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Technische Universität München (TUM) has existed since 1868, and positioning itself as an Entrepreneurial University requires a certain weight. It was therefore only natural that TUM was once again chosen as the destination for a delegation of 20 Danish participants from universities and entrepreneurship clusters in the Train-the-Trainer programme, which the Otto Mønsted Foundation has supported for the second year in a row.
The May 2023 programme was organised by Innovation Centre Denmark (ICDK) in Munich in collaboration with the university’s Institute for Lifelong Learning. ICDK is present in seven of the world’s leading innovation hotspots, where the centre is Denmark’s eyes, ears and brains in relation to what’s happening internationally and also acts as a link between Danish innovation and the global market.
The purpose of the trip was to give 20 ‘trainers’ or educators the opportunity to gain new knowledge, inspiration and insights into collaboration models from the South German innovation ecosystem in the company of participants from TUM. Over the course of the five-day stay, the participants were immersed in a programme with entrepreneurship, technology and innovation as themes. This included an intensive train-the-trainer course and entrepreneurial modules at the university’s Institute for Lifelong Learning as well as visits and networking meetings with Bavarian companies and key players. In addition to gaining valuable professional knowledge and inspiration, the trip also helped participants expand and strengthen their networks with both Danish and German colleagues in their professional field.
Jesper Helleskov Sørensen is a business developer at Aalborg University, where he counsels students who want to start a business or learn about entrepreneurship. He particularly benefited from the department’s entrepreneurship modules, he says.
“These modules create a dynamic learning environment that promotes creativity, collaboration and an entrepreneurial mindset, which we also want for our students and staff at AAU. The programme in Munich has significantly broadened my understanding of entrepreneurship education, innovation and technology. It has provided me with a valuable source of inspiration and ideas that we may be able to apply in our own work at AAU,” he says.
What do you think the Danish entrepreneurship ecosystem in particular can learn from TUM in terms of creating new businesses?
“A significant difference in TUM was their focus on technology-driven entrepreneurship. In contrast to our problem-based approach to learning, the programme highlighted the power of technology as a catalyst for entrepreneurship and innovation. Their approach is of course also motivated by solving problems, especially within the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, but there are some exciting innovative solutions when the starting point is tied to a specific technology. We could do more to create businesses and innovation here at home through existing technologies and override the need for a problem to always be the starting point for innovation.”
Araceli Bjarklev, head of the RUC-Open Entrepreneurship Lab, also came home with new ideas she can use in her daily work.
“I can use the methods and examples we were presented with to support our students and to work more strategically in relation to our ecosystem. Among other things, I noticed how important it is that the companies in the ecosystems also realise that they have a social responsibility to participate, contribute and ensure that the ecosystem develops in collaboration with the knowledge institutions. TUM is an example of how when the political system supports their universities, innovation can flourish strongly. We could learn something from this in Denmark if Denmark has ambitions to be among the most developed countries. Because many of the activities that will sustain Denmark in the future depend on knowledge-based innovation.”