Wednesday October 16 sees the launch of the third edition of the “Entrepreneurial change-making” course organized by the Circle U. European Alliance of Universities.
After its first and second editions that saw the number of students double from 25 to 50, this year, a record-breaking 71 students have enrolled with one goal in mind: to make the world a better place! Half of these students are doctoral students who want to know how to start a business, particularly as a result of their research.
And there’s more cause for celebration! Indeed, the course is now anchored in a true entrepreneurial pathway developed within the Circle U. InCU.bator platform. The journey started with a two-day workshop, called the “InCU.bator Coaching Lab” in Louvain-La-Neuve. 11 aspiring coaches, alumni of former editions of the Entrepreneurial Changemaking Course, were introduced into the secrets of team management and facilitation a problem- and project-based learning environment by their two head trainers, Viktoria Nagy (UCLouvain, Louvain Learning Lab) and Amélie Jacquemin (UCLouvain, Louvain School of Management & LouRIM). The newly trained coaches will now put their pedagogical skills into practice within the Entrepreneurial Changemaking Course where they’ll accompany student teams on their project-building journey. Parallel to the students’ course, the coaches follow their own self-reflexive and -critical journey with the help of a weekly pedagogical logbook created by the two head trainers which will allow them to receive their certificate as entrepreneurial coaches!
“Adding a ‘train the trainers’ module upstream of each of the activities is a strong sign that the platform has reached a new level of maturity. The team is professionalizing the pedagogical approach and student support, which is important when this support is entrusted to other students with very diverse backgrounds. This is also in sync with the idea of student empowerment.”, says Viktoria Nagy. Amélie Jacquemin adds: “We trained alumni from the first two cohorts of students who had taken the Change-makers course. They were very enthusiastic about the idea of participating in pedagogical training and returning to the course as coaches. Their enthusiasm is motivating for us and shows just how important it is to create genuine learning paths within the multidisciplinary and intercultural space that is Circle U.!”
For the most promising student projects emerging from the course, University of Vienna will organize a Cross-InCU.bation Week in February 2025, so that student entrepreneurs from partner universities can meet up and cross-fertilize their skills and ideas. After three inspiring stages, the entrepreneurial journey will come full circle for all these change-makers!
Contact :
Amélie Jacquemin amelie.jacquemin@uclouvain.be
Viktória Nagy viktoria.nagy@uclouvain.be