The “Education, Entrepreneurship and Cultural Heritage” Initiative: Eleusis 2023 European Capital of Culture

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to underline the importance of our cultural heritage and how potential future teachers can connect education, culture, and the entrepreneurial field. The reason behind this study is the “Education, Entrepreneurship and Cultural Heritage” Initiative of the Teacher Education Program of Athens University of Economics and Business. The research questions refer to the investigation of (1) the impressions and opinions of the Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurship program participants about their experience in the respective program; (2) the business sectors that they had suggested to develop a Cultural Heritage Business as teacher trainees; and (3) the innovative educational methods which they suggest for a respective initiative. For this reason, we conducted interviews with a sample of 45 Teacher Education Program graduates from Athens University of Economics and Business. We used the qualitative type of research. Key findings of our study are the positive assessment of the experience of the “Education, Entrepreneurship and Cultural Heritage” initiative and the plethora of innovative business sectors that could be used to develop the region of Elefsina, a Greek region with a deep culture and history. Finally, we drew some opinions concerning introducing a respective program in high schools. Through this study, we emphasize the importance of Cultural Heritage Entrepreneurship and bring to the forefront future teachers’ positive beliefs about introducing similar initiatives at schools.