This year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week will take place from November 14 – 20. Last year, over 400,000 Americans participated in all 50 states. GEW promotes innovation, creativity, job creation, and economic growth through a variety of activities, which include: a competition to find the 50 most promising startups worldwide; a clean technology competition; a competition to win a free yearlong trip around the world; and Startup Weekend, a networking event focused on creating new startups.

Learn more about GEW 2011 here.

Global Entrepreneurship Week starts November 16. From the website: “For one week, millions of young people around the world join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents come together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. To think big. To turn their ideas into reality. To make their mark.”

Find out about Entrepreneurship Week events in the United States here.

Tim Kane, Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, gave this speech at the launch event of Global Entrepreneurship Week in Seoul, South Korea. Key quote:

Let’s not listen to those who say entrepreneurs are crazy. Investors often see failure as an asset in your record—not a liability. To them, failure suggests a tolerance for risk, a perseverance to succeed and, most important, a passion to push the envelope. So don’t give up. Learn from every mistake. And at each step, seek out and capitalize on the resources available to you, of the monetary and human varieties.

As for the rest of us, it’s our imperative to support the new generation of entrepreneurs and keep the pipeline of innovative ideas full and flowing. Young entrepreneurs are the world’s greatest natural resource. Innovators and those who inspire, connect and mentor them will lead the way out of economic danger and toward greater prosperity for all of society.

Check out Global Entrepreneurship Week, founded by the U.S.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the U.K.’s Make Your Mark campaign. During that week, young people gather from around the world to generate and exchange entrepreneurial ideas. This year’s event takes place November 17 through 23. So far, 75 countries are participating by sponsoring and holding activities during that week.