Abstract:

This study looks at the pragmatic need to link knowledge acquisition with embedding the key competences that, when developed during the learning process, are crucial for the student’s personal and future professional career path. Within the transversal skills initially defined by the European Union (EU) for life-long learning programmes and subsequently incorporated into the Spanish education system, we focus essentially on the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is defined as the ability to turn ideas into action. It involves creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. We find that in the higher education context many efforts have been made and new paths have been opened up by putting innovative initiatives into practice, but there is still a lack of consistency among educational programmes at different course levels. Although unforeseen difficulties and budgetary constraints may limit the overall achievement, we describe the impact of implementing an innovative programme that integrates a unique entrepreneurship learning experience combining mobility and international partnership. The educational model is undoubtedly being affected by the dynamics and continuous transformation of this new era of globalisation.