Entrepreneurship Education Has Even Made it to the Rain Forest

Entrepreneurship education has even found its way to the rain forest of Costa Rica. This article from the Chronicle of Higher Education examines Earth Universtiy, a program that integrates entrepreneurship and conservation.
“For decades environmentalists have warned that destructive farming techniques and cattle ranching were destroying the world’s rain forests. But it was not until the late 1980s that a group of entrepreneurs and officials in Costa Rica — a country known for its progressive approach to conservation — joined forces to create a new university to teach sustainable agriculture in the ‘humid tropics.’
One of the measures we like to use to assess the effectiveness of entrepreneurship programs is to look at the economic impact created by their graduates.
“Of the more than 900 students who have graduated from Earth University, 75 percent are working in the for-profit private sector. Of those, a quarter own their own agribusinesses, says Mr. Breve. The remaining 25 percent are working for nongovernmental organizations or in government, helping to shape environmental policy.”
Markets even work in the rain forest.