Developing a practical guide for mainstreaming entrepreneurial learning

San Sebastian, Spain

12-14 February 2020

To cope with the changing world of work and skills demands, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems are increasingly aware of the importance of equipping young people with entrepreneurial skills and mindsets. Entrepreneurial learning offers a realistic and achievable means to develop the transferable skills that society and the economy are demanding of citizens today.

Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education highlights the need to strengthen ‘skills for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship’ through education and training. This is closely linked to Sustainable Development Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth which places importance on the development of policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. Fostering youth employment and entrepreneurship is also one of the three thematic priorities under UNESCO’s TVET Strategy (2016-2020).

© UNESCO-UNEVOC

UNESCO-UNEVOC has been coordinating a series of consultations on entrepreneurial learning in TVET with UNEVOC Centres and experts from around the world. These consultations have explored the current state of entrepreneurial learning in TVET policies and programmes, and facilitated the exchange of experiences, opportunities and challenges to mainstreaming entrepreneurial learning in TVET systems. As the next step in the process, UNESCO-UNEVOC is developing a practical guide that helps TVET actors to mainstream entrepreneurial learning at the institutional level, taking into account the different socio-economic contexts.

To facilitate the development of the practical guide, UNESCO-UNEVOC co-organized a workshop with TKNIKA (a UNEVOC Centre) on 12-14 February 2020 in the Basque Country, Spain. Participants from seven UNEVOC Centres and all five regions of the UNEVOC Network, as well as the European Training Foundation, exchanged experiences in promoting and mainstreaming entrepreneurial learning, and discussed the national and institutional challenges in the TVET sector. The experiences shared served as useful inputs to shape the narrative of the practical guide. Based on the feedback obtained, the draft structure of the practical guide was revised. The material aims to provide a step-by-step guide for TVET institutions, from the initial stage of understanding the basic concepts and different approaches towards ultimately becoming entrepreneurial institutions.

© UNESCO-UNEVOC

In addition to providing a platform for participants to provide their input on the guide, the workshop offered an opportunity to examine the different approaches to mainstreaming entrepreneurial learning in TVET. A study visit to a local TVET institution with a specific focus on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship, CIFP Usurbil LHII, was particularly useful for participants as they had the opportunity to discuss implementation techniques with managers and teachers, and observe the type of learning environment needed to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets among students in the context of the Basque Country.

The participating UNEVOC Centres expressed their commitments to further contribute to the development of the guide over the course of the coming months and there was a keen interest in eventually pilot testing the guide within a variety of institutional settings.

Participating UNEVOC Centres and organizations:

• European Training Foundation (ETF)
• Tknika (Spain)
• Ministry of Education, Science and Research (Austria)
• Fundación Paraguaya (Paraguay)
• Duoc UC (Chile)
• DUT (South Africa)
• NSDC (India)
• CENAFFIF (Tunisia)

• ZJTIE (China)
• NBTE (Nigeria)