We spoke with Aitor San Vicente, current coordinator of the centre’s Entrepreneurship Area

This academic year, Somorrostro’s Entrepreneurship Department is welcoming a new leader with the arrival of Aitor San Vicente as its new coordinator. We spoke with him about how this strategic department is organised to support our students’ professional future and what initiatives are underway to continue fostering creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit throughout the school.

Aitor explains that the work in this area is divided into five main blocks, all of which are led by teaching staff and coordinated with external agents who support the students’ training. This solid structure allows us to offer a comprehensive programme, from raising awareness to providing support in the actual creation of businesses.

1. Entrepreneurship competitions: learning by competing and creating

The first section groups together the main entrepreneurship competitions in which our students participate:
Enpresari (DEMA), Ikasenpresa and Provider (Tknika), Startinnova (El Correo) and other competitions related to entrepreneurship.

These projects are closely linked to the new cross-curricular vocational training module, ‘Personal pathway to employability’, and are therefore aimed primarily at students in the second year of intermediate and advanced vocational training.

This year has seen several important developments:

• Ikasenpresa: ALL vocational training students at the centre participate.
• Enpresari: GA2, AF3 and MP3 groups participate, and this is also the first year that intermediate vocational training students are competing in this programme.
• Startinnova: until now, only DFM3 participated, but this year the project is also open to QSA3, MP3, ASI3, DAM3 and PR3, expanding the scope to more professional families.
• Provider (Tknika): although we will not be participating in the competition this year, we will be taking part in the awareness workshops. Five sessions will be held at the BIC Bizkaia in Zamudio with groups from DFM3, IA4, ER3 and AR3. ‘We hope that the experience will motivate students and teachers so that next year we can participate in the competition, with technological ideas and models already prepared,’ says Aitor.

2. Awareness: fostering interest in entrepreneurship

The second block focuses on raising awareness, i.e., all activities that bring students closer to entrepreneurship through real and motivating experiences.

Including:

• DEMA workshops at the centre itself, where a technician and an entrepreneur share their experience with students.
• The Ikasenpresa meeting at the BEC, a space for exchange between hundreds of young entrepreneurs.
• The Provider conferences, focused on technological entrepreneurship.
• Talks by Worklan and Economists Without Borders, addressing topics such as ethical finance, responsible consumption and the circular economy.
• And, as a major new feature last year, the first Somorrostro Entrepreneurship Fair, which Aitor highlights as ‘an absolute success, both in terms of the participation of collaborating entities and the involvement of the students’.

3. Urrats Bat: supporting those who want to start their own business

The third block is Urrats Bat, the Basque Government programme that offers comprehensive advice, technical support and a fully equipped space for those who want to turn their idea into a real business.

Somorrostro has its own programme facilitator: Aitor San Vicente, who accompanies students and alumni throughout the process of designing, launching and consolidating their business project.

4. The Entrepreneur’s Office: a space to grow together

The fourth block is an exciting project for the centre: the Entrepreneur’s Office.

The centre is working on creating a co-working space for former students who want to start their own businesses and need a place to share ideas, receive advice, collaborate and move forward with their initiatives. ‘We want Somorrostro to continue to be their home, even when they decide to start their own projects,’ says Aitor.

5. Bilbao Advanced Services: connection with the economic ecosystem

The fifth block is strategic in nature: the centre’s participation in the new collaborative space ‘Bilbao Servicios Avanzados’ (Bilbao Advanced Services), promoted by Bilbao City Council through Bilbao Ekintza.

The project was presented on 13 June at the Ensanche Building, and our director, Javier Laiseca, attended on behalf of Somorrostro.

This forum brings together companies, educational institutions and economic agents with the aim of working together on challenges such as digital transformation, talent, sustainability and the city’s competitiveness.

‘Being part of this space is a tremendous opportunity for the centre to contribute its educational vision and strengthen the connection between training, employment and innovation,’ Aitor points out. This reinforces our commitment to the economic and social development of the surrounding area, and students benefit from a more connected and dynamic ecosystem.

Looking to the future

The Entrepreneurship Area continues to grow, diversifying projects and expanding opportunities. ‘Our goal is clear: that any student who has an idea, a concern or a passion will find the resources to develop it at Somorrostro,’ says Aitor San Vicente.

With the involvement of teaching staff, the support of collaborating institutions and the motivation of students, Somorrostro continues to position itself as a leading centre for educational innovation and support for entrepreneurial talent.