Entrepreneurship & Peer Learning: A catalyst for self-determination in the third millennium

Let's set out to shape our (own) future

The omnipresent structural crises reinforce the feeling of being powerless and at the mercy of our own future – the external locus of control is growing into a false giant, while our free will to actively shape our own lives is in danger of withering away. But this is precisely where the potential for a decisive turning point lies. More and more people are asking themselves: How can I regain control, shape my own future, forge my own happiness and experience true self-efficacy?

This is exactly where the Entrepreneurship Peer Learning Campus comes in. More than an educational programme, it is a platform that empowers people to design their own future, understand entrepreneurship as a philosophy of life and experience learning as a self-determined, intrinsically motivated process.

While traditional education systems often focus on the mere transfer of knowledge and rigid curricula, the Entrepreneurship Campus takes a disruptive approach: 100% learner-centred, holistically oriented towards mindset and practice, and fully designed for social learning processes.

Learning to be free: peer learning as liberation from old structures

As I explained in my 2020 article ‘Learning to be free’, education is not simply a consumer good that is passively absorbed – it is a process of actively engaging with the world. This is exactly where the Peer Learning Campus comes in:

• Self-organisation instead of guidelines – Participants develop their own projects in the learning projects and actively shape their entrepreneurial path in line with their goals and values.
• Curiosity as a driver – Instead of extrinsic rewards (grades, degrees), education and training only work with intrinsic motivation. This is a huge opportunity for a healthy learning culture – but also a major challenge for participants, as they have to unlearn the established timetable-based learning system.
• Peer learning instead of frontal teaching – knowledge is gained through exchange and working together on real challenges.
• Mistakes as learning opportunities – failure is not sanctioned, but understood as an essential part of the entrepreneurial process.

Why is this revolutionary?

Because it develops exactly the skills that people need today: initiative, problem-solving skills and resilience.

Entrepreneurship as a philosophy of life

The classic concept of entrepreneurship is often reduced to economic start-ups. And in any case, in the collective imagination, an entrepreneur is more of an alpha animal that has fallen out of time. But entrepreneurship is much, much more:

• A creative, optimistic attitude towards life – those who think entrepreneurially see opportunities instead of obstacles.
• A tool for experiencing self-efficacy – entrepreneurship gives people the opportunity to turn their own ideas into reality.
• A sustainable approach to social change – the greatest challenges of our time require innovative, creative solutions. The ventures we undertake should be consistent with who we are as individuals, but also consistent with the market and consistent with nature (see Faltin's Entrepreneurial Design)!

The Entrepreneurship Campus teaches precisely this perspective: don't wait, take action.

Disruptive pedagogy: social and constructivist learning

The Peer Learning Community has precisely this radically learner-centred pedagogy, which goes far beyond traditional educational formats.

• Social learning & constructivism: Knowledge is not ‘taught’ but emerges through social interactions and exchanges with others.
• Project-based learning: Theories are not memorised but tested and applied directly in real projects.
• The internet as a global university: Early idealists saw the internet as a platform for global knowledge exchange. The Entrepreneurship Campus realises this potential.

This form of learning is not only more effective – it is necessary in order to keep pace with the rapid changes in the world. We look forward to welcoming every new learner – register here.

Professors can use peer learning free of charge to offer ECTS training at their universities. Please contact peerlearning@entrepreneurship.de

The Entrepreneurship Campus as a manifesto for a new view of humanity

What really sets the Entrepreneurship Peer Learning Campus apart is its humanistic foundation. In a world where many education systems treat people as passive recipients of knowledge, the Entrepreneurship Peer Learning Campus formulates a different view of humanity. I firmly believe that we need to move away from utilitarian, industrial views of humanity (such as Taylorism) and return to humanism:

• People are creative problem solvers – every person has potential that can be developed.
• Community is the key to growth – innovation and progress arise from interaction with others.
• Education is a lifelong process – learning does not end with a degree, but is a continuous evolution.

The Entrepreneurship Campus is therefore more than just an educational programme – it is a movement towards a new way of learning, living and shaping the future.

Conclusion: The Entrepreneurship Peer Learning Campus as a breeding ground for successful lives and a problem-solving machine for the future

In a world full of uncertainties and challenges, two things are needed: people who shape their own lives and communities that develop collective, solidarity-based solutions to the major issues of our time. The Entrepreneurship Peer Learning Campus combines precisely these two dimensions and creates a space where individual self-realisation and collaborative learning merge.

It is about the art of living, about food for thought and tools that encourage students to see themselves as the architects of their own lives. It is about learning freedom; breaking free from external dependencies, following one's own curiosity and acquiring new skills through intrinsic motivation – it is about learning to learn – not only for entrepreneurship, but as a general attitude towards life and a skill for the future.

But it is also about collective intelligence and collaborative problem solving. The campus is more than a personality development platform (or even a self-help group): it is a social learning space where people network their skills, learn from each other, learn to cooperate and work together to develop solutions to social challenges. Through peer learning and collaborative innovation projects, the internet is finally becoming the university of the global village, as the early digital idealists (think John Perry Barlow, Howard Rheingold or Vint Cerf) dreamed it would be.

And, of course, the Entrepreneurship Campus itself is an enterprise that only works if we grow as a community and attract new learners, new players and new entrepreneurs with a wide range of skills and goals to get involved and contribute. YOU are very welcome! Forge your own successful life, get involved in our learning and action platform and actively shape your future and ours.

Click here to register and visit the website

Guest article: Max Senges