entrepreneurship
MOOC de aprendizaje basado en juegos para promover la formación en emprendimiento
La promoción del emprendimiento puede ayudar a la sociedad a superar la crisis. Gracias a los cursos abiertos masivos en línea, una gran cantidad de participantes pueden seguir una formación empresarial.
El presente estudio de caso presenta el MOOC “Introducción al emprendimiento”, que utiliza el aprendizaje basado en juegos para desarrollar el espíritu de empresa mediante una metodología activa basada en un curso abierto masivo en línea abierto a cualquiera, en cualquier lugar.
unX: Learning Network for Ibero-American Entrepreneurs
unX is the first Ibero-American community that offers collaborative and open learning to digital entrepreneurs. Through unX, entrepreneurs can access MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) relevant to their career needs.
Stimulating Entrepreneurship through Serious Games
Stimulating innovative and entrepreneurial mindsets of students, in particular, but not exclusively, for the set-up of new micro-companies, is a major concern of the EU educational policies in order to enhance the EU competiveness, above all in the field of new technologies.
he goal of eSG is to develop, deploy and assess experimental pedagogical plans based on appealing and instructive SGs for stimulating entrepreneurship in university students (a short course will be implemented for all the 3 levels: Bachelor, Master, PhD), with an aim to reduce the gaps among education, research and innovation. An online planning tool will also be developed. The project is highly innovative because it brings to the Higher Education (HE) sector (also through teacher training) the results of ongoing research on SGs, in particular through GaLA, which acts as a hub at EU level.
On the other hand, the outcomes from the eSG’s extensive deployment – the first one of this type in EU, to the best of our knowledge – will provide precious experimental information to researchers, that lack real data on using SGs in real HE settings. Moreover, innovation is guaranteed by the focus on new technologies and entrepreneurship, so that students are stimulated and given competences/skills, in order to apply in the real world of business the innovative knowledge they are gaining in university studies.
European Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations Awards
The European Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations Awards are primarily inspiring initiatives that promote active ageing and solidarity between generations.
Please read the general and the specific rules for each category below. Entries will only be accepted if submitted using the online entry form by the deadline set for each category (see table above).
For more information about the generations@school competition and the Life Story Challenge go to http://www.historypin.com/gats/en/page/generations-school-project-contribute-content and http://www.lifestory-historypin.com.
Workplaces for all Ages awards – Specific rules and information
Social Entrepreneurs awards – Specific rules and information
Journalists awards – Specific rules and information
Towards Age-Friendly Environments awards – Specific rules and information
EIT ICT Labs Master School: apply online!
The KIC launched the Master School's website where you can find all information about the various choices of our Master's programmes in ICT Innovation that are offered in different combinations at almost 20 universities in Europe.
In the fall of 2012 EIT ICT Labs Master School will be able to welcome its first students (approximately 200).
Visit the website to also find out more about how it combines a technical major and a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, providing graduates with double degrees and a special EIT and EIT ICT Labs certificate.
Students who will take the chance and fullfill the programme will gain a fantastic network of exclusive contacts with leading research and business organisations and fellow students all over Europe.
Tuition fee waivers and scholarships
For the most highly ranked admitted students (as a minimum 30%), we will provide fee waivers. EIT ICT Labs has also reserved funding for scholarships covering personal expenses on the level of 9000 Euro per year and student, however a formal decision by the European Commission is pending in this matter.
The application period opens on January 1 and closes on February 15.
European Institute of Innovation and Technology to create more innovation hubs
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is to significantly step up its efforts to drive innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU with the creation of six new cross-border innovation hubs, known as Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), in 2014-2020.
The European Commission has allocated a budget of €2.8 billion in the next financial framework to enable the EIT to expand and consolidate the development of its existing KICs which focus on climate change, sustainable energy and ICT.
"The new package we are proposing for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology is great news for European business, research and academia. We are investing in creating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow and strengthening the innovation capacity of the EU so that we remain a match for the world's best," said Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
The Commission also adopted a proposal for the EIT 'Strategic Innovation Agenda', which defines the framework for the Institute's operations in the years to come. The Commission expects it to provide an impetus for creating up to 600 start-up companies and for training 25 000 students and 10 000 PhDs in new curricula combining excellent science with a strong entrepreneurship component.
European Commission will propose Erasmus for All and Creative Europe programmes on the 24 November
On Thursday 24 November, the European Commission will announce its detailed proposal for 'Erasmus for All', the new programme for education, training, youth and sport, and 'Creative Europe', the new programme for the cultural and creative sector.
Both programmes are part of the Commission's proposal for a multi-annual budget for 2014-2020.
The new programme for education, training and youth would allocate €19.5 billion (+ 70%) over seven years; the increase underlines the priority given to investing in knowledge and skills to support job creation and growth in Europe. The programme would ensure that more people benefit from EU grants to study or train abroad; it would also promote cooperation between governments, educational institutions, businesses and other partners, to support the policy reforms needed to modernise education systems and promote innovation, entrepreneurship and employability.
The 'Creative Europe' programme will bring the current Culture, MEDIA 2007 and MEDIA Mundus programmes together under a common framework which will support the cultural and creative sectors with a budget of €1.8 billion (+37%). The focus will be on helping cultural and audiovisual professionals to safeguard and promote cultural and linguistic diversity by making the most of the Single Market and reaching new audiences in Europe and beyond, as well as contributing to the Europe 2020 objectives for jobs and sustainable growth.
EIT launches its first Entrepreneurship awards
As a driver and key element in combining the different areas of the knowledge triangle and in developing new innovation models, entrepreneurship is at the very heart of the EIT vision and activities. Boosting and encouraging individuals and companies to embrace innovation and take it to the market is among the EIT’s top priorities. As such, the EIT is pleased to announce its first EIT Entrepreneurship Award competition which it is organising in close collaboration with its three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs): Climate-KIC, EIT ICT Labs and KIC InnoEnergy.
The 2012 Entrepreneurship Awards will put the spotlight on and encourage entrepreneurial ventures within the 
Knowledge and Innovation Communities thematic areas (climate change adaptation and mitigation, the future of information and communication society and sustainable energy) and help them develop in a successful and sustainable way.
“Mentoring is key for emerging companies. The connection to powerful executives in European industry will give credibility to entrepreneurs. It will hopefully help them get access to new clients, markets and to think big! This is how the EIT wants to leverage its network and help expand companies, which were born in KICs: born-to-be-global” says Daria Tataj, Member of the EIT’s Governing Board’s Executive Committee.
The selection of the nominated ventures is driven by the three KICs and each KIC will put forward three ventures that will be invited to do a business pitch at a high-level conference, where the three EIT Entrepreneurship Award winners will be selected. The finalists will be given the opportunity to attend a training course on how to successfully present their businesses and will also be given the opportunity to meet with leading entrepreneurs who will provide them with guidance on how to prepare for the scaling up of their businesses.
The high-level conference where the three winners of the EIT Entrepreneurship awards will be selected, is the EIT Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 / ACES Academic Enterprise Awards and Conference organised in cooperation with 
Science|Business, that will be taking place in Brussels on 21 February 2012. The ACES awards, now in their fourth year, are a separate contest open to all university spin-outs across Europe, and are judged by the Science|Business Innovation Board AISBL, a Belgian non-profit association to promote innovation in Europe.
To give the opportunity to meet the finalists for the 2012 EIT Entrepreneurship Awards prior to the competition in February 2012, more information on the nine ventures selected by the three KICs will follow soon
Growth & jobs focus for regional cohesion funding 2014-2020
Proposals aim to improve funding for the EU’s regions and focus more on high-impact growth and jobs programmes.
Economic development, productivity and employment opportunities differ widely across the EU.
About a third of the EU’s budget goes on reducing these disparities – helping its least developed regions benefit from the EU market.
Funding is given to programmes with aims such as developing the skills of local workforces, encouraging entrepreneurship, improving infrastructure and protecting the environment. Millions of Europeans have already benefited from targeted regional funds.
EU budget proposals for 2014 to 2020 allocate €376bn to such programmes. The Commission is also proposing a new approach to make this round of funding more effective in achieving the long-term aims of Europe 2020, the EU's growth and jobs strategy.
The proposals aim to concentrate funding on a smaller number of priorities – in line with these goals.
Each country would agree with the Commission on a partnership contract, setting priorities for investment and targets to be achieved.
Funding conditions would be introduced before aid is granted. Better monitoring would ensure programmes meet their agreed objectives.
Additional funding would be available for programmes that deliver the biggest contribution to growth and job creation.
Common rules would be introduced for the various funds targeting social development, rural areas, coastal areas, cooperation between border regions, fisheries, and less developed countries. Programmes would be able to combine support from some of these funds.
Applying for funds would be made simpler – to reduce administrative burdens, particularly for small companies, and cut costs for all concerned.
While all EU countries would benefit from the funding programmes, support would be concentrated on those with a gross domestic product below 75% of the EU average.
Next steps
The proposals should come into effect in 2014, if they have been approved by national ministers (in the Council of the EU) and the European Parliament in 2012.
Regional representatives will discuss the new proposals from 10 to 13 October at the annual Open Days 2011 in Brussels.