The actions on the organizational level were to:

1.  Creating a supportive architecture and a collaborative culture:
2. install an interdepartmental working group on Entrepreneurial Education (from now on ‘EE’). In addition, a ‘Forum’ on entrepreneurial higher education, was set up, a stakeholders’ group (policy makers,  lecturers student representatives, intermediaries,…) aiming to improve and upgrade Entrepreneurial Higher Education by peer learning, sharing expertise and experiences, developing policy recommendations on EE and developing support for colleague-lecturers.
3. Creation of the so-called ecosystems for young entrepreneurship in 10 student cities. In 10 Flemish student cities, students, postdocs, and youngsters (18->25 years of age) get every chance to tap into a resourceful local ecosystem in developing their entrepreneurial potential and the potential entrepreneur in themselves. All relevant, local stakeholders (the city, higher education institutions, student associations, youth associations, intermediaries and profit and non-profit organizations) are connected in a collaborative endeavor to support youngsters in their entrepreneurial becoming
4. providing support in youth clubs for young people in order to experiment with entrepreneurial projects and explore one’s own entrepreneurial competences and ambitions
5. Development of Haven (youth cooperation) as a safe haven to develop entrepreneurial competences and to start up as an entrepreneur. Youngsters can develop their project and themselves as an entrepreneur while the cooperation takes the risk and supports them with administration and guidance.
   There is also a student cooperation, which provides the same possibilities for students of three Higher Education Institutes in Ghent
2. Removing institutional barriers for youngsters to start their own business or to become self-employed
3. Elimination of an obligatory business-management certificate for all combined with providing support and training concerning business management competences
4. A new legal statute ‘student-entrepreneur’, making it possible to combine studies with starting a business or self-employment project (same advantages as for student jobs)
5. Allowing student-entrepreneurs to be eligible for starters loan. The starters loan is a loan scheme offered by the Flemish governmental agency offering loans, guaranty schemes and equity for young entrepreneurs.

3. Structural partnerships for 4 years with Vlajo (Ja-Flanders), Unizo Onderwijs & Ondernemen (Unizo Entrepreneurship & Education, hereby Unizo E&E), My Machine
Vlajo, Unizo E&E and My Machine are intermediary organizations offering a range of activities for students and teachers.

4. Structural partnerships with intermediary-organizations offering support for start-ups

    5. Monitoring and impact measurement system​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Operational level – Actions/activities

How the activities are financed

Remark: This is an overview of the most important subsidized activities, not an exhaustive list of all subsidies or financed activities.

1/ Partners/intermediaries on Entrepreneurial Education: Vlajo, Unizo E&E and My Machine.

By: mainly DEPT of Economy / Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (+ 3 detached teachers from DEPT of Education).
How: for 4 years:
- 85% operating means / 15% along KPIs/result financing
- striving for: 70% publicly financed 30% privately financed

2/ Ecosystems for young entrepreneurship in student cities

By: EFRO means + DEPT of Economy / Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship
How: project subsidies; 2 x 2 years; 40% EFRO, 30% DEPT of Economy, 30% own means

3/ Postgraduate Innovative Entrepreneurship for engineers (not mentioned before).

By: DEPT of Economy / Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
The Postgraduate program is a joint initiative of the five Flemish universities that consists of an innovation internship at a business or nonprofit organization, a team project (like an electric run Formula One car), or an individual trajectory to get started as an entrepreneur and supplementary academic elements
How: funding for 2016-2020; partly operating means, partly along KPIs/result financing

4/ Experimenting with entrepreneurship in youth clubs

By: DEPT of Culture
How: project subsidies for 1 year (since 2014).

5/ Youth cooperation

By: DEPT of Economy / Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
How: currently for 3 years
mostly operational means (making the further organizational development possible), and a small amount of result financing, gradually over the years reducing the operational means and raising the result financing

6/ Replacement activities in secondary education during internship of teacher

By: DEPT of Education
How: public procurement year by year.

7/ Partners/intermediaries offering support on the start-up as an entrepreneur

By: DEPT of Economy /Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship
How: for 4 years,
- 85% operating means / 15% along KPI/result financing
- striving for: 70% publicly financed 30% privately financed

What are the ambitions regarding reach?

Qualitative ambitions:
- Every student should have at least one positive entrepreneurial experience during his school years.
- Every student should consider entrepreneurship as a feasible career path
- Every student and youngster should develop entrepreneurial behavior in the broadest sense, as a 21^st century skill

The objectives of the subsidized operational partners  translated into KPI’s.

Success factors and recommendations

Critical success factors:

1. A  mission-oriented and integral governmental EE policy and a collaborative strategy (all relevant actors are involved)
2. Highly engaged ministers (cabinets) of Education and Economy/Innovation/Labor and the willingness to cooperate  inter-departmentally, between government agencies and between the relevant cabinets
3. The governmental engagement is reflected in the provision of the needed operational mandates, financial, technical & human resources for a policy period of 5 years
4. An accepted ‘third party’ that can act as convener and (change) process facilitator
5. A shared-sense on the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of entrepreneurial education reflected in a ‘let’s go for it together’ energy
6. (Keep) work(ing) where the energy is
7. An organizational network-like structure that supports the transition towards entrepreneurial education consisting of non-hierarchical and interconnected layers of groups of intrinsically motivated and competent people. The members act as ‘a connector’ between local and sub-local dynamics and between policy and operational dynamics
8. A collaborative working climate and relational context, based on shared and distributed leadership and responsibilities, non-hierarchical and personal relationships, mutual learning and dialogue, psychological safety, risk and experiment, discretion & feedback
9. A deep understanding that a collaborative multi-actor process involves a social learning process reflected in an acceptance and tolerance for mistakes and tensions/conflicts that are an inherent part of working together and the willingness to talk openly and thoroughly and to solve problems
10. Continuous balancing of task management and relational leadership in a productive way
11. Concrete support of the educational institutions, teachers and students concerning the realization of entrepreneurial education by local entrepreneurial ecosystems in student cities and governmentally acknowledged and subsidized service providers such as Vlajo
12. Celebrate successes!

For more info or contacts of organizations and initiatives:

• johan.poisquet@vlaio.be
• reineke.vandevenne@vlaio.be

Bron: http://www.ee-hub.eu/monitor/