Abstract
18th EDINEB Conference From Innovation to Crème de la Crème Education! June 7 - 10, 2011 IDRAC, Lyons, France During the last few years economics and business education have emerged as one of the largest fields of study in higher education. Simultaneously, the pressing concern for improving the quality of higher education in these fields has led to a definite need for more knowledge about effective instruction methods and tools, as well as about innovation (in terms of both methodology and contents). This has been the background to establish a network to disseminate the results of the efforts undertaken by researchers and professionals in the field of educational innovation. "EDiNEB", established in 1993, is such a network. The acronym EDiNEB represents two entities: the EDiNEB Network and the EDiNEB Association, where the prior is an international network/association of people and/or institutes that are considering the implementation of educational innovations in economics and business and the latter is a legal personality under Dutch laws registered in Haarlem. The general aim of the EDiNEB Network is to provide mutual support to member institutions who wish to adapt their curriculum to highly innovative programmes. There are three primary goals: strengthening of membership institutions in their realisation of innovative programmes; strengthening of faculty capacities related to innovative education; development of technologies, approaches (such as problem-based learning), methodologies and tools appropriate to curricula; emphasising applied economics to domestic situations, or curricula especially designed for developing countries focusing on (local) societal needs, or curricula with an orientation to skills training; problem-solving or professional practice. Strategies to achieve these goals can be summarised as follows: Emphasis on institutional support and capacity building through exchanges, dissemination of information, improved communication and publications; Emphasis on partnerships between universities; Focus on research and development, in particular regarding questions of relevance to education in economics and business administration.