Page 46 - A Handbook for Academia, Industry and Policymakers: Reinforcing the Innovation-Employability Nexus in the Mediterranean

46 REINFORCING THE INNOVATION-EMPLOYABILITY NEXUS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REINFORCING THE INNOVATION-EMPLOYABILITY NEXUS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN 47

It is also important to acknowledge that teaching for innovation is
more than preparation on how to run a business. It is about how to INTRAPRENEURSHIP
develop the entrepreneurial attitudes, skills, and knowledge which,
Teaching and Learning: Integrating innovation in short, should enable a student to ‘turn ideas into action’. This Intrapreneurship, defined as organisational
venture creation and strategic renewal
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and employability in the curriculum requires HEIs to take into consideration a number of points : brought about by employees, has
become crucial for organisations to
• Competences linked to entrepreneurship require active methods survive and maintain their competitive
of engaging students to release their creativity and innovation advantage. Research has demonstrated
• Entrepreneurial competency and skills can be acquired or built that intrapreneurship positively relates
only through hands-on, real life learning experiences to profits and returns on sales and has
• Innovation and entrepreneurship are transversal themes that been argued to increase organisational
can be integrated as a red thread through the entire curriculum, effectiveness and public value creation.
be taught as a standalone subject or even be an extracurricular
ife has never been more uncertain for university graduates. activity – or a combination of all three
Faced with a highly complex and ambiguous environment, they • The teaching of entrepreneurship should focus on both
Lneed to be well equipped to overcome challenges, embrace intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs, in light of the fact that many
continuous change, turn ideas into actions and be lifelong learners. students will use entrepreneurial skills within companies or
public institutions
This requires universities to shift towards more active methods of • Curriculum, learning outcomes, assessment methods and quality

teaching and learning that engage students to release their creativity assurance procedures must be related to entrepreneurship and
should be designed to support lecturers
and potential for innovation. Providing young people with the tools • Cooperation and partnerships with other lecturers in the HEI,
to enable them to realistically consider creating a social enterprise with industry and other stakeholders is key
or a business start-up – entrepreneurial capacity – will also result in

making graduates more employable and able to use innovative ideas Curriculum development that the curriculum should be closely informed
and creative thinking to improve existing processes – intrapreneurial Although the study of HE curricula has attracted by research and industry. One example is
capacity. However, this requires academia to adapt their curricula, more interest in recent years, it is still not a well- integrating the Sustainable Development Goals
into HEI curricula, a theme with which many
their pedagogy and even their physical spaces and move towards established field as for instance are university Universities are struggling . An organisation
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what is known as entrepreneurial teaching and learning. governance or research. The rules governing the that has embraced this approach is CIHEAM by
development of University degree programmes promoting cooperation between universities
are – with some exceptions – mostly procedural, and the agriculture and fishing industries in
providing structural guidelines such as hourly the Mediterranean region, developing tailored
volumes and course validation. Faculty has a great curricula that address food security, sustainable
Background and context deal of autonomy in defining content. Therefore, agriculture and rural development, and climate
even if the overall framework varies depending change mitigation. Details about CIHEAM can be
on the institution, discipline, country or period found at the end of Chapter 3: Skills. Curriculum
considered, HE curricula tend to be defined at a
Higher education institutions (HEIs) and research knowledge, drive innovation, and work together 38 development and review offers an excellent
institutes play a critical role not only in training with business, government and civil society to teaching staff and institutional level . opportunity to forge relationships between
students to contribute to the economy, but also promote economic and social development, academics and the professional world, making
in implementing the United Nation’s Sustainable becomes a tall order. Academia is expected to train Due to the role assigned to HEIs in producing, the HEI a hub, at the interface between science,
Development Goals (SDGs), which requires students not only for today’s, but for tomorrow’s certifying, and transmitting knowledge, they are the labour market, economy, and the state.
addressing a wide range of social, economic and challenges. In order to reach its full potential and at the centre of legitimising professional groups
environmental challenges, involving complex deliver on these expectations, academia should (e.g. engineers, lawyers or medical doctors). Pedagogy: from teacher-centred to
interlinkages, uncertainty and conflicts of adapt its organisational approaches, and fully Moreover, in a context where access to higher student-centred learning
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values . Providing learners with skills to think integrate research activities, teaching methods education has expanded considerably, universities Our changing world demands creative thinkers
through complexity, learn through dialogue and external engagement practices. In terms of have become a pivotal place in preparing young and collaborative problem solvers. Although
and communication, engage in deep reflection, teaching and learning, higher education should people for their role in industry. Consequently, approaches to classroom instruction have evolved
develop worldview and value sensitivity is also adapt its programmes and curricula in the ability to provide input to the curriculum has considerably over the past 50 years, spurred by
ambitious. Adding that learners also need to cooperation with industry, move from a teacher- become a key concern for both the private and the development of several learning principles
assess when activities support or detract from to a student-centred pedagogy and rethink the public sector as well as for policymakers. and methods of instruction, far too often, one-
achieving the SDGs, generate and disseminate learning spaces. Moreover, due to the decreasing half-life of
knowledge there is growing acknowledgement way lectures remain the most typical way of