empowerWOMENtSuccessful Entrepreneurial Empowerment for Women in start up business Erasmus Project

Project Title

empowerWOMENtSuccessful Entrepreneurial Empowerment for Women in start up business

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

Europe’s economy is depending on small and medium size businesses and will be even more so in the future Therefore,the Commission calls for entrepreneurship among all groups of Europeans.Entrepreneurship and business is perceived as if they were men’s domains,but there is a growing interest among women in most member states to learn how to establish and run their own business,especially in times of severe unemployment and social difficulties.Thus women are destroying the gender-stereotyped thoughts related to business and entrepreneurship
Women in entrepreneurship is a great source for growth in Europe,however women may need different approaches than men through positive discrimination in order to struggle with the inequalities in the business sector.Women might choose different business areas and work as compared to men.Many women like to include social values in their work as well This is why we need entrepreneurial ecosystems for women,based on their own life experiences and value systems
In this context ecosystem means communities of support structures,mutual help and networking resources put at the service of entrepreneurial women;an interactivity creating its own self-sustaining ecology
‘About 50%of new businesses fail during their first five years.If European entrepreneurs are to be able to deliver the growth we expect from them,we must devote greater resources to helping them to get through this period.Businesses often lack an appropriate ecosystem that will enable them to grow’
In the application we describe the project as follows:Financial crisis and global competition makes it difficult for women,less educated women in particular,to find good jobs.Therefore,many women wish to start their own small business or enterprise,forcing them to deal with all sorts of problems and challenges.The first years of business are very difficult for these women and they need strong and systematic support measures EmpowerWOMENt created local ecosystems for women wishing to consolidate,sustain and expand their small businesses,including mentoring from experienced entrepreneurial women,professional support and community networking
The project partnership is composed by qualified organisations with experience in women entrepreneurship;Turkey,Spain,Austria,Italy,Romania,Portugal and France
The focus in empowerWOMENt is on women in the start-up phases of running their own business (2-3 years)
Secondary target groups are:- experienced entrepreneurial women succeeding in having consolidated their business and working as mentors for the women in start-up situations -Community workers setting up and maintaining such ecosystems
Tertiary target groups are professionals supporting the target group and networks,including the local authorities and labour market services
The project aims to design and pilot such ecosystems in different partner countries and to produce case-based guidance to other European communities The core mission is to empower entrepreneurial women to create such eco-systems themselves in support of consolidating and expanding their business The primary target group was directly involved in all project phases,as this can be considered an important element in their further entrepreneurial training The project started to deliver real-life cases,guidance and authentic inspiration to help other communities support entrepreneurial women in start-up phases and a live service&support–the SharingWithU guidance and support service–produced and piloted in the last year of the project and available post-project,based on a fair and transparent business model
At the same time this user-driven approach,and the learning generated,qualify the involved groups of women from the partner communities to add 4 important extra dimensions to their business,compared to more traditional empower mental approaches
*The women can,through the user-driven documentation approach;
1.enhance their skills to communicate their problems, needs and strategies
2.enhance their digital fluency
3.acquire skills,experience and motivation to mentor and guide entrepreneurial women in similar situations at local but also at European level
4.escape traditional role models and to strengthen their self-consciousness in doing business
The initial target groups of EmpowerWOMENt activities and products were envisioned to as follows
EmpowerWOMENt open virtual platform:wide European audience of entrepreneurial start-up women and local support systems
SharingWithU guidance and support service:groups of start-up women in non-partner communities across Europe in need of solid guidance and support
Powering my new business:wide European audience of start-up women
Women’s Voices:wide European start-up women audience
Policy recommendations paper:local and European level policy makers and funding programmers in the fields of entrepreneurial learning
Eco-X-How can we go further?:decision-makers,sectorial actors,actors and publics on local,national and European level

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 189747,9 Eur

Project Coordinator

ANKARA AILE, CALISMA VE SOSYAL HIZMETLER IL MUDURLUGU & Country: TR

Project Partners

• Fondazione Risorsa Donna
• ASOCIATIA PENTRU PARTICIPARE CETATENEASCA
• M3 MCube association
• Working with Europe/Treballant amb Europa Associació
• IEBA CENTRO DE INICIATIVAS EMPRESARIAIS E SOCIAIS
• GAZI UNIVERSITESI
• FH JOANNEUM GESELLSCHAFT MBH