Page 45 - guidance-supporting-europe-s-aspiring-entrepreneurs-policy-and-practice-to-harness-future-potential

Guidance supporting Europe’s aspiring entrepreneurs
Policy and practice to harness future potential

Consequently, the European Commission has included a ‘sense of initiative
and entrepreneurship’ in a new framework of eight key competences for lifelong
learning (Council of the European Union, 2009). In common with the other
transversal key competences, this is strongly process-orientated. It refers to an
individual's ability to turn ideas into action and the ability to plan and manage
projects to achieve objectives which may be social as well as commercial. This
competence is also underpinned by a varied body of knowledge which is open to
a range of interpretation: understanding the workings of the economy, as well as
the specific demands and opportunities of employers. This approach reflects the
ethics of business and the potential of enterprises to be a force for good, for
example through fair trade or through social enterprise. Personal and
interpersonal skills are also part of this competence, including the ability to lead
and delegate, analyse, communicate, debrief, evaluate and record, effective
representation and negotiation, and the ability to work both as an individual and
collaboratively in teams.
The medium term forecast for skills supply and demand in Europe (up to
2020) suggests that transversal competences such as entrepreneurship are
important for helping people to adapt more quickly to structural changes and
ensure they are fit for occupational mobility (Cedefop, 2010). The Commission
(European Commission, 2010d) intends to examine the possibility to step up the
promotion of entrepreneurship mobility for young people, in particular by
increasing Erasmus work placement mobility, promoting entrepreneurship
education in all levels of the education system, enhancing business participation
in Marie Curie actions, and by supporting the Erasmus for young entrepreneurs
initiative.
Recent policies on VET and HE also acknowledge the role of education for
entrepreneurship. The Commission’s Communication on European cooperation
in vocational education and training states that ‘education for entrepreneurship ...
should be encouraged and accessible to all VET students, across all curricula
and fields of study’ (European Commission, 2010c, p. 10). The Bruges
Communiqué (2010) addresses the importance of promoting entrepreneurship in
IVET and CVET in close cooperation with employers, VET providers and national
business support services, and highlights the need to encourage business start-
ups for VET graduates as well as promoting learning mobility for young
entrepreneurs. In relation to HE, the modernisation agenda for universities
stresses the importance of improving the career prospects of researchers at all
stages of their career by adding entrepreneurial skills to scientific expertise. It
also urges universities to develop entrepreneurial, management and innovation
skills and make sure they become an integral part of graduate education,

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