issue 2 - november 2020 rural development through
TRANSCRIPT
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First Council Meeting in Osijek – Croatia – p.7
Cultivating Entrepreneurship in the Małopolska Region – p.13
Think Digitally, Act Locally:Universities Will Thrive in
a Technological Age by Serving And Building Local Communities
– p.21
PROJECT NEWSLETTER
Issue 2 - November 2020
Rural Development through Entrepreneurship Education for Adults
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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BACKGROUND
MEET ARDENT PARTNERS
WELCOME TO OUR NEWSLETTER
NEWS FROM THE ARDENT PROJECT
• First Council Meeting in Osijek – Croatia
• Infographic – 5 Slavonian Counties - Croatia
• Rural Consultation Event for Saxony-Anhalt
• Infographic – Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
• The Potential of Rural Entrepreneurship in the Alto Minho Region
• Infographic – Alto Minho Region, Portugal
• Cultivating Entrepreneurship in the Małopolska Region
• Infographic – Małopolska, Poland
FEATURED ARTICLES
• RUARDI, A Creative Path to Knowledge
• Data Analytics Skills for Entrepreneurs: Why Care?
• Think Digitally, Act Locally: Universities Will Thrive in a Technological Age by Serving and Building Local Communities
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What is the ARDENT Project
Advancing Rural Developmentthrough Entrepreneurship Education for Adults
In the course of this 2-year Erasmus+ project, we aim to develop the following outputs:
We aim to enhance entrepreneurial lifelong
learning opportunities at universities, inspire a new
generation of adult job creators in the rural areas and bring the universities
and their regional communities closer
together.
MEET ARDENT PARTNERS
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Faculty of Economics in Osijek (EFOS)(Croatia)
The University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) (Netherlands)
The Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (Portugal)
Competence Centre for Social Innovation Saxony-Anhalt(Germany)
Univations GmbH (Germany)
Cracow University of Economics (CUE) (Poland)
Münster University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
ASSOCIATED PARTNERS
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences(Germany)
Entrepreneurship actions which might havean impact on rural communities areembedded in broader agricultural, rural, orstructural policies at the European level.Still, there is a general lack of rural strategiesfocused on entrepreneurship, particularly inageing and depopulated rural areas. To reachnew horizons in pursuit of economic growthand innovation, entrepreneurship needs tobe given greater recognition to revitalizerural areas. European education institutionsneed to ignite an entrepreneurial spiritamong adult learners and to integrate theminto a process where they need to generatecreative solutions to real-life challenges ofrural communities.
Our Erasmus+ project “Advancing RuralDevelopment through EntrepreneurshipEducation for Adults” (ARDENT) has beendeveloped with a clear goal: to unlock thepotential of rural entrepreneurship. ARDENTwill equip Higher Education Institutions(HEIs) with knowledge and tools to developan attractive learning offer for adult learnersin rural areas by focusing on thedevelopment of their entrepreneurial skills.
In this way, the university can engage withsociety and achieve synergies throughlifelong learning in the form ofentrepreneurship to promote ruraldevelopment. These features make ARDENTa unique pan-European pilot initiative withhigh impact potentials on the transfer ofcompetences from HEIs to the adultcommunities in rural areas, to seed in themthe basis to become job creators and not jobseekers.
To keep our audience up-to-date with thedevelopments within the project as well as awider rural entrepreneurship educationlandscape, we are happy to present you THEARDENT newsletter series. The newsletterissues will feature the news from thepartnership and highlight relevant articles onthe topics of rural entrepreneurship,entrepreneurship/entrepreneurialeducation, university engagement in ruralareas and exceptional examples from thepartner regions and beyond.
We hope you enjoy your read of our secondARDENT newsletter!
5ARDENT CONSORTIUM
WELCOME TO OUR NEWSLETTER
NEWS FROM THE ARDENT PROJECTIn this section you will find the latest news from ARDENT, including the online council meeting that took place in Osijek (Croatia), the rural consultation event for the region of Saxony-Anhalt and a number of infographics that will help you understand better the shape and characteristics of our partners’ regions.
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Originally scheduled for the end of March, the firstmeeting of the Rural Council within the ARDENT projectwas held on June 18, 2020 in Osijek.The meeting opened with the presentation of objectivesand planned activities in the ARDENT project, afterwhich Silva Wendling, the head of the Office forAgriculture of the Osijek-Baranja County, brieflypresented the situation in the agricultural sector.Highlighting the biggest challenges and opportunities,she opened the discussion on rural development andthe need to keep the young people from leaving ruralareas of 5 Slavonian counties (Osijek-Baranja County,Vukovar-Srijem County, Brod-Posavina County, Požega-Slavonija County and Virovitica-Podravina County).During the discussion it was pointed out that there areboth people and resources in rural areas, but in order toencourage further development of rural areas,additional training and learning are needed,administrative barriers should be reduced, andagriculture made an acceptable career among youngpeople in rural areas. It was also stressed that ruralareas need to regain their lost identity, as they areunrecognizable and unattractive to young people.Production of wheat, corn and soybeans is prevalent inrural areas, and therefore one of the Council’s proposalswas to establish centres for education and training inagriculture, as well as to work on stronger connecting ofproducers into clusters.Members of the Rural Council welcomed the initiativeto emphasize the Triple-Helix principle of cooperationthrough the ARDENT project. Only in this way it ispossible to mobilize all available resources andencourage the development of rural areas in Slavoniancounties.
PartIcipants included:
• 18 people/professors from the JosipJuraj Strossmayer University of Osijek
• Representatives of business supportinstitutions
• Local entrepreneurs• Representatives of development
agencies and local action groups• Representatives of local government.
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FIRST COUNCIL MEETING IN OSIJEK, CROATIA
Access the article on our website.The event was broadcasted on a local TV channel and can be found here (Croatian only).
Size12,486 km²
Inhabitants805,998
GDP per capita6,965 €
TourismIn 2019, 261 322 tourists visited 5 Slavonian counties. By visiting this part of Europe you willget a chance to experience a region where Croatian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman heritagemeet. This part of Croatia is best known for the spacious and fertile fields, big rivers andmarshlands, forrests, old cities, wine production and joyful people with rich traditions. Thispart of Croatia keeps the tradition in organizing world-class sports events: Gymnastic WorldCup Osijek, Pannonian Challenge and European Shooting Championship- EPSO.
Most important sectorsAgriculture, food industry and wood processing industry are the most prominent sectors.
Research and DevelopmentThe R&D expenditure of the companies in the Continental Croatia (Kontinentalna Hrvatska -HR04) a territory to which 5 Slavonian counties belong, has been higher than the nationalaverage for years – 65.7 euro per capita in 2017 compared to 49.3 euro per capita at thenational level.
EntrepreneurshipThe level of activity in starting business ventures, measured by the Global EntrepreneurshipModel’s TEA indicator (% of adults starting a business venture), in 5 Slavonian counties hasbeen lower than the national average for years: 6.6% compared to 9.6% on the national levelin 2018. The GEM research also indicated regional differences in attitudes towardsentrepreneurship: in 2018 there was the lowest level (46.7%) of surveyed population in 5Slavonian counties believing that they have the necessary knowledge and experience to starta business venture.
Research landscapeThe science and research landscape in 5 Slavonian counties are shaped by the Josip JurajStrossmayer University of Osijek, the College of Slavonski Brod, the Polytechnic in Požega,the Virovitica College and the College of Applied Sciences "Lavoslav Ružička" in Vukovar. Atthese higher education institutions more than 19,200 people studied in 2018/2019.
Small companies
Population with access to internet
Unemployment rate
Life expectancy
98,26%
18,72%
20,26%
5 SLAVONIAN COUNTIES, CROATIA(Virovitica-Podravina County, Požega-Slavonia County,Brod-Posavina County, Osijek-Baranja County and Vukovar-Srijem County)
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78,2
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The Rural Consultation Event for the region ofSaxony-Anhalt was scheduled for the 1st October,hosted by the Anhalt University of AppliedSciences in Bernburg. The event was organizedby the Univations GmbH, together with theKompetenzzentrum Soziale Innovation Sachsen-Anhalt (KomZ) bringing together 13 experts fromrelevant stakeholders and bodies in a RuralCouncil format. Discussions took place on thechallenges that rural areas in Saxony-Anhalt arefaced with, and, given the pandemic situation,strictly under the state-wide imposed preventivepractices. The participants were representativesfrom our associated partners, such as the KomZ,the start-up centre of the University, teachingstaff, project managers with background inmobility and logistics, a local Development andBusiness Development Corporation and fromdifferent directorates of the regional publicauthority were invited to join into the event andexchange valuable knowledge and ideas.After a brief introduction to the project and anupdate on its the status Univations´ CEO Mr.Daniel Worch explained the aim of the day –defining economic and social challenges of therural areas in Saxony-Anhalt. Subsequently, thegroup was split into three separate workshops tocover as many topics as possible and thereby usethe available time in the most efficient manner.Each workshop has had its own topic andheadline to which the respective group definedeconomic and social challenges. The firstworkshop dealt with the topic of mobility,infrastructure, and the use of hydrogenin thiscontext. Mobility and a good infrastructure areprerequisites for the attractiveness and futureviability of a region as a residential and businesslocation. With a lack of good accessibility of thecentres, young families in particular do not want
to move to the region, and companies lookingfor skilled workers remain absent as well.Climate protection is an example of the changingconditions that will influence our mobility oftomorrow. Another one is an ageing society thatis increasing the demand for infrastructures thataccommodate the needs of the elderly.The second workshop was dedicated to thetopics of education and digitization, which havebecome relevant especially in the currentpandemic situation. The region of Anhalt-Bitterfeld shows a high proportion of schooldropouts, above the national level. Educationalprovision has become a challenge that isintensified by the dynamics of the demographicchange such as outward migration, a decreasingnumber of pupils and an aging population.Lifelong learning possibilities, knowledgetransfer, digital education and (individual)support, cultural education, and solutions forcases where face-to-face teaching is not possibleare required. The opportunities of digitization forrural areas were discussed in this format as well,being the possibility of networking, proximity,local anchoring, dynamics, independence, andoverall taking new paths.Workshop number three dealt with the agingand declining population especially in ruralareas and the deteriorating density of medicalcare in these regions. The demographicdevelopment and the flight of young people tothe cities, causing the depopulation of ruralareas, is a double-edged sword. It posesproblems and entirely new challenges for ruralregions. A growing elderly community demandsincreasingly for access to medical care. An issueto be tackled not only in Saxony-Anhalt’s ruralregions but nationwide.
Read this article on our website.
RURAL CONSULTATION EVENT FOR SAXONY-ANHALT
State capital Magdeburg
Size 20 454 km²
Inhabitants 2,19 Mio.
GDP per capita 28,880 €
TourismSaxony-Anhalt has a rich history and a remarkable culture landscape. Around 3.6 milliontouristic visitors in 2019 confirm Saxony-Anhalt’s popularity as travel region. Besides theHarz Mountains as the most important holiday destination, Saxony-Anhalt is the state withthe highest density of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Germany.
Important Business SectorsMore than 71% of the regional employees work in the service sector, 26% in manufacturingand construction, and 2% in agriculture. The chemical and plastics industry, plantengineering and construction, the food industry, automotive supply, renewable energies andlogistics are the most important economic sectors to name. There has been a steady growthin industrial production (mechanical engineering, information technology, biotechnology,and medical technology) over the last few years, driven by stronger domestic demand andbetter export quotas.
Entrepreneurship & InnovationIn Saxony-Anhalt, the start-up scene is centered in the cities of Magdeburg and Halle. Withthe Weinberg Campus, Halle has the large technology park. Start-ups in Magdeburg andother cities can also build on a modern infrastructure through resident (university-based)incubators. According to the Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2019, Saxony-Anhalt belongs tothe group of “Strong Innovator” and has held that position since 2008. Examples foroutstanding regional companies can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/c/IMGSachsenAnhalt/videos.
Research LandscapeThe Martin-Luther University in Halle and the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg,four universities of applied sciences and numerous extra-university research institutions,including five research institutions in the Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, the Max Planck Institutes,six Fraunhofer facilities, two facilities of the Helmholtz Gemeinschaft and one facility of theRobert Koch Institute, closely cooperate with Saxony-Anhalt’s enterprises on their way toleadership in innovation. This makes Saxony-Anhalt one of the most concentrated researchlandscapes.
Microenterprises + SMEs
Population with access to internet
Unemployment rate
Life expectancy
97 %
7.1 %
79.46
SAXONY-ANHALT, GERMANY
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88 %
On the 22nd of July 2020, the Polytechnic Institute of Vianado Castelo (IPVC), as a part of the international consortiumof the ARDENT project – Advancing Rural Developmentthrough Entrepreneurship Education for Adults – hosted anonline meeting aiming to gather feedback from thestakeholders regarding the project and to establish theRural Council of the Alto Minho region.Regional government organizations, education and trainingestablishments and, mainly, local development associationswere represented. There were 13 participants, 9 out of 19possible members and 4 people were from the IPVC team.All participants showed interest in being members tocooperate with the project and participate in subsequentmeetings. Some people could not participate but showedinterest in being members.The IPVC listed possible members to invite them to bemembers of the Rural Council based on the workdeveloped by the entities in terms of entrepreneurship andtraining initiatives, as well as participation in relevantprojects.The meeting opened with the presentation of theparticipants, objectives and planned activities in theARDENT project, as well as recently concluded projects inthe area of entrepreneurship promoted by IPVC and/orentities represented. During the discussion, the followingchallenges/difficulties of rural communities have beenidentified from the opinions of the Rural Council members:reduced numbers of inhabitants in the rural areas; anageing population; excessive bureaucracy; accessibility andaccess to services; young people are not motivated;keeping people engaged and interested in ruraldevelopment; tourism; and policymakers need to engage inthe solving of the remote villages’ problems.It was an enriching discussion, gathering representativesfrom several relevant organizations. We believe to havelaunched the conditions to the establishment of a strongnetwork. Opportunities and express wishes of collaborationamong all were identified.
The participants in the online meeting included representatives from:
• Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo(IPVC)
• TecMinho• Intermunicipal Community of Alto Minho
(CIM Alto Minho)• Development Association (ATAHCA)• Polyvalent Cooperative of Rural Development
(ValdeLima)• Regional Development Association (ARDAL)• Business Confederation of the Alto Minho
(CEVAL)• ADERE Peneda Gerês• Associação do Turismo de Aldeia (ATA)
Other interested stakeholders in the project:Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests(ICNF):
• Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests(ICNF)
• Incubator of Innovative Business Initiatives(in.cubo)
• Institute for Employment and VocationalTraining (IEFP)
• District Union of Private Institutions of SocialSolidarity (UDIPPS)
• Integrated Rural Development Association(ADRIL).
Read this article and find the full list ofparticipants on our website.
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THE POTENTIAL OF RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE ALTO MINHO REGION
Size2 219 km²
Inhabitants245 000 (2011)
Country´s GDPpc53,7 %
TourismAlto Minho, with almost 30% of its territory classified as Natura 2000, is the first NUT III in PortugalContinental that has its territory fully awarded by the European Charter of Sustainable Tourism, a certificateawarded by EUROPARC the European Federation of National and Natural Parks. It has more classifiednational monuments than any other subregion in Northern Portugal and 10 historical centres of excellencefor visit. It also integrates the main routes of the St. James Portuguese Way. It is the NUT III of the NorthRegion with the highest number of “Nights” and “Guests” with a growth of 20.3% in the number of overnightstays and 15.5% in the number of guests, when compared with 2017.
Most important sectorsAutomotive components, metalworking and shipbuilding and repair have considerable weigh in the industryof Alto Minho.
Research and DevelopmentRenowned regional network of technology, innovation and research. The Technology and KnowledgeTransfer Office (OTIC) of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (IPVC) is a platform to support thedevelopment of a new culture of higher education aiming, on the one hand, the economic valuation ofresearch and its results and, on the other, the approximation of the IPVC to the business fabric. It is intendedthat this OTIC is a determining agent of business innovation in the region, through the provision of highquality services geared to the need of companies.
EntrepreneurshipAn institutional network, constituted by the Alto Minho CIM, IPVC, Alto Minho Business Confederation(CEVAL), Incubator of Innovative Business Initiatives (In.cubo), Integrated Rural Development Association ofthe Lima Valley (ADRIL) and Integrated Rural Development Association of the Minho Valley (ADRIMINHO),aims to stimulate, in a integrated manner, a platform for mobilizing resources, people, agents and ideas thatpromote the entrepreneurial spirit and culture in Alto Minho and contribute to facilitate the process ofcreating and following-up entrepreneurial initiatives in the region.
Research landscapeIPVC is the school with the widest range of courses in the Alto Minho higher education network. In additionto Professional Higher Technical Courses (CTeSP), it offers higher education courses, including,undergraduate, postgraduate and master courses (in cooperation with various foreign and domesticuniversities), through the six colleges that comprise it. With a school population around 4 250 students, 946students graduate from IPVC in 2018. IPVC conducts, shares and transfers predominantly applied research,supported by a national and international network of partners, relevant to the region's cultural, social,economic and business tissues, financially sustainable and articulated with an IPVC training offer.
Small and medium companies
Population with access to internet
Unemployment rate
Life expectancy
8,9%
80,24
ALTO MINHO REGION, PORTUGAL
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16,7%
99,9%
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On the 25th of June 2020 at the CracowUniversity of Economics the inaugural on-linemeeting of the Rural Council of the MałopolskaRegion took place, established as part of theinternational project ARDENT.The participants represented variousstakeholder groups involved in the socio-economic development of rural areas in theMałopolska region, such as rural residents, ruralbusinesses, public administration, NGOs, localleaders, business councils, and researchersfrom other Higher Education Institutions. Therewere 21 participants among whom 5 peoplewere CUE project team members. The meetingwas also honoured by the participation andwelcome words by CUE Rector-Elect, ProfessorStanislaw Mazur. This shows support of CUEauthorities when the projects supportingentrepreneurship are implemented. In openingthe meeting, he expressed his conviction thatcoping in a very complicated and turbulentenvironment without building local structuresthat integrate different resources and involvedifferent partners is extremely difficult andsuch initiatives create the necessary basis forthe development of entrepreneurship. They arealso a manifestation of the realisation by theCracow University of Economics of its mission.During the meeting the RC constitution hasbeen officially confirmed and activitiesconsidered as started. President and Vice-President of the RC have been elected. Thenthe ARDENT project implementation and theprinciples of functioning of the Rural Councilwith the proposed scope of activities of itsmembers were discussed, as well as theproblems and barriers faced by the inhabitantsof rural areas of Małopolskie region.
The following conclusions have emerged fromthe opinions of the Council members:
• Achievement of project objectives may behampered by the potentially low interest of therural environment in the project offer. This iswhy it is important to create a tailor-madeeducation and support offer, for potentialproject beneficiaries,• The scope of interests of the Rural Councilshould include the identification of problemsresulting from the lack or inadequacy of legalsolutions and the presentation ofrecommendations for changes in this area,• For the effective implementation of theproject and to ensure greater scale of itsimpact, the cluster initiatives would berecommended,• The priorities for the development ofentrepreneurship in rural areas of the regionshould be support for:• Digitization of business activities (solutionsfor running a business with the use of digitaltools, at a distance);• Organic farming;• Rural tourism;• Commercialisation of the offer of socialeconomy organizations.In the opinion of meeting participants, the ideaof establishing the Rural Council of theMałopolska Region is very valuable. Aninitiative which integrates various actorsoperating in rural areas, can have a real impacton desired changes. It may result not only in aneffective implementation of the ARDENTproject, but also in the creation of a platform toshare knowledge and experience, giving theopportunity to implement goodentrepreneurship practices in the wholeMałopolska region.
Read this article on our website.
CULTIVATINGENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE MAŁOPOLSKA REGION
Size15182 km²
Inhabitants3,41 Mio.
GDP40 Bio. €
TourismMałopolska is a leading place for tourist destinations in Poland. Unusual landscapes and beautiful nature, an impressive number of monuments and a unique atmosphere - all this makes, that the region is visited by several million tourists from Poland and the whole world every year. The Tatra mountains, the Krakow-Czestochowa Upland, castle ruins, historical towns, wooden churches, spas with mineral waters, thermal baths, cultural events, still alive tradition and delicious cuisine - these are just some of the attractions that wait here for tourists.
Most important sectorsThere are favourable conditions for the development of the high tech, automotive, tourism andBusines Service Sector in the region, mainly due to the high scientific-research and educationalpotential, availability of qualified engineering staff and labour force and convenient natural andclimatic conditions.
Research and DevelopmentThe GERD indicator in 2017 indicator was at the level of 1.85% (Poland - 1.03%). Employment in theR&D sector is growing (in 2015 it amounted to 14.5 thousand EPCs). The research projects inMalopolska represent the following fields: technical sciences and energy, biological and medicalsciences, agricultural sciences, physical and engineering sciences, digital research infrastructures.
EntrepreneurshipMałopolska region is characterised by a high level of entrepreneurship. In 2018, 9.0% of Polish entities were located in this region. In the last decade, the number of business entities has significantly increased in relation to the population - the indicator expressing the number of entities per 1000 inhabitants in 2018 was 115. Around 10% of the Polish startups come from Krakow, which places the regional capital on the 3rd place in the country.
Research landscapeMalopolska is one of the most important academic centers in Poland with more than 150 thousandsof students. There are 106 accredited research laboratories and 3100 ordinary laboratories in theregion. 807 of them are located in scientific units (universities, institutes of the Polish Academy ofSciences and research institutes).
Small companies
Population with access to internet
Unemployment rate
Life expectancy males / females
99,3%
93,2%
4,1%
75,3/82,9
MAŁOPOLSKA, POLAND
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FEATURED ARTICLESIn this section we share a selection of relevant articles from the partnership and beyond. In this issue, we bring you three selected articles on the topics of “revitalisation of a degraded industrial region” by the hands of the Institute for Innovation and Development of University Of Ljubljana (IRI UL), “data skills for entrepreneurs” in an article extracted from the DataSET projects and “universities as local and regional community builders”, where Andrew Petter, President and Vice-Chancellor of Simon Fraser University, tells us about the benefits of the engagement between universities and their local communities and how this can boost the social impact of the institution.
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RUARDI: A CREATIVE PATH TO KNOWLEDGE
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Degraded industrial regions – such as Zasavje inSlovenia with its former coal mines – are facedwith social, economic and environmentalchallenges, such as unemployment, pollutionand brain drain. To prosper, these areas needfresh ideas, bold visions and industrialrestructuring, developed in partnership withlocal industry, community and citizens. TheRUARDI project was a university-industrycollaboration project involving aninterdisciplinary student research team. It wasconducted over a period of five months in 2015and implemented within the Creative Path toKnowledge programme of the Public Scholarship,Development, Disability, and Maintenance Fundof the Republic of Slovenia.RUARDI established cross-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder cooperation between differentFaculties and research institutes of the Universityof Ljubljana, the city of Zagorje ob Savi(Slovenia), its local industry representatives(company Aereform), and local communities. Thekey aim was to conduct an interdisciplinary studywhich would provide recommendations forenlargement, optimization and integration of theexisting city airport into the local industrialenvironment, community and everyday life ofcitizens. The long-term vision was to establish anaeronautic entrepreneurial hub for high-techinnovation and multiplication of regional social-economic development.
Small research projects that bring valuableexperience
The Creative Path to Knowledge programme,supported by the Slovenian Ministry of
Education, Science and Sports and the EuropeanSocial Fund, enhances cooperation betweenhigher education institutions and industry,businesses, or other non-academic organisationsin short-term research & development projects.The participating students thus get theopportunity to work on real-life challenges,gaining practical experience, additionalknowledge, as well as competences and skillsthat are increasingly important for entering thejob market.The current programme (2016-2020) value is10.625.000,00 EUR and aims to involve at least2700 undergraduate and graduate students, aswell as 1400 non-academic experts. Theprogramme co-finances projects that are carriedout in groups of 4 to 8 students co-mentored byacademic and industry/non-academic mentors,and encourages the exchange of knowledge,experience and good practices. The projects canlast from 3 to 5 months. University and non-academic partners have to apply for funding – ifsuccessful, the academic mentors recruit a teamof students to work on the project.
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Revitalising a degraded urban area
Zasavje is one of the most affected Slovenianregions – in the time of economic crisis, theunemployment rate in the region has grownconsiderably. Traditional industrial sectors arelabour intensive and characterized by high levelsof manual work and low levels of automation. Inthe past years, the production was globallymoving to areas with cheaper labour force.These events have further aggravated theeconomic situation in Zasavje, causing seriouseconomic problems, i.e. low standard of living,low income, dependence on the social welfaresystem, long-term unemployment etc. Thesekinds of areas can benefit by introducingpositive visions and by enhancing new solutionsand development strategies incorporating localheritage and involving their citizens as co-creators.Air mobility and aeronautic industry can presentkey integrators and drivers having positiveeffects on the development of environment,region, local community and entrepreneurship.The RUARDI project aimed to provide a holisticsolution of expanding and integrating theexisting city airport into the local community’severyday life. Three non-academic mentors fromindustry and research (Aereform and IRI UL),four academic mentors (University of Ljubljana),and eight students from four different Facultieswithin the University of Ljubljana (Faculty of civilengineering, Faculty of architecture, Faculty ofsocial sciences and Faculty of mathematics andphysics) commenced work on the RUARDIproject in January 2015.
The core of the project was the students’research and development of solutions. Amongother activities, the project team had to identifythe relevant stakeholders and actors within thelocal community, develop the concept andmapping, conduct research and analysis,evaluate results and provide developmentrecommendations, disseminate results andparticipate in multi-stakeholder meetings.During this process, the students acquired newcompetences and an elaborate vision of theairfield, while the collaboration betweenindustry and university partners supported theexchange of knowledge and best practices. Theinterdisciplinary study resulted in a detailed, 153pages long study report, written by theparticipating students and their academic andindustry mentors, and has provided concreterecommendations that were later included inthe city’s development strategy.
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Developing skills and competences
The learning outcomes were assessed for eachstudent individually by the involved academicmentors, based on the activities undertaken bythe student within the project and theirperformance. The individual assessments had tobe included in the final project report, requiredby the funding programme. One of the mostimportant outcomes of the collaborative projectwere the skills and competences developed bythe involved students, including creativethinking; solving practical challenges with thesolutions being feasible technically, socially, aswell as financially; communication acrossdisciplines and stakeholder groups; ability to set,formulate and implement a research processthat has clear objectives and performanceindicators; as well as organizationalcompetences of working in an interdisciplinaryteam.
Provided by: Sara Arko, Institute for Innovationand Development of University Of Ljubljana (IRIUL)
This article originally appeared on UCityLabproject website. Access the article here.
DATA ANALYTICS SKILLS FOR ENTREPRENEURS: WHY CARE?
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The assumption that data analytics is an area ofexpertise guarded and explored exclusively bydata specialists is being widely challenged.Today, data mining, its visualization and analysisare used by virtually any professional layer inlarge corporations to improve individual andorganisational performance. However, data isyet to find its way to become a source fordecision-making among entrepreneurs of smalland medium enterprises (SMEs), that are rarelywell equipped with necessary skills to collectand understand mysterious numbers about theircustomers. Developing such skills can be ademanding solo trip, unless accompanied withrelevant and effective training.
Who has pulled the strings?
According to Tom Davenport, Professor of IT andManagement at Babson College (USA), the ever-growing need in data analytics skills amongentrepreneurs, has been dictated by twointerrelated factors [1], i.e. a growing mass ofdata generated on the Internet and a fast-pacedincrease of online companies generating thesedata.Well-known US companies, including Facebook,Amazon and Google, as well as the Chinese techgiants like Baidu and TenCent, have ‘madeentrepreneurs care more about [data] analytics’and showed how it can be used to achieveintended results. Like their larger competitors,the SMEs with data-literate professionals canbenefit from the well-processed data and data-driven decision-making in many ways, e.g.aligning their business strategy, improving theirofferings, and highlighting their competitive
advantage among others in a respective marketsegment.
‘First step in solving any problem is recognizingthere is one’, Will McAvoy from The Newsroom
Though large corporations are making the mostout of the possibilities offered by data analyticstools and techniques, micro- and SMEs,constituting 99% of all companies [2] in Europe,experience difficulties in applying them. Asreported by OECD [3], ‘software applications tomanage business information flows are popularamong large firms (more than 75% adoptionrate in 2014) but less used by SMEs (less than20%).’ Later, the Strategic Policy Forum onDigital Entrepreneurship [4] echoed the sameconcern stating that ‘small European businessesare slow to change and over 41% of EUcompanies have yet to adopt any of the newadvanced digital technologies including … bigdata analytics.’ Yet sounding dismal, suchstatistics opens new doors for those who arecompetent to show the way-out.
What’s in the data analytics combo for presentand future entrepreneurs?
Back in 2009, Hal Varian, chief economist atGoogle, predicted that a data savvy specialistwould be ‘a sexy job [to have] in the next 10years.’ [5]. Particularly, he meant statisticiansand data scientists. Little did he know that the“sexiness” of data analytics skills would travelfar beyond these jobs.
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What’s in the data analytics combo for presentand future entrepreneurs?
More recently, in 2018, Dr. Soraya Sedkaoui,senior lecturer at Université de Montpellier(France) and data analyst, denoted that futureentrepreneurs, able to slice and dice the data,should demonstrate [6] not only soft skills and ageneral entrepreneurial streak, but also sex uptheir scope of competences with the expertisein Math and Stats, data mining and datamodelling. By and large, the next generation ofentrepreneurs is expected to use data analyticsmethods ‘to extract value and enhance theirprofessional capabilities.’
Data SET projectThe answer to such a tough call seems obviousenough – training the generation of data-literateentrepreneurs.The Data SET Project encourages to improve theknowledge and skills of entrepreneurshipeducation providers (VET colleges, enterpriseagencies, local authorities, HEIs) in conceivingand delivering relevant data analytics skills forentrepreneurs. Properly aligned with students’learning needs and business processes, suchskills will enhance their absorption capacity offuture entrepreneurs and improve the quality oftheir decisions and their overall performance.More to that, knowing how to translate existingdata into visually comprehensive and easy-to-use information can stimulate them to explorenew business dimensions.Data SET has embarked on a journey to producethe Guide on Data Skills Development that willbe used to update entrepreneurship trainers
about the current state of data skills and skillsbuilding strategies. Among its manifoldoutcomes, Data SET will create a smart dataskills training model, train the first generation ofData SET trainers and launch an online Data SETcourse.
Notes:1. Even Entrepreneurs Need Analytics:https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomdavenport/2018/04/18/even-entrepreneurs-need-analytics/#487686254ff92. Fact Sheets on the European Union:http://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/63/small-and-medium-sized-enterprises3. Enhancing the Contributions of SMEs in a Global andDigitalised Economy:https://www.oecd.org/mcm/documents/C-MIN-2017-8-EN.pdf4. Accelerating the digital transformation of Europeanindustry and enterprises:https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/accelerating-digital-transformation-european-industry-and-enterprises_en5. For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics:https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/technology/06stats.html6. How data analytics is changing entrepreneurialopportunities?:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325057418_How_data_analytics_is_changing_entrepreneurial_opportunities
Authored by Alina Meloyan, this article was originallypublished in the DataSET project website. Access thearticle here.
THINK DIGITALLY, ACT LOCALLY:UNIVERSITIES WILL THRIVE IN A TECHNOLOGICAL AGE BY SERVING AND BUILDING LOCAL COMMUNITIES
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As technology accelerates the pace of changeglobally, universities face unprecedentedchallenges and opportunities, not just to remainrelevant, but to address requirements for newaptitudes and literacies. Yet universities’ bestopportunities – to thrive institutionally and toplay a positive role socially and economically –may well be through engaging vigorously anddirectly with their local communities.On the technology front, artificial intelligence (AI)is more likely to increase than to undermine theneed for university education. Managed well, AIwill augment universities’ basic teaching functionswhile accelerating the demand for our graduates.Northeastern University President Joseph Aounhas written convincingly on this topic, noting thatAI increases the need for what he describes astechnology literacy, data literacy and – critical foruniversities – human literacy. ¹Aoun’s thesis gains further strength when viewedagainst the backdrop of Benjamin Bloom’s classictaxonomy of educational objectives. ² AI can makesignificant contributions in relation to lower-leveltasks in Bloom’s cognitive domain: transferringbasic knowledge and supplementingcomprehension, application and analysis.However, AI is far less capable of replicating ordisplacing higher-level cognitive pursuits such asevaluation and creation. And in the affectivedomain, AI is a long way from mastering evenbasic skills such as showing empathy, formingrelationships and building trust.As a consequence, governments, industries andcivil society will necessarily become more reliantupon educational institutions capable ofcultivating these higher-level cognitivecompetencies, and a range of affective aptitudes,as will students preparing for a world in which AI
will replace many jobs and complicate others. Therecent experience with massive open onlinecourses (MOOCs) taught us that technology hasits limits as an educational instrument. We shouldtherefore not be surprised to see more demandsupon universities to cultivate aptitudes thatexceed AI’s capacities, and that are required toharness and direct those capacities for societalbenefit.There is, however, another array of universitystrengths and competencies that cannot bereplaced by virtual teaching technologies or AI.
“As physically situated learning institutions,universities play a critical role in building andsustaining the economic and social health of thecommunities they serve”
At the level of teaching and learning, we knowthat education is an interactive process, besteffected in a learning community that providesdiverse opportunities for human interaction andsocial engagement. But universities’ capacities arenot limited to turning out well-educatedgraduates or, for that matter, to undertakingimportant research. There is more we can do toharness our capabilities as community builders.Consider the current context: Our communitieswere once bolstered by dominant domesticindustries, anchor institutions that sewedstrength into the fabric of society even as theysustained local economies.
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Image credits: Macleans.ca
But globalization has displaced or disrupted manysuch industries even as fiscal pressures havestrained governments’ capacities and depletedcivic infrastructure. Universities can playimportant roles helping to mitigate these trends.
Simon Fraser University came to this realizationorganically and then strategically. Ours has alwaysbeen an institution inclined to communitybetterment, with an activist faculty and atendency to reach out with programming andresources. That experience taught us that workingwith – and for – our community partners bothmakes us a better university and helps to secureour future.
Students who engage directly with communitiesthrough co-operative education and servicelearning receive an enriched and more relevanteducation. Researchers who engage withcommunities to address emergent issues gaingreater purpose, knowledge and gratification.Even our physical investments – the building of
transformative campuses in Vancouver’s inner cityand in the suburban community of Surrey –strengthen our overall ability to perform.
We have since worked to identify even morestrategically the various instruments that post-secondary institutions can leverage to build socialinfrastructure. We have found opportunities inthe ways we use land and facilities; purchasegoods and services; manage and invest funds;steward human resources; and nurture andmaintain relationships.For instance, on the once-isolated BurnabyMountain site of the original SFU campus, wedecided to develop an integrated community,resolving as well to make it a model of sustainableplanning and development. In a buildout periodof less than 15 years, this new community hasresulted in thousands of units of housing, anelementary school, childcare facilities and othersocial amenities.
In procurement, we sought out Indigenous andother community-based suppliers that are likelyto generate local employment and build capacity.As an investor, we have allocated a significantportion of our endowment to sustainableinvestments. As a convener, we have hosted andprovided facilities for important and sometimesdifficult conversations on pressing communityissues, through programs like SFU Public Squareand our Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.In addition to fulfilling our core educational andresearch mandates, we have assumedresponsibility to exercise our full capacities as acommunity builder, especially at a time when theneeds are so great and the sources of socialinfrastructure in such short supply.
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And by doing so, we have benefited along withour communities. Not only have our students andfaculty gained from enhanced educationalexperiences and enriched research opportunities,but our institution has won increased recognitionand support for all its activities – including ouracademic and research mission – from individuals,governments and community partners.The lesson here is simple: While universities standto reap rewards from advances in AI and othertechnologies, the ones likely to make the greatestgains over the next twenty years are those thatleverage these rewards for the mutual benefit oftheir communities, as well as of their studentsand scholars. The SFU experience shows this canbe done through programs and partnerships thatdraw institutions and communities closertogether, physically as well as virtually, to increasethe interplay of effort and ideas.The most savvy and successful students (andmost capable graduates) will be those whoseeducation has provided them significantengagement with and understanding of theircommunities and future workplaces. The mostinformed and effective researchers (and mostproductive innovators) will be those with theclosest connections to the populations andenterprises that need their insight and benefitfrom their expertise.All of this requires a concerted effort to engageand a willingness to use university resources –including physical infrastructure – as a vector forthat engagement. Universities that are preparedto make this effort will not only improve thequality of the educational experiences they offertheir students and the value of the researchopportunities they provide their scholars, but willalso enhance their standing as community
builders and be better able to secure support forall of their endeavours.
Notes:¹ Joseph E. Aoun, Robot-Proof: Higher Education in theAge of Artificial Intelligence (The MIT Press, 2017).
² B.S. Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. (New York: DavidMcKay Co Inc., 1956); D.R. Krathwohl, B.S. Bloom, andB.B. Masia, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives:Handbook II: Affective Domain. (New York: DavidMcKay Co., 1964).
Authored by Andrew Petter, President and Vice-Chancellor of Simon Fraser University.
Article originally published in ‘The Future ofUniversities Thoughtbook | North American Edition’.
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24“The information and views set out in this web-site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.”