Fostering entrepreneurial thinking (i.e. turning circumstances to one’s advantage, seeing possibilities where others see problems, taking initiative) in European society is increasingly important in a rapidly changing world.

Entrepreneurship can be developed from an early age. Although education plays a major role in fostering this competence among young people, traditional education programmes have not done so. Entrepreneurship training, although existing in Europe, is marked by shortcomings when it comes to its implementation, nor integrated strongly in education systems. A coherent framework is needed to integrate this type of training in education systems.

Although entrepreneurship is generally linked, as a result, to economic growth, its benefits are not limited to the economy. It is also a useful skill in personal and social aspects of everyday life, and it can prompt people to act in a socially responsible way. In Croatia, entrepreneurship has had negative cultural undertones for a long time and a mind shift is now needed to ensure a more favourable environment.

‘Enterprising (pre)schoolers’ aims to support the development of entrepreneurship skills in children. It seeks to raise awareness of the importance of entrepreneurial skills  for children and to address the gap left by the traditional education system.

There are two target groups in the programme: children in the kindergarten preschool group (from 5 to 7 years old); and, children in the lower grades of primary school (from 7 to 10 years old).

“Enterprising (pre) schoolers” is an education project involving entire classes of children and it is organised as additional activities outside the regular education. The activities take place once or twice a week with a total of thirty-five activities of forty-five minutes each.

The project provides innovative programme, tools and methods. The curriculum comprises four modules of basic entrepreneurial content, with a handbook for trainers and a workbook for children. Teachers and educators adopt a personalised approach to learning so as to encourage children's new talents and to strengthen existing skills. Educators collect information on the children participating in the project from their parents. At the beginning or the project, they observe the children while performing the project's activities and identify their existing skills and the ones they might develop. The tasks assigned to children by educators enable them to perform differently according to their interests and by taking on different roles that suit them better at the moment. A number of activities are organised to foster the development of entrepreneurial competencies, such as brainstorming sessions, inverted classrooms (i.e. students read relevant materials ahead of the class and discuss what they have learned with their teachers), model learning (e.g. children learn by watching others and then imitating what they do or say), learning through play, experiential learning (i.e. learning through experience and reflection), problem-based learning, meditation, mindfulness techniques, etc. The programme introduces children to the typical features of entrepreneurship, such as creative problem-solving, ability to take initiatives, adaptation to changes, etc. The emphasis is on adopting intuitive processes in entrepreneurship, not learning definitions and concepts on entrepreneurship. Through the entrepreneurial experience, children understand how entrepreneurs create value for themselves and others. They develop their first entrepreneurial initiative and present it to their class, as the project designer. This is an opportunity to become aware of the strengths, qualities, knowledge, and skills acquired through the programme, but also to receive feedback from other participants and educators. For instance, during the project children learned how to create new value and purpose for used objects by transforming them in creative products. At the end of the activity, children sold the products, and decided to give part of the collected money to those in need of help. In doing so, they learned about the value in helping others, not just about material value of objects. In this way, the project also emphasises social entrepreneurship and how children can use their newly acquired skills to help the community.

The project is running from March 2021 to July 2022. The pilot phase took place between October 2021 and April 2022 with the implementation of the project in the two partner organisations the Maksimir Kindergarten and the Silvija Strahimir Kranjčević Elementary School in Zagreb. Feedback on the pilot was collected by project's coordinators from children, parents, educators and associates, through questionnaires and interviews. Educators, parents and external collaborators evaluated the success and quality of the program and the progress of children. According to the project representatives, positive feedback showed that the project was designed in accordance with expectations. Children respond best to activities involving real-life problems and when they learn through play and work as a team. Parents and educators reported progress in different areas of children’s growth and development, especially motor skills, vocabulary and self-confidence. They also noted that children are more forthcoming in providing creative input and suggestions for everyday issues. Educators pointed to an increase in children's motivation, initiative and creativity. Following the pilot programme, working groups, educators and teachers will evaluate its content and application, and adapt it accordingly. They will also contribute to improving the business plan to increase quality of service and achieve the best possible market success.

In line with the European Commission's efforts to foster entrepreneurial mindset (e.g. the European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp)), ‘Enterprising (pre)schoolers’ provides a framework for programmes in Croatian schools and kindergartens to support entrepreneurial skills in children.

This framework could be transferred to other European countries that similarly fail to implement such learning in preschool and primary school education systems. The curriculum and tools (e.g. educator's handbook) could be used to train educators in other countries, while the experience of implementing the project could be shared with other Member States.

Support from the European Social Fund (ESF) facilitated the design and implementation of this innovative educational training. Funds were used to acquire the material resources for project activities (e.g. IT equipment) and to engage experts.