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Entrepreneurship education is not just about launching businesses. It’s about enacting change and scaling solutions that can transform the world. The O2LAB Erasmus Entrepreneurship Festival on 17 June organised by the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship – and attended by around 700 people – showed how Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and Erasmus University Rotterdam can create a strong entrepreneurship ecosystem by bringing together educators, professionals and students to explore the future of entrepreneurship education in the Netherlands – and the attendance of Her Majesty Queen Máxima in her capacity as a member of the Nederlands Comité voor Ondernemerschap showed how entrepreneurship education is gaining recognition for its importance.

The Queen has been instrumental in shaping a national agenda for lifelong, impactful entrepreneurship education. During conversations with students, educators, entrepreneurs and policymakers, she underlined the powerful message that entrepreneurship is no longer a niche but a life skill that creates proactivity, resilience and a readiness to respond to emerging challenges. Demonstrating this were the student ventures; their pitches connected them to funders, mentors and start-up experts during speed-date sessions.

“Thinking and acting entrepreneurially is essential to making meaningful impact, whether you're founding a business, driving change in an organisation, tackling public challenges, or shaping the future of education,” said RSM’s Professor of Corporate Entrepreneurship Justin Jansen. “The day showcased what this looks like in action.”

Activities included:

“Let’s keep building a strong and impactful platform for entrepreneurial learning across disciplines, education levels, and regions. Let’s move beyond seeing entrepreneurship as a career path, and embrace it as a capability for innovation, inclusion, and resilience. And let’s ensure that every student, whether future founder, policymaker, teacher, or team leader, is equipped with the necessary skills and mindset to thrive,” concluded Prof. Jansen.

He extended his thanks to the community that gathered under the #O2LAB hashtag on social media platforms, volunteers from ECE StudentsErasmus Enterprise and the Graduate Entrepreneur Fund.

Link to the official announcement of the Queen’s visit

More information

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. www.rsm.nl

For more information about RSM or this release, please contact Danielle Baan, science communications and PR for RSM, on +31 10 408 2828 or by email at baan@rsm.nl.

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