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Baltic Entrepreneurship training
Focus: Since 2004 twelve partner universities in the Baltic Sea Region (INTERREG IIICsupported=> www.bepart.info) cooperate on the strengthening of entrepreneurship promotion and its embeddedness in regional development strategies. Especially within those regions that lack a significant number of large companies, it is within universities and attached research centres where technological and scientific progress takes place. At present, only few of these findings are transformed into businesses or licensed to existing companies: spinn-off rates are low. One way chosen in many locations in order to introduce change is the implementation of entrepreneurship education. Here, we do not aim at the transformation of any student into a successful entrepreneur. Instead, entrepreneurship education hopes to strengthen an entrepreneurial mindset and develop entrepreneurial competencies together with a motivation to consider own entrepreneurial action. Whether the acquired knowledge is used right after graduation or after several years of professional experience – any lowering of the average European start-up age of (prospective) entrepreneurs is considered as a step forward towards making Europe the worlds most innovative and competitive area by 2010.In order to widen the outreach of entrepreneurship education throughout all faculties, the number of qualified lecturers, trainers and coaches has to be increased considerably throughout Europe. Even if team-teaching with economists is advisable in the advanced stage, staff members from the medical and natural science faculties should and could be qualified as well to sow the grains of entrepreneurship for future business in the life science industry.
Therefore, the partner network from the BEPART project is coming up with further training opportunities (training-of-trainers) from autumn 2006 onwards. Elements of this endeavour shall (at a later stage) constitute the modules of a European Master in Entrepreneurship Education. At present, courses are offered with individual university-issued certificates (no ECTS) within the BEPART and SCANBALT networks in order to satisfy urgent needs. Quality assurance is effected via peer review of the modules and training materials.
The Network is coordinated by the Hanseatic Institute for Entrepreneurship and Regional Development (HIE-RO), Rostock