International Entrepreneurship Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

International Entrepreneurship Education

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 : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

An entrepreneurial education that is tailor-made, constructive and engaging, this new International Entrepreneurship Education (IEE) has been developed and designed with a holistic perspective, concerned with the development of every learner’s intellectual, emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative and spiritual potentials. The IEE facilitates learning through a two-part process: formation (‘dannelse’) and education. Formation is the ‘who am I’ as an entrepreneur, the mindset formation. Education is the information, the building of competencies and the goal of the learner. Linked together, it evokes a desire for action.

This IEE provides a new approach both to teaching and to learning. Learners decide the topics they wish to learn, and learn through experience. Faculty serve as facilitators, mentors and coaches, and teach learners – well ideally show learners how to live a more fulfilled life. This IEE requires teachers to be willing to ‘walk the talk’.
Being exposed to a wide range of subjects, learning about skills or subjects that personally interest the learners and learning in compatible teams, in community will motivate the learners to find what inspires them most, their own path.
So the objective of the IEE is to give the individual better clarification regarding their choice of career path and way in life. It provides a bridge between elementary school, upper secondary or vocational education and higher education, or a direct way to self-employment – it even provides a really great way to spend a gap-year in a learning community. Young people who participate in the IEE realize that learning is a life-long endeavour that can be fun and rewarding at the same time.

The three project partners from Denmark, Finland and Estonia have at any given time had 2-4 people each involved in the project.
The student participants have been volunteers or school students between 12-40 years of age piloting various modules in all three partner countries.

Our initial development and design-phase took longer than the anticipated 6 months, so with the school-year starting in August 2019 we were not ready to pilot the full one-year curriculum. Also the original sign up for students to join the pilot in DK was not bringing enough students onboard.
The learning community at MillCamp Academy consisting of volunteers functioned really well, though, and young people from all over came to stay for anything from 1-6 months. Many were from the South Americas. They were a perfect test-group as it turned out, since they already had a mindset focused on adventure and taking responsibility for their own lives. So we did test-versions of the modules and piloted them with these young volunteers. We prepared a 6-month version of the IEE to run from 3rd February to 20th June 2020 and we had only just gotten started when COVID-19 brought on restrictions that caused our plans to change. Nevertheless a total of 178 young people have volunteered at MillCamp and been part of testing of IEE modules.

Testing of modules also happened in Hungary, Estonia and Norway, where the EDUjam was rolled out by Educraftor, with 119 participants, EDUhacks in Finland, with 110 participants and Phenomenal teams in Estonia with 30 participants.
VitaTiim has piloted 2-day camps for 20 young teens (12-14), a one-day event for 20 young adults (16-30), a 2-day course for teachers and school staff and a 7 month piloting of the IEE programme modules in frames of the English Access Microscholarship Program. All very successful and with good feedback.

The LTT’s have helped the project along very nicely and given us all hands on experience of how we teach and think about education, and we have found great compatibility and learned a lot from each other.

Originally the project length was 22 months, because of corona it was extended to 26 months. We used the extra time to work hard on the IEE guidebook, to discuss the structure and contents of our philosophy, the education approach and methodology and appropriate methods and tools for the IEE. The IEE guidebook gives a comprehensive view of this. So even if it turned out differently than expected, we are still very pleased with the partnership and the result of the work done in this project.

Lots of new ideas have been generated and shared, and even if there was no final ‘show and tell’ by the student participants, lots of new endeavours are seeing the light in Norway, Hungary, Holland, Andorra, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and other places where IEE learners have moved on to.

We strongly believe that the impact of this IEE program has far reaching potential and that all the objectives can be met. The IEE as a bridge-builder, a solid foundation for self-employment, young people who confidently make career or education choices giving them a competitive advantage for moving forward in life. More innovative entrepreneurs in the workforce and potentially fewer dropouts from higher education.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 252387,5 Eur

Project Coordinator

IAmTrading ApS & Country: DK

Project Partners

• Educraftor Oy Ab
• MITTETULUNDUSUHING VITATIIM