How can Migrant Entrepreneurship Education Contribute to the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? The Experience of the Fresh Start Programme

This article considers the implications of migrant entrepreneurship education (MEEd) for sustainability and for the work of global adult educators. It will present some insights into the opportunities and challenges created by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the experience of running the Fresh Start MEEd programme. This programme, funded by the European Union (EU) in 2017-2019, brought together teams from three countries - the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK), and Belgium and involved three universities: Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Maastricht), London South Bank University (LSBU); and University College Leuven Limburg (UCLL) in the province of Limburg, Belgium. The team found that there is no ‘one size fits all’ as each context and each community have differing starting points and needs. Central to this is an approach which is learner-centred, which enables participants’ voices to be heard, and supports the co-creation of the programme. Education and learning are always a two-way process and migration offers us all a chance to learn from each other and to appreciate the rich resource of ideas and skills which migrants have to offer to communities.

The first section of the article provides an overview of the implications of migration for sustainability and its relationship to delivery of the SDGs. Section two examines the Fresh Start migrant entrepreneurship programme as a model for working with adult refugees and migrants. It presents some of the opportunities and challenges for educators created by the SDGs. Section three provides illustrations from the work of the Fresh Start migrant entrepreneurship programme and section four considers some implications and ways forward.