EU Youth: From theory to action Erasmus Project

Project Title

EU Youth: From theory to action

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: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The main aim of the project was to foster the employability and innovative potential of young people /students & graduates by upgrading and developing their competencies for entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial attitudes and other transversal competencies necessary for successful entering the labour market. This aim was to respond to the educational challenges of the higher education in Europe and all members of the EU.

All main project products, which will be maintained after EU funding, are: ICT tool for competence assessment, Decision-making simulation company, Training packages per competence (for student/graduate and for trainer/lecturer). All products were translated in the national partners’ languages plus English and are available for public usage after the project implementation through various means.

ActYouth EU project will impact on trainers and lecturers of higher education providing them with well-focused and complex methodology and tools to improve the efficiency in incorporating transversal skills such as entrepreneurial and enterprising skills, which will have a positive effect on the employability of graduates, improving European competitiveness and social cohesion. To maximize impact, ActYouth EU has seek direct involvement of lecturers and SMEs in project activities where it benefited from their experience. Involvement in the partnership of different kind of actors assured a fruitful exchange of knowledge and experiences between business and academic sectors and a joint development of innovative learning/teaching toolkits that can effectively answer to actual and future labour markets needs on entrepreneurial skills and transversal related competencies.

The project implementation was divided into 9 WPs. The 1st WP concerned the project management, the 8th WP – Promotion, dissemination and exploitation, and the 9th WP – Quality control, Monitoring and Evaluation. The WPs 2-7 included direct activities leading to the project results. Division of the project into work packages and defining their aims and deliverables enabled to order the project implementation. Transparent rules of management and direct contacts between all project partners was the base of effective project coordination. To ensure the proper project management Eurosuccess Consulting developed the Management and Financial Plan which included the timetable defining all activities, project outcomes/products, time limits, project milestones, risk management etc.

The Exploitation Strategy included the sustainability issues, with actions concerning the life of the project and beyond the project lifetime. The project results will be used by all project partners and become part of their offer. They can be easily incorporated into traditional educational path delivered by higher education institutions.

The partnership was based on 5 important aspects: (1) previous experience in transnational projects and transnational cooperation, (2) expertise in the areas required and level of competence on it (Education & Training; Entrepreneurship), (3) complementarity of the project partners, (4) access to the direct and indirect target groups (research, dissemination, exploitation), (5) geographic coverage to ensure maximum dissemination and exploitation in EU.

The partners and their networks assured a wide coverage at international, national and local level. A wide EU cooperation was essential for addressing the EU skill shortage for entrepreneurship skills and transversal competences; a long-term, goal-oriented KA between Education and Business was crucial for setting the proper objectives, further co-developing and capitalizing the distributed knowledge and resources needed for the design, implementation and further sustainability of the project. The EU level of the project (1) enhanced the development of competencies for entrepreneurship of students and graduates in the project countries, (2) fostered and widened the competencies of EU teaching staff, sharing the possibility to use innovative approach, (3) developed the innovative approach to competency development based on the competence assessment, (4) contributed to unification of the educational and training standards to recognize the learning outcomes, (5) tracked the competency development of students to prepare them to successful entering the labour market, and (6) developed co-operation between the education and business sectors different countries.

The ActYouth EU project has had an intense impact on its target groups and stakeholders, primarily at the partner countries as well as in the rest of EU, providing tools and materials for further transfer of the knowledge in other EU countries and their institutions. Furthermore, through the usage of its tools and results, long-term, is expected to have a positive impact on improving growth rates and create more jobs, which complies with Europe’s growth strategy for the coming decade “smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 219078,9 Eur

Project Coordinator

G.G. EUROSUCCESS CONSULTING LIMITED & Country: CY

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDADE DE AVEIRO
• Polska Fundacja Osrodkow Wspomagania Rozwoju Gospodarczego OIC POLAND z siedziba w Lublinie
• European University Cyprus
• VYTAUTO DIDZIOJO UNIVERSITETAS