Two entrepreneurial skills activities organised for February, will be the first events delivered as part of the new Campus Catalyst project, and an appeal has gone out for those interested to sign up now.
The ‘Turn your ideas into real solutions’ event: a three-day bootcamp delivered in partnership with Codebase’ and the ‘Demystifying Funding Applications’: a one-day hackathon style event that includes an option to submit a live funding application by the end of the day, are looking for college students and school partnership pupils to sign up as soon as they can to fill the 25 slots on each course.
Steven Ramage, who alongside Jamie Campbell are FVC’s Project Managers for Campus Catalyst said: “These workshops, along with the other activities we are rolling out, are designed to challenge mindsets, broaden horizons, and demonstrate that entrepreneurial skills are relevant to all of our learners at all levels, even if more traditional outputs such as business plans and product pitches might not be on their radar for months or even years.’
Campus Catalyst - is Forth Valley College's ambitious approach to entrepreneurial futures – has been launched and is set to lead the way in entrepreneurial skills teaching and learning across the region.
The new project, which has recently been awarded £77,348 from the Scottish Government’s Entrepreneurial Education Fund, is led by FVC in collaboration with regional partners including Stirling Council, STEP, Code Base, Connect ED network and the University of Stirling. It runs alongside a host of other entrepreneurial activity at the college including the Meta-preneur project being led by FVC’s Entrepreneur in Residence, Kirsty Thomson-Gillespie.
It will develop and pilot a programme of entrepreneurial skills development in 2026, focused primarily towards FVC learners and staff, that includes colleagues and pupils from their existing 18 school partners, championing the importance of promoting an entrepreneurial mindset across the curriculum.
Steven, added: “We are working to implement the Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint at FE level, which is a key government action as part of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, and ensure our learners are prepared for helping establish Scotland as a world-class entrepreneurial nation.
“The Blueprint report was presented by Professor Joe Little and Professor Ross Tuffee, and we are thrilled to confirm that Professor Tuffee will be the keynote speaker at another of our project outputs, an Entrepreneurial Skills Conference organised by FVC at the Falkirk campus on Tuesday 24 March. Full details of this, and our other activities, will be shared in due course but please don't hesitate to get in touch with Jamie or myself with any questions, and feel free to share the information below amongst your teams and classes.”
For more info visit: https://www.forthvalley.ac.uk/news/entrepreneurial-skills-boost-through-campus-catalyst
9-11 February, 10am-2pm (lunch provided). Falkirk Campus:
Turn your ideas into real solutions: a three-day entrepreneurial bootcamp delivered in partnership with Codebase.
The CodeBase Ideation Bootcamp is a three-day, hands-on experience where you’ll learn how ideas become real products and services.
Instead of focusing on business plans or pitching, this bootcamp is all about doing. You’ll work on real-world problems, explore creative solutions, and test your ideas quickly using simple tools and teamwork.
You don’t need any previous business or tech experience, and you can be studying any college subject either directly or through one of our school partnerships. If you’re curious, creative, or enjoy problem-solving, this bootcamp is for you.
More details and link to register here: https://moodle.forthvalley.ac.uk/moodle/course/view.php?id=5984&expand
12 February, 10am-2pm (lunch provided):
Demystifying Funding Applications: a one-day entrepreneurial hackathon style workshop
This event will take learners on the journey from concept to funding bid, either as a hypothetical 'what if?', or as a real-life sprint to support applications to the Converge College Creators Fund (https://www.convergechallenge.com/college-creators-fund).
More details and link to register here: https://moodle.forthvalley.ac.uk/moodle/course/view.php?id=5984&expand
Anyone looking for more information can contact Steven and Jamie on steven.ramage@forthvalley.ac.uk or jamie.campbell@forthvalley.ac.uk
