Kalle Airo: "For an entrepreneurial mind, a problem is an opportunity, not a threat”
Kalle Airo leads Entrepreneurial Mindset at Aalto
Entrepreneurship programme brought sustainability alongside productivity
Aalto Ventures Program aims to teach every university student entrepreneurship skills and funnel the skills toward sustainable development objectives.
The goal of Aalto University is to teach entrepreneurial skills to each of its students. Aalto Ventures Program (AVP), established ten years ago, is responsible for teaching these skills. The program was founded by the same people who participated in establishing the Aalto Entrepreneurship Society (Aaltoes), which in turn launched the entrepreneurial revolution that created Slush and Wolt.
The entrepreneurial skills students learn at the university are directed to a useful purpose. All the challenges students solve in Aalto Ventures Program courses are related to sustainable development.
‘Aalto University gets an enormous amount of talented people around the world, and if they all spend their time here on sustainability problems, we can achieve a lot. Some will definitely continue on the same track after their time at the university,’ says Lauri Järvilehto, Professor of Practice at Aalto University and Director of Aalto Ventures Program.
Entrepreneurial skills as part of other education
Aalto Ventures Program has developed a new teaching method, integration teaching, in which entrepreneurial skills and an entrepreneurial mindset are also taught in other courses such as language or electrical engineering studies. The method has also been introduced in other Finnish higher education institutions.
According to the program's findings, the current generation of startups is driven by a growing desire to build a more sustainable world and create an impact. About 60 percent of the respondents to the survey conducted by Aalto Ventures Program and the Aaltoes community in 2021 say that the reason for becoming an entrepreneur is to make an impact. More than 30 percent of the respondents want to focus specifically on solving sustainable development goals. Read more about the survey on the AVP website.
For further information, please contact:
Lauri Järvilehto, Professor of Practice at Aalto University and Director of Aalto Ventures Program, lauri.jarvilehto@aalto.fi, tel. +358 50 4768 977
Tommi Byman, Communications coordinator, Aalto Ventures Program, tommi.byman@aalto.f, tel. +358 50 5343 609
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