Changemaker: When children become entrepreneurs
28.05.2024
Ten students from different degree programs at the FHV - Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences got involved in the "Changemaker Program". They spent a semester working with around 40 children from the Haselstauden elementary school and successfully held the Changemaker Market Day on Dornbirn's market square.
"The children were really active and creative. They looked at which products are exciting on the market, how they sell them and even held sales talks. Finally, they also thought about what they would do with the profits," says Magdalena Meusburger, lecturer in Entrepreneurship and lecturer on the Changemaker Program at the FHV.
Children as superheroes
The children listened to stories of successful entrepreneurs. "I learned that children can also be superheroes. An eleven-year-old boy put a lemonade with a tube on the windowsill in winter. The lemonade was frozen the next day. As an adult, he used this idea to invent ice cream on a stick," explains a participating primary school pupil. Helena Hosp is one of the students at the FHV who has accompanied the primary school pupils over the past few months: "It was exciting. For example, the children understood the concepts of costs and income straight away because we taught them in a playful way," she explains.
"We want to create an early awareness of entrepreneurial thinking, as this is an important skill for the future. The Changemaker students are actively helping to inspire children to play an entrepreneurial role in shaping our society. I am very proud of this commitment and the responsible and creative implementation of our students," summarizes Magdalena Meusburger.
Austria-wide initiative
The Changemaker Program was developed in 2017 by the Start-up Center of the Vienna University of Economics and Business. More than 2,500 primary school children across Austria have already been introduced to the topic of entrepreneurship by around 420 students. More information about the program can be found here.
