Internationalisation for Social and Innovative Start Up’s and Entrepreneurs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Internationalisation for Social and Innovative Start Up’s and 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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

“ISSA, Internationalisation for Social and Innovative Start Ups and Entrepreneurs” is designed to identify core and innovative learning methods that encourage success in international activities for Social Start-ups and entrepreneurs. The project is based on previous projects (SUC, start-up communities; SUI, Start-up Internationalisation) but it goes one step further promoting international expansion and development of social start-ups and entrepreneurs.

The impact of the global financial crisis has made necessary to look for an innovative vision on how to improve economic growth. One of the most attractive options are social entrepreneurs, which in 2015 counted in NOR,SPA,CYP,GRE and BUL between 300 and 8,500 (EC). Although social enterprises are a means to increase competitiveness and state the importance of cross-border values on European economy, it should be noted by social entrepreneurs how nowadays organizations active on international markets grow faster and are more innovative than those that limit their activities locally. Due to their social activity, it is highly interesting for social enterprises to initiate international relations with similar organisations to promote their objectives at European level (EC,2015 ).

EU, regarding its communication 05/03/14 Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan: “has every interest in making sure that its companies remain very competitive and are able to access new markets and benefit from these sources of growth”. If Member States want to achieve the objectives of an innovative, smart and inclusive Europe from the Europe 2020 Strategy, it is necessary to take into account social enterprises and facilitate their creation, as they have a huge potential for job creation, particularly youth employment, and thus to reduce poverty and social exclusion; partners noted this issue and made a preliminary research in which it was established how an international, innovative training is crucial on Social Start-ups, which are usually not taken into account for this type of learning.

The interest of the EU to promote and take up social entrepreneurship experiences made us believe that our project can be valuable and beneficial in the education and training fields. We are aware of the importance of EU’s concern about this subject. Participating organizations carried out a project which focuses on the improving the internationalization perspectives of EU’s Social Start-Ups. The essential goal of this partnership is to analyze the most frequent Social Start-Ups problems and barriers in effective internationalisation process. European project’s partners research and exchange of the best practices will provide the indispensable purpose which is: to deliver self-training and practical entrepreneurship education among social entrepreneurs from partner’s countries.

During the project we will deliver self-training and practical Internationalisation and entrepreneurial education among social entrepreneurs from partner’s countries. We will design an innovative self-training course for the internationalization of Social start-ups that will serve as guide to solve the special needs of social start-ups and entrepreneurs to get proper training in essential aspects of the internationalization process, through the cooperation of the partners. The self- training course will be complemented with a e-learning platform that will work as support for social entrpeneurs. ISSA will provide and support also a proper Virtual Environment to promote social entrepreneurs attitude about the vital importance of internationalization of the social start-up in early stages.

Our main objectives are focused on developing quality and practical Life Long Learning support, with a strategic use of Information and Communication technologies (ICT). We realize the need of improving the internationalization perspectives for Social Start-Ups companies at a local level. The project main target group will be social entrepreneurs and potential social entrepreneurs interested in boosting social entrepreneurship and development of social start-ups.

Project Website

http://issaproject.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 230259 Eur

Project Coordinator

NORGES TEKNISK-NATURVITENSKAPELIGE UNIVERSITET NTNU & Country: NO

Project Partners

• INSTALOFI LEVANTE SL
• UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS
• FONDATSIYA NA BIZNESA ZA OBRAZOVANI
• INSTITOUTO TECHNOLOGIAS YPOLOGISTONKAI EKDOSEON DIOFANTOS