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UK Innovation Districts Group: Developing youth entrepreneurial skills for the innovation economy

This study explores how supporting youth entrepreneurial skills can fuel prosperity and growth through the UK innovation economy.

This national entrepreneurial skills study, focusing on 16-25-year-olds, was funded by Innovate UK and commissioned by UK Innovation District Group (UK IDG) and Connected Places Catapult.

The study was commissioned in response to a decline in the UK’s entrepreneurial activity in the last 3 recorded years. Urban Foresight were appointed to lead this study on behalf of the UK IDG and Connected Places Catapult.

The research includes a review of the UK’s current entrepreneurial skills landscape. Areas covered by this research include:

  • Understanding which factors contribute to comparatively low entrepreneurial activity and start up rates within this 16-25 age group, with a special emphasis on underrepresented groups.
  • Assessing what provisions currently exist to develop entrepreneurial skills amongst young people, identifying gaps and creating opportunities for improvement.
  • Understanding the role of Innovation Districts as hubs of innovation in overcoming regional and demographic variations when seeking to create more impactful and inclusive skills development initiatives for young people.
  • Identifying entrepreneurial skills needed to support enterprises with high growth potential aligned to the sector strengths of Innovation Districts, and examining models of provision for these skills.
  • The insights and findings of this research have guided the development of recommendations, and a youth entrepreneurial skills pilot development framework, that can be further developed and put into practice by Innovation Districts and regional place leaders

UK Innovation Districts Group Entrepreneurial Skills Report

File type: pdf

File size: 176.15Mb

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