45 3. EM Lyon Business School Alain Fayolle and Janice Byrne The entrepreneurship ecosystem of EM Lyon Business School in 2010 is the culmination of more than 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship education and training. The result is a community of teachers, research- ers, students, alumni, entrepreneurs, business leaders, administrative staf and managers committed to the difusion of an entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneurial drive and expertise of the school’s human resources have played a considerable role in the creation of this ecosystem. The French business environment and education system have also shaped its emergence and growth. Active engagement with the business sector and the acquisition of appropriate funding have helped the school fuel the development of its ecosystem. In the pages that follow we describe the facets of the entrepreneurship ecosystem at EM Lyon Business School. We begin with a description of the French context. We then describe the entrepreneurship ecosystem at EM Lyon by outlining its pertinent dimensions: strategy, institutional infrastructure, teaching and learning, outreach initiatives, development and resources. In the third section we chart the development of the school’s entrepreneurship ecosystem’s development since the 1980s, and conclude with some relections on the major lessons learned as well as recommenda- tions for schools intent on launching entrepreneurship ecosystems. THE FRENCH CONTExT In this section we document entrepreneurial activity at the national level and ofer a brief overview of the higher education system and the current state of entrepreneurship education in France. Entrepreneurship in France First coined by Richard Cantillion and later popularized by Jean-Baptiste Say, the term ‘entrepreneur’ dates back to thirteenth-century France. Yet M2341 - FETTERS PRINT.indd 45 2/6/10 17:18:29