European Incubator for Bussines Ideas Erasmus Project

Project Title

European Incubator for Bussines Ideas

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; Access for disadvantaged; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

Since 2008, the most severe economic crisis provoked in Europe over 25 million unemployed. Entrepreneurship can be a powerful driver of economic growth and job creation (“Towards a job-rich recovery”, 2012) and an instrument to improve employability levels (Annual Growth Survey, 2013). Europe needs more entrepreneurs. In Europe, just over a third (37%) of workers prefer to be self-employed, whereas in the USA and China there are more than 50%.

The “European Incubator for Business Ideas” project focused on people who have to face some of the key challenges of today’s economic world, such as unemployment, economic stability and growth, young people finding a job, seniors of 50+, women, adults from disadvantaged areas or with special needs.

The project aimed at enabling students and adults to acquire and develop skills and competencies needed for to improve their employability, to turn their business ideas into concrete actions and foster further learning, active citizenship and intercultural dialogue.

Eight partners from six European countries, Edunet Organization and Teachers Training Centre Dolj from Romania, Organization for European Issues and Paphos Chamber of Commerce from Cyprus, Insignare from Portugal, CESO from Italy , Delado from Spain and Merseyside Expanding Horisons from UK, bring relevant and complementary skills and human resources to create an innovative European Training Model.

The partners built a European Training Model based on the blended learning and developed training content, learning and evaluation tools, which are available on the project website www.eibiproject.eu.The main output of the project was a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) based on co-learning and co-creation, containing learning and self-assessment activities and tools.

After training 72 facilitators from the participating countries to support and guide the learners’ communities on the MOOC, 384 participants from the project’s partner countries and approximately 500 from across the world participated in the training on the created MOOC.

The MOOC was provided in English with translation of the instructions in Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese or Greek languages, enabling students to participate in discussions, write their blogs and prepare their outputs. The multilingual aspect of the MOOC promoted cooperation, communication, teamwork, respect for diverse opinions, sensitivity and tolerance to people from different cultures, backgrounds and increased their language competence, digital skills, flexibility and creativity.

After finishing the learning process on the MOOC, 122 participants attended the five days of face-to-face workshops organized in partners’ countries. Most of the participants were people from disadvantaged groups: unemployed, young people searching for a job, seniors 50+, women, adults from disadvantaged area or with special need. Working together with their colleagues, they applied in practice the knowledge and skills acquired and made business plans.

These workshops were real “incubators” of business ideas.

At the end of the training, the participants presented their projects, their business ideas and plans in front of their fellow colleagues and representatives of businesses and received feedback. In this way, the participants were motivated and encouraged to move on, from their idea to action and initiate their own business. It looked as many business ideas would be put into practice and a start of a strong network with fruitful results in cooperation and partnership in the future business of the participants.

To promote the entrepreneurship education and the product of the project outputs, six national seminars, were organized in the partners’ countries, which were attended by 192 stakeholders, managers, training providers and potential users, who all learned about the Training Model, the resources created and how to use the MOOC.

All the Open Educational Resources (OER) produced are available on the project web site www.eibiproject.eu: the Key functions analyses and the Key competences needed by a person when starting a business, the report on the Training needs’ assessment, the innovative Training Model, the Educational resources, the Training guide for facilitators, the MOOC content and Guide containing the processes, learning methodology and protocols used in the course as well as the Good practices and business ideas created during the workshops.

Our MOOC is available at https://www.coursesites.com/s/_EIBI and is anticipated to continue be used in the future by people across Europe and beyond.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 150742,59 Eur

Project Coordinator

Asociatia EDUNET & Country: RO

Project Partners

• Casa Corpului Didactic Dolj
• Centro Studi Economici Sociali e Sindacali srl Impresa Sociale
• FUNDACION DEDALO PARA LA SOCIEDAD DE LA INFORMACION
• INSIGNARE – Associacao de Ensino e Formacao
• Organization for Promotion of European Issues
• EMPORIKON KAI VIOMICHANIKON EPIMELITIRION PAFOU
• MERSEYSIDE EXPANDING HORIZONS LTD