ESADE and Aalto University team up to train entrepreneurs committed to innovation

Aalto University has signed a new agreement with Spain’s ESADE Business School. The two institutions will expand their offering of training, leadership development and support for entrepreneurs and executives dedicated to innovating through design and technology as a means of creating new business opportunities.

The agreement was signed this morning by Aalto University President Tuula Teeri and ESADE Director General Eugènia Bieto.

– I am pleased to bring our collaboration to the next level. We at Aalto University are committed to multidisciplinary collaboration and we have great experiences with student-driven entrepreneurship activities. ESADE’s forward looking approach to business education is a perfect match for us. We both value and seek innovative solutions in the world of higher education, Teeri explains.

– ESADE remains committed to alliances with globally renowned partners as a means of enhancing our growth strategy, explained Dr Bieto. – I think ESADE and Aalto are the best possible combination for entrepreneurs who are passionate about innovation as a means of generating new business opportunities. According to Dr Bieto, the joint programmes and projects of ESADE and Aalto “are perfectly adapted to today’s environments”, in which technology and the digital revolution “are leading continual innovation processes in the business world”.

ESADE and Aalto University have launched several highly attractive training programmes rooted in their shared commitment to innovation. One example is the Internship Innovation Programme (I2P), in which multidisciplinary teams of ESADE and Aalto students propose innovative solutions to real-life problems faced by Spanish and Finnish companies. The first editions of I2P have featured the participation of nearly 100 ESADE and Aalto students as well as organisations such as HP, Repsol, BBVA, Planeta, Kekkilä and the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication.

Under the new alliance, ESADE and Aalto University will be launching the Double Master Degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a two-year programme held in Barcelona and Helsinki that leads to degrees from both the Aalto Programme International Design Business Management and ESADE Programme Master in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

In addition to these new launches, ESADE and Aalto University Executive Education will continue their successful Design Thinking for Business Innovation, a joint programme that will train executives in a cutting-edge management method for innovation in the marketplace.