Smart Practice -Empowering Entrepreneurial Skills in Higher Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Smart Practice -Empowering Entrepreneurial Skills in Higher 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 higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality Assurance; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The project was implemented with the aim to improve the quality and relevance of Higher education (HE) by improving students’ entrepreneurial skills. The project idea was based on the entrepreneurial learning concept which focused on innovative and active learning methods and a multidisciplinary approach which was successfully implemented during students’ SMART internships.
The project was targeted to empower HE to work with business in a more intensive and collaborative manner, to bring theoretical knowledge and learning experience closer to reality of working environment, to develop the necessary skills for employability. The innovative methodological approach to students’ internships was based on the principles of interdisciplinary, team-work, problem-based, project-based, inquiry-based learning as well as close collaboration between HE and business companies.
The innovative methodological approach to students’ internships during the project was theoretically and practically tested in the partners’ countries. The project consortium was composed of 6 institutions from 4 EU countries: 4 universities (Lithuania, Italy, Finland and Cyprus) and 2 business organizations (Lithuania, Cyprus).
The outputs of the project:
1. Analysis of good practices on innovative approaches to internships in HE. The developed analysis provided cases from the participating EU countries on the state of art of internships, trying to identify innovative elements which could serve as a basis for the organization of the SMART practices. This research contributed to further development of the project outputs.
2. The methodology of SMART practice (guidelines how to develop and integrate innovative approaches to internship in HE). The main points in the methodology: general concepts and principles; approaches to internships; methods; responsibilities; assessment and evaluation of students’ practice; roles of HE educators (tutors) and business representatives (mentors); students’ selection process; identification and selection of problems; presentation of the results of internship, etc. The developed methodology was piloted in Lithuania, Italy, Finland and Cyprus in 12 multidisciplinary students’ teams.
3. The Handbook for SMART practice. The main part of the Handbook was dedicated to the tools used for the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the SMART internship. It provides a list of 33 tools with their descriptions, listed in a chronological order. A successive index re-organized them according to the temporal and logical phases of the internship. The Handbook aimed to provide a guidance for HE organisations on planning, organisation, implementation and evaluation of SMART internships.
The main target groups of the project were university students, academic staff and business representatives. All the groups were directly involved in the project piloting activities. Their positive feedbacks proved the high relevance of the project results. Multiplier events presented the project outputs to a wide audience.
The direct long-term benefit of the project attained for the partners’ organizations (universities and their students). The impact is evidenced from the participants’ (students, tutors, mentors) feedbacks and related to the development of students’ entrepreneurial skills, the establishment of the new university-business collaboration schemes and platforms, integration of multidisciplinary groups into the innovative solutions of real, work-related challenges raised by business organisations.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 265813 Eur

Project Coordinator

Kauno prekybos, pramones ir amatu rumai & Country: LT

Project Partners

• VYTAUTO DIDZIOJO UNIVERSITETAS
• LAPIN AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY
• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI VERONA
• G.G. EUROSUCCESS CONSULTING LIMITED
• European University Cyprus