Professor John Wilson, SBC Principal and CEO, was invited to give a conference presentation at the 2016 International Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Teaching Approaches, part of the Third Training Programme for Chinese Entrepreneurship Educators.
The Forum was held on 18 July 2016 at Guizhou University of Commerce, Guiyang. The Conference was part of the China Entrepreneurship Education (CEE) Educator Training Project. The CEE initiative is the result of the State Council’s decision in May 2015 to promote entrepreneurship and innovation education in Chinese universities.
According to the State Council, ‘a new innovation- and entrepreneurship-oriented education system will be established in 2020, highlighting the integration of classroom training, self-directed learning, practice, and guidance. To create a new talent-cultivating mechanism, efforts will be made to boost coordination among colleges, enterprises, governments, institutions, and international partners, attracting high-quality domestic and international resources to cultivate more innovative talent, expertise and entrepreneurs. In line with the policy, universities and colleges will establish curriculums which promote innovation and entrepreneurship.’
CEE is informed by a number of world-famous programmes, including those of Silicon Valley, Stanford University, Babson College’s Entrepreneurial Thought & Action and the UK’s National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education, but has been developed to suit contemporary Chinese context and needs. The Conference provided an international view for the CEE trainees to consider practice relating to entrepreneurship education internationally and in China.
Professor Wilson said: ‘I was delighted to be invited to participate in such an important initiative, to share my experiences and observations from a UK perspective and to learn from other colleagues, Chinese and international. It also reinforced the importance of SBC’s emphasis on enterprise and innovation as one of its three overarching themes, along with responsible leadership and cultural empathy.’
