The Nordic Council of Ministers

1. The Nordic Council of Ministers KEN FORUM 2013, Cape Town

2. Agenda • The Nordic co-operation – an overview • The Nordic agenda • Entrepreneurship Education • What is Entrepreneurship Education? • Next step

3. 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 Co-operation

4. 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 Co-operation

5. 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 Co-operation

6. 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) The Nordic Council of Minsters Nordic Co-operation

7. 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 The Nordic Council(s) of Minsters Nordic Co-operation

8. Currentissues and strategicpriorities • Our region: One region of knowledge, learning, innovation & research. Be attractive and competitive • Mobility & co-operation: students , qualifications, researchers, teachers. Networks & partnerships • Define and renewour Nordic Welfare Model: renew, attract and retain • Education & training for the Nordic welfarestate: we do have a specialway of teaching and learning

9. 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?

10. 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”

11. Entrepreneurship Education • Entrepreneurshipeducation is to improve students skills, competencies and mindset to thinkcreative innovative, see solutions and to transfer ideasinto action. • Thatconcerns • Ways of thinking (possibility) • Approaches to learning (usability) • Transferingknowledge to action (transferability)

12. 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.

13. Currentpractice • Entrepreneurship tends to be offered in stand alone courses rather than being integrated across the curriculum. • Entrepreneurshipremainsprimarilyelective • Lecture is the most used teaching method while the active pedagogies appear as being the most efficient to teach entrepreneurship. • Heavy focuson start-ups. • A greater critical mass of entrepreneurship faculty, research and pedagogical material is needed.

14. Entrepreneurshipeducation – An evolution

15. 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.

16. The combined features of the ‘Nordic Model’

17. 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.

18. 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

19. Next step • Need to integrate entrepreneurhipeducation 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 academicdiscipline! • 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.