Economic Activation Office and CoP Coordinators Workshop
Exclusive for the EDHE Economic Activation Officers, their relevant supporting university executive to whom they report to, the EDHE Student Entrepreneurship Coordinators, and EAO partners.
We further invite you to the launch of
The Anthology on Innovative Pedagogies for Entrepreneurship Education
Wednesday evening 25 March, 18:00 – 19:30
The Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) Programme is proud to host its annual Community of Practice Chairpersons (CoP) and Economic Activation Office (EAO) Workshop on 25 – 27 March. This will be accompanied by the launch of the EDHE 2025 Impact Report and Anthology Launch event on the 25th. Marking the beginning of a new year with reflection on some of the successes of 2025 and celebrating our community for their accomplishments. This event also sets the tone of an impactful year ahead as we continue to drive entrepreneurship development across South Africa’s 26 public universities.
The year’s three-day programme will feature reflective discussion, sharing of best-practice and learnings, strategic engagements and networking within the community. Day 1 will focus on the CoPs with a EDHE CoP Chairpersons workshop, followed by the launch of the impact report and anthology that evening. Day 2 and 3 will boast a combined workshop for those spearheading entrepreneurial activities on their campuses, with dedicated session focused on EDHE Economic Activation Offices and Student Entrepreneurship Coordinators.
Additionally, the event will serve as the official launch for the Anthology on Innovative Pedagogies for Entrepreneurship Education, published in Springer.
- Wednesday, 25 March 2026, 10:00 – 17:00: EDHE CoP Chairpersons Workshop
- Wednesday, 25 March 2026, 18:00 – 20:00: Launch of Anthology
- Thursday, 26 March 2026, 08:00 – 17:00: EAO & Student Entrepreneurship Coordinators Workshop
- Friday, 26 March 2026, 08:00 – 14:00: EAO & Student Entrepreneurship Coordinators Workshop
The Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) Programme, established in 2016 and supported through the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP), continues to strengthen entrepreneurship development across South Africa’s 26 public universities under the auspices of Universities South Africa (USAf).
EDHE’s mandate is to capacitate and strengthen entrepreneurship development in the higher education sector through staff development, student development, curriculum and policy development as a response to graduate unemployment as articulated in the National Plan for Post-School Education and Training 2021-2030. The EDHE programme, which connects entrepreneurship entities, champions, and advocates across South Africa’s 26 universities, aims to support student entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship development through teaching, learning and research, and entrepreneurial universities. The EDHE programme is largely facilitated through two key structures, Economic Activation Offices (EAOs) and National Communities of Practice (CoPs).
1.1 Economic Activation Offices
The EAOs are aimed at being a centralised hub for addressing challenges and identifying opportunities related to entrepreneurship and innovation within each institution. By fostering collaboration and support, the EAOs will bridge the gap between EDHE and universities, contributing to entrepreneurship and innovation. Convening the EDHE EAO is necessary to review performance and challenges, share best practice, review reporting and share the next step in the vision for the EAO and ensure all structures are operating effectively and intervening where assistance is needed. Since the introduction of the EAOs, significant progress has been made in:
- Successful establishment of EAOs at all 26 universities through cohort 1 and 2
- Strengthening internal alignment
- Advancing ecosystem thinking
- Developing the EAO Guidebook framework
- Establishing an EAO CoP and recently supporting the establishment of institutional CoPs
1.2 National Communities of Practice
The CoPs continue to exist within the membership structure where members are requested to make a single commitment to a CoP they would like to participate in and within the relevant CoP participate in:
- Sharing relevant knowledge, resources, and best practices.
- Facilitating the transfer of practical skills.
- Influencing policy and shaping strategic direction.
- Supporting and promoting national EDHE projects at the regional and local levels.
- Defining success indicators for EDHE to measure impact and progress.
The CoP Chairs serve three-year terms and in March 2026 CoP elections were held for a new Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson for the CoP EAO, CoP Entrepreneurship Research and the newly launched CoP for Cultural Entrepreneurship. It is therefore critical to convene all CoP chairs through this workshop to share vision, structure and frameworks, as well as leverage the knowledge of the room in sharing insights and best practice.
1.3 Student Entrepreneurship Coordinators
Coordinators are the are a critical artery to the functioning of the EDHE programme, these are individuals who may serve within an EAO or one of the CoPs and are responsible for coordinating all EDHE student activities at their various campuses, including facilitating participation in the annual Entrepreneurship Intervarsity Competition, supporting students in new competitions such as the 2025 EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge or the 2026 Mr Price Foundation x EDHE Waste Innovation Challenge. In addition, they arrange events around Student Entrepreneurship Week and coordinate students’ travel to the Indaba, EDHE Finals and Awards. In some cases, they also facilitate the establishment and running of the Student Women Economic Empowerment (SWEEP) Chapter. As such, convening the EDHE coordinators is crucial to align on the EDHE activities for the year, provide updates to student requirements and reporting.
The previous workshops hosted 2023 – 2025 focused on; establishing EAOs and a request to create a guidebook for the establishing and running of an EAO, which was published in 2025 and included insights and case studies from the EDHE community. Aligning ecosystems, activating entrepreneurial universities and strengthening coordination frameworks are core to the success of the EDHE programme and its structures and thus form the focus of workshops and engagements throughout the year. 2026 marks a strategic shift, where we have matured from conceptualisation and structural alignment and the focus now moves decisively toward:
- Institutional implementation
- Embedding entrepreneurship into university systems
- Translating policy into operational delivery
- Measuring institutional and societal impact
The following image provides a visual overview of the EDHE programme, its structures, stakeholders and activities.
Each year EDHE focuses on a theme to guide its activities and engagements for strategic alignment, partnership and participation. The theme for 2026 is “Entrepreneurship in Action: From Vision to Implementation. From Policy to Impact”, which reflects a sector-wide transition from:
- Strategy development to Implementation discipline
- Framework design to Operational execution
- Ecosystem mapping to Ecosystem performance
- Institutional buy-in to Institutional accountability
- Activity reporting to Impact measurement
In the context of this theme and through its positioning to catapult EDHE structures forward, the EAOs and CoPs are no longer emerging structures, but are firmly rooted as pillars for growth and cohesion and as such expected to demonstrate:
- Tangible student and graduate economic participation
- Institutional culture shifts
- Stronger industry and government partnerships
- Measurable ecosystem outcomes
- Contribution to university sustainability
This workshop will challenge universities to move beyond intention toward demonstrable results.
In supporting the structures and coordinators through the various activities and deliverables, as well as lay the foundation for the next phase, the 2026 workshop aims to:
3.1. Institutional Implementation
- Translate EAO and CoP strategies into implementable action plans for 2026 – 2027.
- Align entrepreneurship KPIs with institutional performance frameworks.
- Identify and understand gaps where EDHE can provide additional support.
3.2. Support Structures to shift from Policy to Practice
- Examine how university entrepreneurship policies are operationalised.
- Identify barriers to implementation and practical solutions.
- Gather input for university-wide memorandum of agreement.
3.3. Introduce a Framework for Measuring Impact
- Refine EAO performance indicators and align with EAO office internal metrics.
- Determine and align key elements for reporting and invite inputs for a suitable framework.
- Invite feedback from those who have utilised the SWEEP M&E Framework, invite feedback on current EAO reporting template and gain input towards developing a standardised impact dashboard template.
3.4. Strengthening Accountability
- Enhance executive-level engagement and provide suggestions for inter-departmental or faculty engagement.
- Determine what is required to strengthen implementation activities and reporting lines.
- Determine steps and requirements to embed entrepreneurship into university governance systems.
3.5. Foster Sector-wide Collaboration
- Deepen collaboration across EAOs and CoPs.
- Share tested implementation models.
- Identify scalable best practices.
Through facilitated sessions, robust discussions and working sessions, and feedback presentations, at the end of the workshop, participants will have:
- Understanding of EDHE activities for the year
- A 12-month Implementation Roadmap for their EAO/CoP
- Clear institutional impact indicators
- An outline for an Impact Measurement Framework
- A practical policy-to-practice translation toolkit
- Cross-university collaboration commitments
- Identified sector-level priorities for EDHE 2027
Kindly register for the workshop on or before Wednesday the 26th of February. NO late registrations will be accepted. A registration link would have been shared in your personal invitation.
A summary report of the discussions will be shared after the workshop, including any presentations shared by speakers.
Ensure that everyone’s comfort and privacy are respected, we will request consent regarding the use of specific content during the Workshop.
Photography and videography consent
By registering for this even participants grant the organisers permission to capture and use photographs or video recordings of participant. These images may be used for promotional, documentation, and archival purposes related to the event.