and mentors of the students. In the plenary session four presentations were delivered by project representatives, students and external stakeholders of the EEE semester program.

In his presentation Dr. Norbert Buzas has focused on the function of accelerators, characteristics of modern day entrepreneurs, and approaches to provide this new generation of entrepreneurs the best assistance during their development. Márk Olajos a young entrepreneur, who was involved as a mentor in the EEE course, highlighted the main challenges that nowadays Generation Y and Z entrepreneurs are facing. The third presenter Dr. Szabolcs Pronay introduced the EEE Teaching Toolkit to the audience, describing the methodology to be followed in successfully integrating the modules into the course programs, as well as indicating the potential barriers that can be faced in the process. The last presenter of the plenary session was Attila Tóth – a student who participated in the EEE semester course. He highlighted how the course learnings have had an impact on students’ mindset and equipped him with the right skills to successfully launch his start-up (called: Pricemind). The plenary session was followed by a workshop on the pathways to integrate regional stakeholders in entrepreneurial course program development and delivery.

Following plenary sessions and the workshop, in the afternoon, there was a joint event, the national final of a new presentation challenge, called “Prezilimpia – the Presentation Olympics”. This new challenge was co-organized and co-hosted by the Hungarian EEE team and it aimed to foster the presentation and pitching skills of the young entrepreneurs. 8 young entrepreneurs competed in front of the jury of local entrepreneurs and professional presenters. With this joined event a county-wide audience was reached and the program of the EEE National Launch was boosted to a full-day program about young (Generation Z) entrepreneurs, that also generated a larger media coverage.

© All rights for the images used in this post belong to the University of Szeged

EEE Roadmap: Your Guide to Establish a Regional Alliance that Brings Entrepreneurship Education to the Next level
Entrepreneurship Education Regional Alliances Regional Ecosystems

Cultivating entrepreneurial spirit across different layers of the society is a communal act, which requires engagement of various local actors including e.g. academic institutions, entrepreneurs, governmental bodies, and NGOs among others. In the scope of the EEE project, higher education institutions (HEIs) are placed in the centre, to bring together these local stakeholders to raise awareness, and create a joint comprehensive approach to develop, implement and institutionalize entrepreneurship education in the universities. Within the project’s timespan thus far, three alliances have been formed: in Halle/Saale, Germany; in Tyrol region, Austria; and in Szeged, Hungary, in a process led by the major universities of each region. Embedding Entrepreneurship Education Roadmap is the product of these efforts, as a toolkit that records the experiences and the lessons learnt, as well as providing a set of resources to help other regions establish an Entrepreneurship Education Alliance.

Embedding Entrepreneurship Education Roadmap offers a 10-step guideline on how to design, implement and coordinate joint educational and promotional entrepreneurial programmes. From the practical tips on establishing a coordinating body of the alliance, to the specific ways of monitoring the execution and sustainability of the whole programme, this toolkit explains in detail how to potentially organize a long-term interaction between higher education institutions, entrepreneurs and other actors, who are passionate about the growth of regional entrepreneurship.

The Roadmap illustrates how business and academic sectors can cooperate to achieve a connected approach to teach and promote entrepreneurship via practical examples based on three well-realized Regional Alliances. Thus, despite its primary focus on HEIs, the Roadmap can serve other academic, business or government actors engaged in entrepreneurship education. These good practices have utilized a variation of techniques and processes in their establishment and operation. The University of Szeged, Hungary exemplifies how an alliance can be built around the faculty, Univations GmbH, Germany shows how an alliance can form around an affiliated institute, and Management Center Innsbruck, Austria demonstrates how a new alliance can be developed around an existing one. Certainly, there is no single right path or a practice that can be directly replicated. Yet, with the given tools and examples, the Embedding Entrepreneurship Education Roadmap aims to foster implementation of the model in other European regions, reinterpreted within their own contexts.

‘Base EINS’ launched in Innsbruck for academic start-ups
Management Center Innsbruck Regional Ecosystems

Innsbruck creates room for the startup-scene and welcomes the business incubator ‘Base EINS’ in the heart of the city for six months.

Within the last years, the importance and relevance of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities has been growing within the region of Tyrol. To further support this development, the project ‘Base EINS’ has been initiated to create a central meeting point for young entrepreneurs and start-ups.

The Base EINS is located next to the state theater of Innsbruck, where four containers are open every day of the week, from 2 pm to 6 pm, until the end of March 2018.

Base EINS offers not only a unique program for entrepreneurial initiatives, focusing on workshops, consulting, information sharing and active networking, but even more so interested companies and entrepreneurs are free to book Base EINS for their own events, and start-ups can exhibit their products for free.

For more information have a look at the detailed program at: www.baseeins.at.

MCI emerging as a key regional stakeholder
Regional Ecosystems

Number of institutions in the Austrian Alpine area of Tirol, including the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI), have joined forces to establish the alliance ‘Startup Tirol’ that will foster entrepreneurial activity and network in the region. This new initiative is expected to act as a powerhouse for MCI in its implementation of the EEE Project activities and reinforcement of the entrepreneurial practices among target groups.  

In late February the key actors from the public and private sector in the Tyrolean entrepreneurship ecosystem have founded a regional alliance called ‘Startup Tirol’. This alliance comprises the Regional Development Agency (Standortagentur Tirol), the Chamber of Commerce in Tyrol, the University of Innsbruck, the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI), I.E.C.T. – The Institute for Entrepreneurship Cambridge – Tirol, the Werkstätte Wattens, and a number of individuals.

This alliance will be the coordinating umbrella for all activities of the involved actors with respect to entrepreneurship awareness and support. In this context, EEE Project is no exception to gain benefits from the initiative. Development of the Innsbruck Regional Alliance and the EEE entrepreneurship teaching modules are taking place in coordination with Startup Tirol, which serves as a secure ground for the envisaged project outcomes to be achieved.