European Entrepreneurship – your way to be a responsible leader Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Entrepreneurship – your way to be a responsible leader

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 school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

The motivation for the project was to develop the concept of international student minicompanies in the European economic surroundings as a pedagogical method, supporting young people to develop their own leadership skil with an increasing focus on CSR.This experience gave students a great opportunity to know people from other countries and cultures in Europe in order to cooperate working with common issues towards common goals.

The objectives of the project were to develop students’ leadership skills: skills in public speaking, leading a team, collaborating with partners from different cultural backgrounds;increase students’ awareness about the common European business environment; promote the development, testing and/or implementation of innovative practices in the field of education, training and youth;improve ICT skills in the professional environment; improve foreign language skills through content integrated language learning (CLIL);develop a sustainable new school network, strengthening the cooperation between organisations with a view to establishing exchanges of good practices.

In the past, all partners – Bundeshandelsakademie Hallein (AUT), Thorén Business School (SWE), Kaunas Saules gimnazija (LIT), Imiberg (ITA) and IES San Mateo (ESP) – gained different experiences in the practical training with minicompanies in their countries, because all schools have a specialization in teaching entrepreneurship. Moreover, the economics teachers involved in this schools partnership are registered at the European network of EWB (Enterprises without borders by Young Enterprises – Junior Achievement).

The main activity of the “European Entrepreneurship – your way to be a responsible leader project” was to let our regular students experience the process of starting a new business and creating a European student minicompany: from the initial stage of generating an innovative business idea to managing its implementation and the development of all the enterprise functional areas (marketing, international business law, business ethics, finance). That meant among many things, cooperating with partners from other countries, making a business plan for an international market, developing products for an international market and designing an international marketing strategy. The meetings were supposed to reflect the business experiences and motivated to take the next steps towards a successfully international entrepreneurial career.

Transnational students business meetings, business areas reports, participation in international students minicompanies trading fairs, meetings with experts in different business-related fields, preparation of entrepreneurial teaching material, experience of the annual Entrepreneurship day and dissemination of information and results of the project via Internet platforms such as E-Twinning and EwB as well as the presentation of the results and experiences on European/international conferences/summits for education, were the most relevant project activities. Moreover we integrated current trends of the start-up-community in our daily project work like the business canvas modelling or the common good balance for young entrepreneurs. Through different workshops with experts and/or lectures on universities we had the great opportunity to create a transfer between the schools educational programm with the scientific community.

The partnership seeked to include students in the various activities of the project. This also included preparations and realisations of mobilities and activities.

As for the long-term benefits of the project, we summarize the following general outcomes in our partnership:innovative approaches to teaching, by providing more attractive education and training programs; use of participatory approaches and ICT-based methodologies;a more modern, dynamic, committed and professional environment inside the organization: ready to integrate good practices and new methods into daily activities; open to synergies with organizations active in different fields or in other socio-economic sectors;strategic planning of international development for partner organizations;increased capacity and professionalism to work at EU/international level: improved management competences and internationalization strategies; reinforced cooperation with partners from other countries, other fields of education, training and youth and/or other socio-economic sectors.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 135980 Eur

Project Coordinator

Bundeshandelsakademie Hallein & Country: AT

Project Partners

• IMIBERG s.c.r.l.
• Thorengruppen AB Thorén Business School Gävle Holmparken 1 80310 Gävle
• IES San Mateo
• Kauno Saules gimnazija