Entrepreneurship Education Meets FabLab: Lessons Learned with Teenagers

Digital fabrication, making and entrepreneurship education all have potential to empower children and increase their abilities to participate and shape the society and digitalization within, and act as active “protagonists” instead of passive consumers. While the potential of these educational trends has been acknowledged, they have mostly been studied separately and without specific focus on challenges involved. We have conducted a business innovation project with teenagers at school, combining elements of digital fabrication, making and entrepreneurship education. Our qualitative, data-driven analysis focused on the process and the challenges involved in the endeavor. As a result, we generate a list of lessons learned associated with teenagers adopting the role of a protagonist, driving business innovation. Our main findings relate to the lessons learned on the importance of balancing the making activities with the entrepreneurial aspects and negotiating the roles and responsibilities between the adult participants.