Round Tables shed light on university’s role in promoting local entrepreneurship
The Mid Sweden University invited students, lecturers, policymakers and local entrepreneurs to share their views on current opportunities and challenges in the local business environment for students’ possibilities to stay in the region after graduation.
As part of the Erasmus+ project ENDORSE policymakers, business support agencies and institutions, members of the academia and students were invited to join round tables to discuss and identify conditions and barriers for students’ ability to stay in the region after graduation. The first event took place in Östersund/Sweden in November 2022. Round tables in Krems/Austria, Lodz/Poland and Ventspils/Latvia followed. The main objective of the events was to identify the university’s role in promoting local entrepreneurship and increase its participation in local and regional development.
− The results from discussions revealed that local infrastructure and incentives are necessary to increase the attractiveness of remote areas for entrepreneurs. It was further emphasized that entrepreneurial education, cooperation with stakeholders and internships are necessary for reducing personal barriers for potential young entrepreneurs. In addition, all participants agreed that hands-on teaching concepts, supporting students from the business idea to the registration of a company, will provide good incentives for students with entrepreneurial intentions, says Yvonne von Friedrichs, Professor at Mid Sweden University and project coordinator in Sweden for ENDORSE.
The round tables show that enterprises, local and regional entrepreneurship promoting agencies and policymakers see a stronger collaboration with universities as an important opportunity to increase their reach and transparency related to different entrepreneurship programs and funding schemes.
−The round tables as well as the ongoing talks with students, academia, local entrepreneurs and policymaker and funding agencies are crucial for the success of the project. Without their input the outcome of the project won’t be able to go beyond textbook knowledge. To have a measurable impact on local and regional development we need a hands-on approach to promoting entrepreneurship amongst young people: hands-on education and hands-on policies. Universities play a key role in facilitating not only the knowledge transfer but also the cooperation of all involved stakeholders, says Alina Schoenberg, Professor at IMC Fachhochschule Krems and Project Lead for ENDORSE.
In the next steps the Project partners will evaluate the obtained insights and will design teaching content, as well as policy concepts while strengthening their universities’ role as regional innovation centers.
In the ERASMUS+ project ENDORSE (Enhancing development of entrepreneurial strategies at university locations affected by brain drain), running from 2022 to 2025, the Mid Sweden University in Sweden collaborates with IMC Krems in Austria, Hochschule Niederrhein in Germany, Uniwersytet Lodzki in Poland, Kai Politikon Epistimon in Greece and Ventpils Augskola in Latvia, to seek solutions for brain drain at university locations.
Please, contact:
Yvonne von Friedrichs, Professor of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship at Mid Sweden University Campus Östersund and project coordinator in Sweden for ENDORSE, +4670-588 54 19, yvonne.vonfriedrichs@miun.se