On Tuesday 22 November, stakeholders from across Europe gathered in Brussels to celebrate entrepreneurial learning in ‘Being Entrepreneurial 2022’. The first in-person event led by The EntreComp Community, and coordinated by Bantani Education, it connected 85 people and projects working on entrepreneurial learning across diverse contexts, and showcased how entrepreneurial competences enable a sustainable, digital and green transition. From sharing practices and policy to creating new synergies between entrepreneurial actors and actions, the event showed a growing voice for the many partners who now make up the 800+ strong EntreComp Community.
The first session of the day titled ‘Entrepreneurial Learning Ecosystems’ looked at how regions and countries are actively using EntreComp to build entrepreneurial learning, facilitated by Elin McCallum (Bantani Education). Participants heard from Amal Mahious (Service Public de Wallonie) who shared how EntreComp had been used as a guide for employment and enterprise support, and is seen as a unifying model to bring together work across different agencies working on the regional recovery and resilience plan. From Junta de Extremadura, Annabelle Favreau discussed how it underpins education and entrepreneurship actions across the regional government, emphasising thee importance of including this into the policy level to ensure commitment and funding. From the European perspective, Mariavittoria Garlappi of the European Training foundation confirmed EntreComp’s practical use as a common vision for ecosystem development in ETF partner countries, showcasing work in Tunisia where EntreComp is the model behind policy and actions to support and recognise entrepreneurial VET centres.
The next session looked at the important crossroads between entrepreneurial learning and sustainable development. A first panel featured inputs from Lisa McMullan (The Women’s Organisation), Solene Moutier (Girls Go Circular, EIT Raw Materials) and Marijana Petrovic (OECD), who explored how entrepreneurial learning can be a driver for both social and economic inclusion. Following the panel discussion, participants were invited to join the first round of workshops: Entrepreneurial learning for women and girls was led by the previously mentioned panellists, Entrepreneurial learning for democracy and citizenship by Pauline Boivin (Lifelong Learning Platform), and Entrepreneurial learning for the green transition by Greta Bilanzola (Eurochambres).
The afternoon session turned to the transversal skills approach of being digital and being entrepreneurial delivered by Dana Puia Morel (DG GROW, European Commission), leading into the next round of interactive workshops focused on digital learning. The first explored digital assessment and recognition, with Annabelle Favreau (Junta de Extremadura), Serge Ravet (Reconnaître – Open Recognition Alliance), Sandra Zoomers (Cities of Learning) and Paul Ranson (University of Wales Trinity Saint David International Institute of Creative Entrepreneurial Development). ‘Practical tools for a Digital Firefly’ was led by Tryggvi Thayer (University of Iceland) and finally, 2BDigital – from framework to digital portfolio was led by Hazel Israel (Bantani Education). A convincing journey from policy to practice to recognition showed that entrepreneurial learning can add significant value to the digital transition across education, society and economy.
The fourth session looked at building an EntreComp Community for impact and encouraged a lively discussion on how the community can impact through the upcoming European Year of Skills 2023. This brought together thinking across the day, asking participants at the end of every session what we can do better together! Skills for life and building a strong voice of practice were recurring themes, and the many conclusions will help shape community contribution to the 2023 activities.
In spaces between sessions, participants had the opportunity to discover the exhibition, with 13 projects profiled in the bustling networking area. Contributions came from: 2BDigital, Digital Firefly, EntreComp Europe, EntreComp360, EntreComp4Transition, Cities of Learning, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, LIPKA, University of Deusto eDucaR Research Centre, Women Learning Together, University of Wales Trinity Saint David International Institute of Creative Entrepreneurial Development, European Training Foundation Creating New Learning and The EntreComp Community. For more details about the showcase, see the Event Guide.
Finally, the day closed with the much-anticipated EntreComp Champions Awards Ceremony. Following a selection process earlier in the year, twenty-one EntreComp Inaugural Jury members – all pioneers and champions of EntreComp – peer-reviewed applications from those wanting to be recognised as EntreComp Champions. From this, thirteen organisations and six individuals received an EntreComp Champion Award – many of whom were in the room to receive their certificate from Dana Puia Morel (DG GROW, European Commission) and Derek Vaughan (Welsh Government), while others joined virtually to celebrate this special moment. All EntreComp Champions will soon be featured on the project website and a Yearbook celebrating their achievements will be published. To find out more about the EntreComp Champions Awards, and other levels of recognition, including how you can apply for the next round, visit the project website.
The many founding partners of The EntreComp Community and the event organisers, Bantani Education, would like to thank: the staff of TOBB, speakers, workshop leaders, showcase exhibitors and all the EntreComp Community members who helped to make this event possible. We look forward to welcoming you to Being Entrepreneurial 2023!
For more information about the event, visit the website where you can access the Event Guide, Agenda and Photo Gallery. If you are interested in joining future EntreComp Community events, register now for your account to access events, library, networks and more.