Free Resourceful – Entrepreneurs Experiencing Daringness On the Move Erasmus Project

Project Title

Free Resourceful – Entrepreneurs Experiencing Daringness On the Move

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 2014

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

The purpose of FREEDOM project is to develop an entrepreneurial mindset – with a special attention to the emerging web market across multiple countries – among students, teachers and all involved stakeholders in the following areas: tourism, healthy catering, web design, advertising and publicity, nursing and cosmetology, sound effects.

It was a priority to create innovative blended learning environments where to exploit contemporary technological tools to help our students develop traversal skills such as ICT and multilingualism, as well as the key competences necessary to become future European citizens main characters of the global society, both in an employed or in a self-employed role.

Involved teachers acquired themselves – and disseminate as well – a clear vision on how entrepreneurial strategies can become a horizontal approach throughout the whole study programme, to be implemented even by means of non-formal learning environments based on the new technologies and social media.

The involved students formed the right skills and knowledge to become future citizens aware of one’s own capabilities, able of taking the risk and making significant commitments to create a new business or set up an existing one.

In their turn, students will become peer tutors within an entrepreneurship school agenda to be implemented in the 5 years following the end of the FREEDOM project.

All activities promoted learning outcomes to be easily recognized within the ECVET system using Europass Certificate.

Participants stakeholders were invovled in partnerships, workshops and supporting activities aiming at strengthening the possibilities for lifelong learning, fostering collaborations between the school system and the outside enterprises, promoting the geographical mobility of individuals.

After selecting 15 students (among which 7 disadvantaged ones) aged 14-19 from each partner school, on an online entrepreneurship game the partner schools will establish 8 training firms having business items based on their fields of study and students’ preferences.

The 8 virtual training firms worked in a „European Entrepreneurship Club” for 2 school years, during which virtual goods or services were created and promoted through dedicated online shops and blogs.

Thrughout the project, students and teachers benefited from the course entitled „E-business & Internet Marketing”: 40 hours in a blended learning environment where students and teachers were supported by local or national experts and successful entrepreneurs, who provided their personal knowledge and expertise. The course was included in the curricula offer of involved schools and will become a MOOC available on the school webpages and on all the project dissemination web tools.

Since November 2014, workshops with partner firms and mother firms were activated with each country’s local enterprises: groups of 3-5 students at a time were initiated in local businesses linked to the school field of study, they was involved to create a business plan for them and getting involved in activities such as „employee of the firm” and „manager for a day”. Also, the students that created training firms, coordinated by their teachers had organized on the „European Fair of the Training Firms”.

All the 2 years project experiences, both the virtual and the real ones, will be reported in a school magazine as well as on the FREEDOM Project website. The originality and quality of overall produced materials will be evaluated by a competent jury, including representatives of local authorities and people who already have expertise or businesses in the area, where the most viable business plan, the most interactive blog of exercise firm and the most attractive promotional materials will be awarded (each school will have to find find inner resources or outside sponsors for guaranteeing money prizes to the winners: the choice of an economical award will give a different „taste” to the simulated competition among students, letting them better understand the economical value of commitment and risk taking).

All “FREEDOM” project outcomes were spread through a detailed dissemination plan and supervised by the partner school leaders, through an agenda of events monitoring to what extent project activities were implemented compared with what initially planned.

After two years practicing and discovering new market dimensions, our students were Free Resourceful Entrepreneurs Experimenting Daringness on the Move, becoming promoters themselves of that entrepreneurial mindset necessary to face the challenges of changing European society.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 236495,59 Eur

Project Coordinator

Colegiul National Economic “Theodor Costescu” & Country: RO

Project Partners

• Istituto d’Istruzione Superiore Crocetti-Cerulli
• ASS GESTION COLL LYC CATHOLIQUE PRIVE AGCLCP
• SINT MAARTENSCOLLEGE
• Scoala Gimnaziala nr 5
• ETIMESGUT HALK EGITIMI MERKEZI
• Srednja zdravstvena in kozmeticna sola Maribor
• Limfjordsskolen Struer