Young entrepreneurship as a priority in Pori

Pori Regional Development Agency POSEK Ltd has several years' experience in practical young entrepreneurship promotion both on regional and national level in Finland.

Through our ongoing Young Entrepreneurship Promotion in Schools project called YES Center network we have created a practical model which has gained a lot of national and international acknowledgement:

• Best practice case by the European A Com mission Charter of SME Entrepreneur-ship Promotion 2008, and
• Best national project of young en trepreneurship promotion by the Finnish Ministry of Education 2008

YES Centers offer entrepreneurship education services for compulsory, general and vocational upper secondary schools. The services include:

• study material
• teacher training
• business mentorship program and entrepreneurial contacts
• curriculum services
• local office for junior achievement, Young Enterprise Finland.

The aim is not to teach all the pupils and students to become independent entrepreneurs. Instead, the primary goal of the entrepreneurship education is to teach entrepreneurial thinking, attitude and action. Next, we are really interested in international co-operation in the field of young entrepreneurship, especially in the Baltic Sea Region. In the end of January 2009 we joined in a consortium which forwarded a proposal to INTERREG IVC to promote further young entrepreneurship activities among eight partner regions. The consortium is led by Ostra Gotaland from Sweden and includes partners arround the Baltic Sea, as well as Central and Southern Europe.

Most activities are covered by the Small Business Act in Europe, SBA framework, which was published in June 2008. Balanced and sustainable economic development as well as innovation of SMEs contributes also to the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Young entrepreneurship is the key element to approach these goals.