An organisation designed to encourage entrepreneurship in Scottish education – which is co-led by Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) – has been credited with nurturing the next generation of enterprising students during a visit from the Deputy First Minister.
Held at the University of the Highlands and Islands campus in Inverness, the Scottish Entrepreneurial Educators Network (SEEN) event brought together principals, vice-principals, academics and practitioners to explore how institutions can better equip students with the skills, mindset and confidence to turn ideas into real-world impact.
Representatives from Interface, Converge and Highlands and Islands Enterprise were also in attendance on Monday 23 March, highlighting the importance of collaboration across Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Throughout the day, delegates explored how entrepreneurial thinking can be embedded across teaching, research and external engagement, ensuring students in all disciplines develop the creativity, resilience and initiative needed to respond to real-world challenges.
Opening the event, Kate Forbes MSP said:
“This is my last engagement as Deputy First Minister, and there is something extremely fitting about it being here with students, with educators, and with the future.
“When we look at Scotland’s future, whether addressing major societal challenges or driving economic growth, it all comes down to entrepreneurship. It is about how we support the next generation to take their ideas and translate them into real-world impact.
“What is particularly powerful about the work happening across our colleges and universities is that entrepreneurship is not treated as a niche activity, but as a mindset embedded across disciplines. By equipping students to be problem solvers, we are helping shape Scotland’s future.”
Entrepreneurship at Edinburgh Napier University
Edinburgh Napier University co-leads SEEN as part of its commitment to delivering Scotland’s Entrepreneurial Campus Blueprint, building on its leadership in enterprise education through Bright Red Triangle and strong sector partnerships.
Through SEEN, ENU aims to connect activity, share effective practice and drive a more coordinated national approach to developing entrepreneurial capability across Scotland’s tertiary education system.
Monday’s event was organised by ENU’s Head of Enterprise, Nick Fannin, alongside UHI Knowledge Exchange, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Manager Darlene Russell, and Alison Price from Enterprise Evolution, with support from the SEEN steering committee representing the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Robert Gordon University and South Lanarkshire College.
As part of the gathering, a magazine profiling case studies of enterprise education across Scotland was published. It was developed for ENU’s Magazine Challenge by an interdisciplinary team of students across publishing, journalism, design, and communications.
Working to a live brief, students collaborated to research, design, and produce a professional magazine in just one week, gaining hands-on experience of the creative industries.
Following the event, Nick Fannin said:
“The Scottish Entrepreneurial Educators Network matters because it helps turn individual institutional efforts into a collective national movement.
“By working together, we can ensure that entrepreneurial thinking is embedded across all disciplines, giving our students the skills and confidence to create real-world impact.
“There are over 600,000 students across Scotland’s colleges and universities, and the one experience they all share is the curriculum.
“If we can embed entrepreneurial skills into every taught programme, we have a powerful opportunity to better prepare our future talent to make a meaningful impact, whatever career pathway they choose.”
Find out more about SEEN