The HEInnovate Country Review of Poland and case studies are now available to download from the HEInnovate website at heinnovate.eu/en/resources. The report on Supporting Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Higher Education in Poland was launched in Warsaw on 26 October 2017 by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the European Commission and the OECD.



The report presents evidence-based analysis on Poland’s higher education transformation process towards an innovative, interconnected and multidisciplinary entrepreneurial system, designed to empower its students and staff to demonstrate enterprise, innovation and creativity in teaching, research and societal engagement. 



It found that many Higher Education Institutions in Poland have included entrepreneurship and innovation as one of the pillars of their development strategies. HEIs have been expanding their offer of entrepreneurship education and supporting the creation of innovation centres also thanks to the use of the Structural Funds from the European Union. 



The report recommends the Polish government to do more about spreading good practices in entrepreneurship education, strengthening linkages between higher education and the business community, and providing more incentives for academic staff to become engaged in entrepreneurship activities.



Among its recommendations, the report says that Poland should:

• Build a resource base for entrepreneurship education and training, including platforms for good practice exchange and networks of entrepreneurship professors and entrepreneurs who can contribute to entrepreneurial learning;
• Increase the legitimacy of entrepreneurship as an academic field by funding research and organising Polish entrepreneurship conferences and exchange platforms to encourage academic staff to engage in the entrepreneurial agenda;
• Encourage the newly established Innovation Council to work with higher education institutions to define an entrepreneurial vision for the Polish higher education system and to oversee its implementation.

The free, online HEInnovate Tool, supports higher education institutions to organise strategic discussions and debate around entrepreneurship and innovation. A wide range of stakeholders can be easily involved from within the higher education institution (leadership, staff, students, academic and administrative staff) and the local economy. Easy-to-read graphs show where stakeholders agree or disagree and provide a basis for strategic discussions and debate in board meetings, the senate or public events. The online tool is available in 24 languages; it is currently used by more than 800 HEIs around the world.