Problem addressed

In Finland, entrepreneurship education has been included in the curriculum of basic education since the 1990s with a cross-curriculum approach. However, the way that entrepreneurship education is implemented still varies at each school. It depends on each schools’ culture and management, teaching staff’s knowledge and skills, and the opportunities that the school provides to pupils to experience the workplace and interact with entrepreneurs. This uneven implementation of entrepreneurship education has a negative impact on the development of young people’s entrepreneurial competences and skills.

Innovative solution

YES, a non-profit organisation in Finland, brings together people and organisations interested in the development of entrepreneurship education, both regionally and nationally. The YES Network supports and trains schools in entrepreneurship education, builds cooperation between schools and businesses and serves as a community to develop entrepreneurship education. It provides teachers with training, tools and materials (guides, case stories, best practises) to support the teaching of entrepreneurship across all subjects, as required under the Finnish national curriculum. It also has a web platform that acts as a meeting service, allowing schools to connect with YES work-life mentors – entrepreneurs and other work-life volunteers to give young people experience of the workplace.

The YES Network works long-term to change attitudes and cultures in schools and society. It aims to create a new kind of work culture where schools cooperate actively with the business world and, above all, where young people receive adequate training during their studies to enter working life.

YES services were first established in Finland in 2001 by individuals and organisations interested in developing entrepreneurship education. The network is coordinated by the National YES Association (founded in 2010). According to The Entrepreneurial School (TES), the YES Network’s tools are suitable for all educational levels as well as vocational training, higher education and teacher training.

YES is innovative in its bottom-up governance: regional offices are set up by individuals, organisations or associations who are interested in entrepreneurship education. This means that regional offices respond directly to local needs and are led by members fully committed to enhancing entrepreneurship education. YES also has a strong collaborative work culture. The organisation collaborates with any individual or organisation interested in the development of entrepreneurship.

Members of the National YES Association are influential actors in the business and youth entrepreneurship sector.

Key results and benefits

Through increasing the cooperation between schools and businesses, providing educational materials and training teaching staff, the YES Network is able to create an entrepreneurship education ecosystem. In 2019, 9 250 teachers, 2 712 entrepreneurs and 26 017 young people participated in YES Network’s activities and 645 different events were organised. In 2019, over 400 people were registered as mentors and the platform had over 5 000 visitors.

Results of the network include:

• strengthening of the entrepreneurial work culture;

• development of the pedagogy of entrepreneurship education;
• improvement of the entrepreneurial skills of teaching staff;
• an increase in school-business cooperation;
• the creation of new learning environments;
• an increase in business activity and entrepreneurship.

The development of an entrepreneurial attitude in children and young people can help them to recognise and utilise their own strengths in order to find their place in working life. This can substantially increase their future employability.

Potential for mainstreaming

European Social Fund (ESF) support for the National YES Association, totalling approximately EUR 500 000 over the years that it has operated, has enabled the association to operate more widely and to develop its work within Finland. Key conditions for a successful transfer to another context would be strong and diverse partnerships with schools, joint municipal authorities, regional development organisations, business associations and organisations, municipalities and entrepreneur associations, and access to funding.

In 2017, the Ministry of Education and Culture published national guidelines for entrepreneurship education, citing the YES Network and its materials as recommended practices. The European Entrepreneurship Education network also commented that the YES Network’s services are an example of good practice within Europe.