Students are often encouraged these days to think more seriously about entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship advances innovation, results in job creation for others and helps students engage creatively beyond their specific fields of study to meet new needs and solve persistent problems. Higher education generally – and international education, specifically – has a role to play in fostering entrepreneurship, but how exactly do we encourage young people in Europe to engage in entrepreneurial activities and what are the challenges and opportunities that complicate and enrich this work?
In this latest podcast episode, we talked to Fabrizio Bitetto, Chief Executive Officer of the garagErasmus Foundation and a former Erasmus student and young entrepreneur. garagErasmus is the professional network of the Erasmus Generation that aims to support the shaping of a better-integrated, and of course more entrepreneurial, Europe. Their mission is to improve the lives of people who have international study or work experiences by enabling them to access opportunities that can make their careers more impactful within and for Europe.
About Fabrizio Bitetto
Fabrizio Bitetto has been Chief Executive Officer of the garagErasmus Foundation since August 2017. A former Erasmus Student in 2008, he went on to earn a Master's degree in Urban Planning and Policy Design at the Polytechnic University in Milan in 2013. While still a university student, Fabrizio began to undertake some entrepreneurial activities and decided to continue his Erasmus experience by supporting Erasmus students, first at the Polytechnic University in Milan and then as President of Erasmus Student Network Italy. During his term as ESN Italy National President, he coordinated the participation of ESN in EXPO 2015 as Civil Society participants and promoted the approval of a national law to grant Italian Erasmus students abroad the right to vote remotely. He started his adventure with garagErasmus Foundation in 2016.
Further reading
For further insights into the topics touched on in this episode, the following resources may be of interest:
→ garagErasmus
→ Erasmus Skills: unpacking the employability benefits of mobility
→ Education abroad and the student employability gap
→ The employability dimension in joint programmes
→ EAIE 2020 Summer Forum: Employability for the 21st century