ERENET is an open-ended research and development network aiming at carrying out research on entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...

 and developing entrepreneurial curricula

Curriculum

See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...

 and teaching materials among the Central- and Eastern European high-schools and academic universities. The network is based on a partnership relation among its members.

History

ERENET was established in 2005 at the initiative of Péter Szirmai, among others, following the suggestion of the Expert Meeting on "Good Governance for SMEs" organized in April 2004 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe was established in 1947 to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative direction of United Nations headquarters. It has 56 member states, and reports to the UN Economic and...

. The network is moderated by Antal Szabó. Currently, ERENET has 170 academic members from 41 countries.

Aims of ERENET and its main fields of activities

In order to realise its objectives, the network has undertaken the following actions:

• Creation of an international network of higher education on teaching and investigating entrepreneurship
• Providing exchange of information, making each other acquainted with their curriculum and research
• Elaboration and implementation of common research projects
• Collect best practices on entrepreneurial education, elaborate new syllabus and curriculum on entrepreneurship
• Provide policy advise in the field of national entrepreneurship and SME policies, especially in such regions as Central and Eastern Europe, Black Sea Economic Cooperation, and South-Eastern Europe
• Organising conferences, workshops, seminars in the field of entrepreneurship and SME-development issues, e.g. for the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
  Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
  On 25 June 1992, the Heads of State and Government of eleven countries signed in Istanbul the Summit Declaration and the Bosporus Statement giving birth to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation ...
  
   in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation
  Konrad Adenauer Foundation
  The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a German political party foundation associated with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union . The foundation's headquarters are located in Saint Augustine and Berlin. Globally, the KAS has 78 offices and runs programs in over 100 countries...
  
  , in cooperation with European Council of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB), etc.
• Promotion of exchange of their professors, researchers, and possibly students
• Develop an Internet-based quarterly publication called ERENET Profile

Legal status

According to international practice, ERENET is an international unregistered non-profit non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

. Members participate in specific projects, support each other's events, and contribute with their scientific research results and publications to common intellectual capital. The coordination of the international network is undertaken by the Hungarian membership organisation. The managing agent (called Permanent Secretariat) is the Small Business Development Centre at the Corvinus University of Budapest

Corvinus University of Budapest

The Corvinus University of Budapest is one of the most prestigious Hungarian universities located in Budapest, Hungary. The university offers degrees in multiple disciplines, but it is characterised by its programmes in economics and management. -History:...

. The network is moderated and the activities are organized by the Scientific Director of the ERENET. In 2009, the Institut Ekonomskih Nauka (Institute for Economic Sciences, Belgrade) became the ERENET South-Eastern Secretariat. The Plenary Organization is the Annual Meeting. ERENET has an Executive Board which consists of the members of the International Board of the periodical ERENET Profile. There is no membership fee in the network. The free of charge membership significantly contributed that members from the CIS and SEE countries could join ERENET.

Further reading

• Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Caucasian Countries in Transition. UNECE, Geneva, 2006 by Antal Szabó.
• Strategies for the Development of Entrepreneurship and the SME Sector in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Region. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Istanbul, November 2007.
• Comparative Study on Entrepreneurship Education. National Case Studies. By Zsuzsanna Katalin Szabó and Antal Szabó, Kosice (Slovakia), 2009.