Using Living Labs Methodology to Design Entrepreneurship Education Program in China: The case of a Pilot Minor at Tongji University in collaboration with Aalto University Fei Fan a, Tingan Tang b, Timo Nyberg b, Matti Hämäläinen b,a a
Tongji University Aalto University
b
Abstract This paper presents the current status of entrepreneurship education in Chinese universities and the demands to build entrepreneurial curriculum combining the following elements: interdisciplinary, open and collaborative approach; proactive development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem involving universities, companies and public and private customers and consumers; emphasizing sustainable development; learning by doing, emphasizing authenticity and realism; and student-centered and social construction of knowledge and experiences supporting proactive and bottom-up initiatives to complement top-down approaches. Considering the above features, the paper proposes to use Living Labs approach as one element when designing entrepreneurship education programs in China. In particular, combining some of the key principles and elements of Living Labs into curriculum to support the implementation of the above listed new elements of entrepreneurial curriculum. The paper introduces a pilot Minor program on entrepreneurship education collaborated that is being implemented between Aalto University, Finland, and Tongji University, China, so as to enrich methods and practices in entrepreneurship education. Keywords Living Labs, Entrepreneurship Education, Curriculum Design While it has been long debated that entrepreneurship is of "innate quality" that will be difficult to develop via formal education, entrepreneurship education is considered as an important vehicle to support the growth of entrepreneurs (Drucker, 1999). Over the years, entrepreneurship education has mainly focused on business studies, but in practice entrepreneurial activities and ventures cannot be fully studied or learned from the perspective of a single discipline. The need for understanding the multifaceted and connected nature of today’s dynamic environment of networked enterprises call for broader perspctives and connection to real-lofe experiences. Also, the developments in innovation approaches, such as the open innovation, emphasize thee need of internal and external partners to share ideas, the paths to market, and share risks and rewards (Chesbrough, 2003), poses entrepreneurship education new challenges to meet. This paper will describe
66
