Franco-Finnish Entrepreneurship and Employability Erasmus Project

Project Title

Franco-Finnish Entrepreneurship and Employability

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cooperation between educational institutions and business; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal); Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

In recent years, the European Commission has focused on improving the employability of young people in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and employment. Finland was chosen as a partner because the Finnish education system regularly tops the OECD PISA test rankings. Since the 2015 Education Reform, the country has been proposing a holistic approach to education transdisciplinary education , accompanied by a closer relationship between the business world. For Finnish people, the choice of France means to expand the possibilities of internships and therefore employability in European companies and to make Finnish youth understand the openings language skills provide. For the French, Finland’s choice is linked to a different approach to entrepreneurship with its components related to well-being, environmental concern, management type and recruitment.
The main objective of this Erasmus project is to improve, for general high school students, the knowledge of companies and their expectations in order to promote the employability of young people within Europe. Changes in the business market will lead employees to change occupations or businesses during their careers. To train them in adaptability to work, students will conduct company visits to then facilitate applications and improve the acceptance rates of other students to international internships in companies (not taken into account in the this project). These student ambassadors, whose mobility is under this project, will carry out in situ trips and interviews in companies. From this, they will develop internship profile sheets for other students (so-called “trainee” students). The ambassadors will then select the interns during an HR game where they will play the role of Human Resources Manager. These trainees, if retained in the firms visited by the ambassadors, will go there under their obligations as college or high school students (depending on the French or Finnish school system and its use of internships or observation sequences in companies).
During short-term mobility applications will also be open to people with disabilities. The proposed activities will be tailored to their specific needs. This situation shows everyone that inclusion is beneficial for the person with a disability, but also for the group: strengthening relations between team members, developing the help, paying attention to all. It is also a way to encourage future managers that students can become, thus sensitized to this issue, to encourage the hiring of people with disabilities. From the goal of inclusive schooling, we move on to the goal of inclusive enterprise.
Long-term mobility will complete the project by allowing students to better understand French and Finnish culture and improve their knowledge of the language and possibly consider coming to study and work in the host country in the future.
In addition, the field of sustainable development has become a must for businesses. The stakes are multiple: distinguishing yourself from the competition by giving a positive and attractive brand image to the customer, reducing their operating costs with better management of resources, reducing risks by preparing for future challenges and make it a recruitment lever by offering attractive working conditions with an emphasis on the human side of the company. Finland was chosen as Nordic countries are at the forefront of environmental and social issues.
Mastery of the basics is important, but it is the interdisciplinary skills (soft skills) that will enable future employees to adapt to new challenges. The student ambassadors in their interviews and preliminary research, will focus on the environmental and social commitment of the companies visited, to highlight these aspects with the trainees. This project therefore consists of identifying, characterising and valuing the interdisciplinary skills of pupils in order to improve the integration of all in the world of work in Europe.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 108120 Eur

Project Coordinator

Lycée International de Valbonne & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Lycée Simone Veil
• Munkkiniemen yhteiskoulu
• Oulunkylän yhteiskoulu