A Rhizomatic Process in Education: Open Innovation and Cooperation Beyond Boundaries

The growing vulnerability of SMEs and the worrying reluctance of the younger generation to become protagonists of new entrepreneurial ventures highlight the weakness of conventional approaches to entrepreneurship education, which are unable to guide and engage future entrepreneurs and emerging forms of SMEs towards larger international dimensions. We combine a Deleuzian rhizomatic perspective with an open innovation approach to propose a critical way of reinterpreting the entrepreneurship education and assess the implications for learning. To exemplify the potential for learning, we draw on an illustrative case of a post-graduate entrepreneurship program in Italy. The program promotes the creation of collective knowledge to revive the business dynamism of an Italian region. Its five learning “ingredients” include multidisciplinary content, open team projects, a rhizomatic learning process, dedicated learning places and a fun climate. The final discussion offers stimuli on the role of academia as a vital player in the education system to foster social and economic development, and to facilitate and promote collective learning processes among different actors.