Entrepreneurship Lecturers from the UNWE Contributed to the Training of Students from the Leading Non-Governmental Higher Education Institution in Entrepreneurship Education in Ahmedabad, India – LJ University

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kostadin Kolarov and Chief Assist. Dr. Silviya Georgieva were invited by the LJ University in Ahmedabad, India, to deliver a series of lectures to students from the Integrated Bachelor`s and Master`s Programme and the Entrepreneurship and Family Business Programme in the period 15-25 January 2024.

The lectures were organized in parallel streams with the main emphasis on the global entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial opportunities in Bulgaria and Europe, social entrepreneurship in its national specifics, so that the two lecturers had the opportunity to introduce the maximum number of students to the latest in current entrepreneurial topics.

From the left to the right: Mrs. Urja Joshi, Dr. Viral Shah, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kostadin Kolarov, Chief Assist. Dr. Silviya Georgieva

Their work at the university was preceded by an official meeting with Dr. Viral Shah - founder and Director of the Antrepreneur Business Incubator at LJ University.

Assoc. Prof. Kolarov and Dr. Georgieva were among the specially invited guests of the first National Startup Day organized in India on the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 January 2024. The event at the university was attended by nearly three hundred representatives of the city's startup ecosystem – budding and experienced entrepreneurs, investors, bankers, consultants, researchers and entrepreneurship educators.

At the invitation of the honorary Vice-Chancellor of the university Prof. Dr. Dinesh Awasthi /a position equivalent to a rector/, the two Bulgarian lecturers had the opportunity to meet and hold talks with him twice.

During the first meeting, he shared some of his experience in developing entrepreneurship education and training not only in Ahmedabad, but in 15 other economically important cities in India and over 50 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, including the establishment of centres for entrepreneurship education. Until 2015 Dr. Awasthi was the Director of the Indian Institute for Entrepreneurship Development, Ahmedabad – India's most prestigious institution in the field of entrepreneurship.

Among the results achieved by the participation of Assoc. Prof. Kolarov and Dr. Georgieva in the faculty exchange programme of the LJ University is the preparation for signing an agreement for participation in a project proposal under the Erasmus+ Programme, finalizing the organization of a summer school for the students of the Indian University at the UNWE this year, organizing two joint webinars on women and youth entrepreneurship and their social dimensions, preparing joint publications in the field of entrepreneurship, which will be proposed for publication in indexed journals.

The lecturers from the UNWE were welcomed and accompanied throughout their stay by the Head of the Department of International Affairs Mrs. Urja Joshi and the help of the local entrepreneurship professors was of great importance for the smooth running of the teaching work.