Starting Up Young Social Entrepreneurship Erasmus Project

Project Title

Starting Up Young Social Entrepreneurship

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The #SUYSEproject has trained 82 young people at risk of social exclusion in how to start up their own social enterprise. This was done through an innovative training methodology and the creation of a MOOC that is now available for free on the Online Social Platform ( http://oer.makingprojects.org/oer/suyse-starting-up-young-social-entrepreneurs/ ).The project has also produced a Training Guide for the creation of social start-ups. The project was implemented by partners from 4 EU countries: ITD and AVALON from Spain, Eduforma form Italy, McScence from the UK, and Business Incubator – Gotse Delchev from Bulgaria. All project material is available on the website http://www.suyse.eu/ in 5 languages: English, Spanish, Catalan, Italian and Bulgarian.

The SUYSE project has been implemented to counteract the devastating effects of the social and economic crisis on employability, especially among young people. The labor market tends to offer increasingly fewer wage-earning jobs. Social start-ups are an innovative way to combine economic growth and inclusion of disfavoured people, promoting social values and new jobs. They are lead by social entrepreneurs and they generate social value: watching for the rights and interests of the most vulnerable people; responding to the ecological crisis; and eradicate discrimination against certain social groups. These approaches promote sustainable solutions at short and long-term. According to the European Commission, social start-ups now account for 10% of all Europe new business creation.

OBJECTIVES of the SUYSE project were to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit; to offer training and guidance in order to increase the sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; to lower the unemployment rate among young people; to create enterprises with social and environmental aims.They will acquire social entrepreneurs’ competences as well as soft skills in order to create their own jobs and in this way, lower the unemployment rate among young people.

ACTIVITIES of the SUYSE project included: partners co-developed the curriculum and 5 modules content in 5 languages; they adapted and uploaded the content for the MOOC to the online social platform; 10 educators took part in the Train the Trainers week in Barcelona, to revise the MOOC and agree the local pilot training process; 82 young people at risk of social exclusion took part in pilot training in the 4 partner countries; at the end of the training, study visits or internships were organized to share experience of a social start-up at first hand; all training participants received an ECVET certificate; partners organized an international conference in Barcelona and local/regional multiplier events in Italy, Bulgaria and the UK. The events were an occasion to present the online social platform with the free course and the training guide for the creation of social start-ups, available online in 5 languages. The guide explains the SUYSE methodology and includes a collection of best practices and quotes from participants, illustrating in this way the impact that the training has had on their life.

The SUYSE innovative methodology included 3 phases of activities:
1. Module and curriculum co-creation, where partners did research about existing material around the subject of: social innovation; social business plan; fundraising; communication and dissemination; local and transnational networks; and legal, economic and tax issues. Each one became a module with theoretical and practical content, and good practices as well as exercises, recorded in different formats for the MOOC (videos, PPTs, lesson plans etc.).
2. Participative work & Guidance: Training participants got to know each other in face to face sessions to exchange opinions and ideas. A team of mentors provided them with guidance.
3. Deep working immersion: Students participated in study visits or internships, to learn at first hand from social entrepreneurs about their experience, and to be able to ask questions and network.

The SUYSE project has had an important IMPACT on its target group and stakeholders: young people at risk of social exclusion, trainers, youth work practitioners, NGOs and local government services addressing inclusion and employment. All these agents have been reached and engaged by the SUYSE activities, and have received the online course and training guide with information to easily replicate or adapt the SUYSE methodology. The young people who took part in the training learned how to implement a social start-up. This will have effects in their communities and in the local economic growth. They are multipliers of the project impact when they tell others about the project and by setting and example with their own actions. In the mid and long term these young participants, from the different countries will apply their newly learned skills and contribute to a more socially aware society.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 164810 Eur

Project Coordinator

ITD -Innovación, Transferencia y Desarrollo & Country: ES

Project Partners

• EDUFORMA SRL
• SDRUJENIE-BISNES INKUBATOR-GOTSE DELCHEV, TSENTAR ZA PODPOMAGANE NA PREDPRIEMACHESTVOTO
• McSence Communication Ltd
• Avalon, Iniciatives per a les associacions