Changemaker Market Day 2023
About 300 elementary school students, along with their teachers and 20 business students, transformed the lobby of the University Library into a giant indoor market on 25 May 2023 as part of the Changemaker program.
On 25 May 2023, the second Styrian Changemaker Market Day took place at the University of Graz, which is implemented and organized every summer semester by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Applied Business Administration and the Institute for Business Education at the University of Graz. The market day is the highlight of the Changemaker program in which 15 classes from 12 Styrian elementary schools participated this year.
Entrepreneurship education has been gaining importance at all levels of education for years. Entrepreneurial thinking and acting in everyday life as well as in professional life are central competence facets for meeting the challenges of today. The Changemaker Program, launched by the Start-up Center of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, was brought to Styrian elementary schools as early as 2022. The program focuses on awakening the entrepreneurial spirit and promoting the development of entrepreneurship skills. Students from the University of Graz pass on their knowledge of entrepreneurship and their entrepreneurial mindset to the children.
In several workshops, the children work together with their class teachers and the students on the preparation for the sale on market day. For example, ideas are sought together, a target group analysis is carried out, products are manufactured, advertising for the market stalls is considered and prices are calculated. The self-made products and services are then offered for sale on the big market day in the foyer of the Graz University Library. On market day, students, university staff, parents and interested parties were able to be infected by the children's entrepreneurial spirit.
The children have been working on the project with the students since March. The students are accompanied and coached by business didacticians from the University of Graz, so that the technical content is didactically and pedagogically prepared for the target group of elementary school children and the transfer of knowledge from the university to the elementary school is professionally accompanied. In addition to countless new experiences and new impressions, the students also receive a certificate for their participation in the program at the end of the program.
Susanne Kamsker, co-organizer and lecturer at the Institute for Business Education, says about this year's program: "It is simply unbelievable what elementary school children bring with them in terms of prior experience and knowledge about entrepreneurship and how the students pick up on this in the workshops. Working with the children is not only fun, but also a huge benefit for our students, who can broaden their often narrowed view of business through the work with young entrepreneurs. I believe the Changemaker Market Day 2023 was also a great success. Just look at the shining children's eyes - you can see the entrepreneurial fire blazing."
Related Links
Institute for Business Education
Center for Entrepreneurship and Applied Business Administration
