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KidVenture – increasing the entrepreneurial culture of children through gaming
Start date: Sep 1, 2016, End date: Aug 31, 2019 PROJECT  FINISHED 

As referred in a recent document - Entrepreneurship Education at School in Europe (EACEA, 2012) – “Europe faces a number of challenges that can only be met if it has innovative, well-educated, and entrepreneurial citizens who, whatever their walk of life, have the spirit and inquisitiveness to think in new ways, and the courage to meet and adapt to the challenges facing them. Moreover, a dynamic economy (…) will require a greater number of young people willing and able to become entrepreneurs”.In this context, the same document states that “Entrepreneurship Education is essential not only to shape the mindsets of young people but also to provide the skills and knowledge that are central to developing an entrepreneurial culture”. Additionally the need for innovative competencies development is justified “because education is key to shaping young people’s attitudes, skills and culture, it is vital that Entrepreneurship Education is addressed from an early age”.According to the study Entrepreneurship Education at School in Europe (EACEA, 2012), a “great majority of European countries address Entrepreneurship Education through national strategies or initiatives”, reflecting the “wide recognition of the importance of Entrepreneurship Education in Europe”.The same study stresses that “nearly half of the countries have incorporated the objectives linked to the promotion of Entrepreneurship Education within broader strategies (lifelong learning, education and youth, growth)” and others countries “have launched specific Entrepreneurship Education strategies”.As for Entrepreneurship Education at primary education level, which roughly includes children aging 6 to 10 years old, it’s referred that only “two thirds of EU countries explicitly recognise Entrepreneurship in central steering documents at this education level”. In contrast, in secondary education “virtually all countries integrate Entrepreneurship into the curriculum in some form”. This allows the conclusion that it is at the primary education level that is needed more attention.Current approaches to Entrepreneurship Education in primary education rely mostly on a “cross-curricular approach (…) where Entrepreneurship Education is integrated into existing subjects”. Another important aspect is that “half of the countries define learning outcomes related to Entrepreneurship” but “no country addresses practical entrepreneurial skills at this school level”.In this context, the main goal of the project is to create an innovative computer learning game for Entrepreneurship Education of children (6 -10 y), that can be easily implemented in formal and non-formal education settings.In the game, players - individually or in group - will create their own company and cooperate with each other to reach success by making decisions and developing joint activities (in-game and off-game) in response to different challenges. At the same time they compete with other companies in the virtual market. By creating both a cooperative and a competitive environments this learning tool expects to act on knowledge, behaviours and attitudes, contributing to the development of a wide set Entrepreneurship skills, like creativity, teamwork, leadership, market functioning, etc.The game will be developed with the concern to address effectively boys and girls. This concern will extend to the graphical design, contents and game activities and functionalities, following state of the art knowledge on these matters.Thus, the project will result in an innovative learning tool that makes use of a wide set of pedagogical resources and techniques - gaming, storytelling, simulation and role playing, among others - to:• Combine simulation with other complementary off-game activities• Provide both a cooperative and competitive environments• Stimulate an Entrepreneurship culture next to both boys and girlsAdditionally, project KidVenture will also deliver a:• Game Manual, with clear instruction on how to access and play the game• Guide for Implementation, with guidelines for the use of the learning game in-class in order to assist teachers and trainers• Pilot Training, involving training of teachers/trainers and testing with pupils• Website and a Facebook page on Entrepreneurship Education in schools with a repository of the materials produced in the project (but not only) and that can be a meeting point for people involved or interested in the topic.• Sustainability Strategy that will present the guidelines for the future exploitation of results and to ensure the future impact of the project.This initiative gathers 7 partners from 6 different countries, including 2 Higher Education Institutions (KU and UOWM), an Education Authority (CK), a group of Schools (MPDA), a primary school (ZSJ) and 2 private companies active in education, training and development of learning resources.

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