Enabling Young Refugee Entrepreneurs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Enabling Young Refugee Entrepreneurs

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Migrants’ issues; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Integration of refugees

Project Summary

CONTEXT
It is well known that the successful integration of refugees into our economies and societies is one of the most pressing issues of our times. The numbers speak for themselves: in 2018, Germany and France & the UK received over 450,000 refugees and asylum seekers (UNHCR). What is less well known, however, is that the vast majority of refugees and asylum seekers are young people. 8 out of 10 first-time asylum seekers are younger than 35, with nearly 3 in 10 applicants are under 18.

Employment is often presented as the best route to integration. Yet in the UK only 2 out of 5 refugees find employment, which is often not commensurate with their skills. In fact, many refugees have what it takes to become successful entrepreneurs, demonstrating “high levels of motivation, confidence and … a keen sense of risk and recognition of opportunities,” but too often this goes unnoticed. Moreover, entrepreneurship is a particularly empowering path for young refugees because it offers financial autonomy, but also community engagement and personal growth.

This presents a unique opportunity for youth-serving entrepreneurship educators, whose expertise in working with young people, especially NEETs, has been growing, but who have been unaware or reluctant to explore the potential of young refugees.

OBJECTIVES & ACTIVITIES
In response to this situation, the overall objective of EYRE is to empower young refugees and asylum seekers, aged 18-30, to achieve economic independence and further their social integration as successful entrepreneurs.

To achieve this, we will pursue the following objectives:
• Produce IO1: ENABLING ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR YOUNG REFUGEES – A PRACTICE GUIDE, is a practical resource to guide organizations in the adaptation of their learning spaces and training content so as to enable the full participation and development of young refugees.
• Create IO2: The RAPID ASSESSMENT TOOL is an easy-to-use digital resource enabling trainers to assess each young person’s aptitudes and skills in situ and to identify next steps in entrepreneurship support for those with most potential to start a business.
• Develop IO3: REFUGEE ENTREPRENEURSHIP TEACHING RESOURCES is a learning framework and set of integrated OERs which are aligned with the 15 Entrecomp competences. Featuring problem-based learning and peer-to-peer youth training they will provide educators with new pedagogic strategies and specific content that better caters for young refugees coming from a wide range of backgrounds and previous experience.

RESULTS
The immediate result of the project is the development, implementation and mainstreaming of an innovative framework which enables youth-serving entrepreneurship organizations to radically improve their capacity to enable young refugees to fulfil their potential as entrepreneurs.

Through our learning activity, user testing and dissemination process, the project will then produce the following results within its lifespan:
a. 240 entrepreneurship education providers working in the youth sector will download the Practice Guide, Assessment tool and Teaching Resources
b. 15 entrepreneurship educators and 60 young refugees will be trained in the lifespan of project in the user testing phases of the Output development.
c. 12 entrepreneurship educators working in the youth sector will participate in the name of learning activity
d. At least 10 young refugees will transition from being entrepreneurship students to entrepreneurship educators.

IMPACT
On LOCAL AND REGIONAL level, the project will make an immediate and lasting impact in strengthening the integration of young refugee entrepreneurs in the VET system through more joined up action among different actors in the entrepreneurship support ecosystem. There is no doubt that it will also have a positive effect at NATIONAL level. The project will show itself to be a very cost-effective approach to the mainstreaming of inclusion in a key target area. The Rapid Assessment tool is likely to attract the attention of figures from the world of VET and social policy who are seeking pathways to achieve similar objectives, and so they will be able to use the methodology and resources to encourage the replication of the EYRE assessment tool and avail freely of the educational resources.

Refugees in Entrepreneurship is a topic which is increasingly important on the international agenda. EYRE adds a new focus to this agenda & so the project will impact at EU an INTERNATIONAL LEVEL. Specifically, EYRE translates talk into action: it leaves behind the policy proclamations on the subject & shows how an innovative bottom-up approach to inclusion & improved quality of training can achieve tangible impact on policy goals for (young) refugee entrepreneurship via innovations in didactic strategies & service provision, setting the ball rolling for long term improvements in regional economic development & growth.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 244179,6 Eur

Project Coordinator

National Enterprise Network & Country: UK

Project Partners

• MOMENTUM MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED
• KulturLife gGmbH
• THE ENTREPRENEURIAL REFUGEE NETWORKCIC
• European E-learning Institute
• VOIX DES JEUNES REFUGIES EN EUROPE