The Nordic Council of Ministers KEN FORUM 2013, Cape Town

Nordic Council of Ministers2 Agenda 1.The Nordic co-operation – an overview 2.The Nordic agenda 3.Entrepreneurship Education – What is Entrepreneurship Education? – 4.Next step

Nordic Council of Ministers Nordic Council Nordic Co-operation3 Co-operation Nordic co-operation is one of the oldest and most comprehensive regional partnerships in the world Based on common history and values. And the will to generate dynamic development The room for Nordic co- operation lies between the national and the global...

Nordic Council of Ministers Nordic Council Nordic Co-operation4 The Countries Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and the autonomous territories: the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland Approx. 25 million people 8 official languages

Nordic Council of Ministers Nordic Council Nordic Co-operation5 Co-operation Official Nordic co-operation is the remit of: – The Nordic Council – the inter-parliamentary forum – The Nordic Council of Ministers – the inter- governmental body

Nordic Council of Ministers Nordic Council Nordic Co-operation6 The Nordic Council of Minsters Established in 1971 as the organ of inter- governmental co-operation The prime ministers have overall responsibility for the co-operation In practice, it is delegated to the Ministers for Nordic Co-operation and the Nordic Committee for Co-operation (NSK)

Nordic Council of Ministers Nordic Council Nordic Co-operation7 The Nordic Council(s) of Minsters Nordic Council of Ministers for Labour Nordic Council of Ministers for Business, Energy & Regional Policy Nordic Council of Ministers for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Agriculture, Food and Forestry Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture Nordic Council of Ministers for Legislative Affairs Nordic Council of Ministers for the Environment Nordic Council of Ministers for Health and Social Affairs Nordic Council of Ministers for Education and Research Nordic Council of Ministers for Finance

Nordic Council of Ministers8 Current issues and strategic priorities Our region: One region of knowledge, learning, innovation & research. Be attractive and competitive Mobility & co-operation: students, qualifications, researchers, teachers. Networks & partnerships Define and renew our Nordic Welfare Model: renew, attract and retain Education & training for the Nordic welfare state: we do have a special way of teaching and learning

Nordic Council of Ministers9 Entrepreneurship Education Everyone talks about Entrepreneurship Education these days. But –what is entrepreneurship education all about? –Is it in fact useful? –And is entrepreneurial skills something we can learn in school?

Nordic Council of Ministers10 Entrepreneurship Education A broad definition of entrepreneurship education: “All activities aiming to foster entrepreneurial mindsets, attitudes and skills and covering a range of aspects such as idea generation, start-up, growth and innovation”

Nordic Council of Ministers11 Entrepreneurship Education Entrepreneurship education is to improve students skills, competencies and mindset to think creative innovative, see solutions and to transfer ideas into action. That concerns – Ways of thinking (possibility) – Approaches to learning (usability) – Transfering knowledge to action (transferability)

Nordic Council of Ministers12 The Nordic study Nordic Council of Ministers has in 2013 launched a study of implementing entrepreneurship education strategies in the Nordic countries. “ Entrepreneurship education in the Nordic countries – strategy implementation and good practices”. The aim was – To enumerate the initiatives, measures, development and achievement of implementing the entrepreneurship education strategies in the Nordic countries – to reveal obstacles and common characteristics – to bring up good practices for reference and discussion.

Nordic Council of Ministers13 Current practice Entrepreneurship tends to be offered in stand alone courses rather than being integrated across the curriculum. Entrepreneurship remains primarily elective Lecture is the most used teaching method while the active pedagogies appear as being the most efficient to teach entrepreneurship. Heavy focus on start-ups. A greater critical mass of entrepreneurship faculty, research and pedagogical material is needed.

Nordic Council of Ministers14 Entrepreneurship education – An evolution Traditional teaching methods Entrepreneur- ship as stand alone activity Entrepreneur- ship as active pedagogies Entrepreneurship as a mindset

Nordic Council of Ministers15 The Nordic Model In general, the Nordic countries have advanced well in implementing their entrepreneurship education strategies.  The Nordic countries, through years of developing, have established a distinguished ‘Nordic model in entrepreneurship education’. The model includes the following common features: – Key role of Junior Achievement – Young Enterprise organizations – Cross ministerial cooperation – Full autonomy of implementing entrepreneurship education by educational institutions as long as they comply with National Qualification Framework or steering documents – Intensive business engagement – Entrepreneurship education embedded at all levels and types of education – Teachers’ role to function as facilitators.

Nordic Council of Ministers16 The combined features of the ‘Nordic Model’ Teachers as facilitators Key role of JA-YE Cross ministerial cooperation Full autonomy Business engagement EE embedded at all levels

Nordic Council of Ministers17 Best practice in the Nordic Region  Institutional support and funding from governmental or private actors  Intensive collaboration with business sector  Networks with external stakeholders  High level of international cooperation and media exposure  Focus on experiential learning  The ability to cope and manage with the scarce human resources and funding.

Nordic Council of Ministers18 The Nordic challenges  The Nordic countries are also struggling with common challenges: – Teachers’ motivation and engagement in entrepreneurship education – Lack of sufficient funding and human resources – Entrepreneurship education perspective not incorporated in the current examination system – Insufficient interaction between the policy makers and practitioners – Lack of national platforms for good practices – A need for curriculum and tool development

Nordic Council of Ministers19 Next step  Need to integrate entrepreneurhip education at primary and secondary levels - It starts in the early stages!  Need to improve teachers skills in entrepreneurship teaching at primary and secondary levels including Vocational Education and Training – it is not (solely) an academic discipline!  Mapping good practices in primary and secondary schools highlighting different approaches to EE – it is not a top-down exercise!  The Nordic countries share some common features that enable us to build up a Nordic platform for sharing and updating good practices.