Youth Venture ARTISAN Erasmus Project

Project Title

Youth Venture ARTISAN

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

There is a growing appreciation of the value of old/antique woodwork reflecting the craftsmanship of the past. This demand creates opportunities for small workshops which can take individual orders in renovation of old woodwork. However, the training in the art of renovation is practically absent from the programmes of vocational schools – the focus is entirely on the new, cost-effective mass production. The above background opened a way for the ARTISAN project addressed to young unemployed people with basic skills/experience in carpentry with a view to involving them in an entrepreneurial initiative. It was implemented in partnership of two organisations: EST Education Centre from Wadowice, Poland and Centro Machiavelli from Florence, Italy bringing in complementary expertise in informal education to young people and cultural education in the context of training in handicraft skills. Accordingly, the project had a broader perspective than vocational training and aimed to:
– instil appreciation of the value of traditional craftsmanship among young people though showing its presence in the focal points of the colourful traffic of our times
– show the relevance of the skills they acquired at school as well as through informal and non-formal learning for the profitable niche of woodwork renovation
– encourage them to venture into the artisan field which opens entrepreneurial and employment opportunities
– show concrete steps needed to “take things into their own hands”, which is the essence of entrepreneurship
– provide social space for cooperative practice-based learning of competences needed to venture into business and employment
– support the young people’s initiatives through opening access to quality learning resources, facilitated blended learning and making their skills and competences transparent/recognised

Major groups of beneficiaries
– Young unemployed people from the region of Wadowice with basic skills/experience in carpentry, still unable to find a job due to the skills mismatch. This is the primary group of beneficiaries.
– The group was extended throughout the project to target young people from other locations in Poland and in other European countries. The project developed a model of youth venture adaptable to other crafts and entrepreneurial initiatives.
– Youth educators/workers willing to guide young people into their own ventures focused on entrepreneurship and employability. This group was reached through wide scope dissemination campaign which was an inherent part of the project.

Main project activities and results
– ARTISAN workshop curriculum: conceptual framework of the youth venture in a form facilitating its multiplication in other settings
– ARTISAN open educational resources: learning materials divided into modules ranging from introduction to cultural issues behind traditional crafts to woodwork renovation techniques, materials and tools
– ARTISAN online learning environment: for social learning and communication of the youth venture members and the partners
– Blended mobility of the young people: practical learning of techniques of woodwork renovation, cultural explorations of renowned craft studios in Florence and follow-up practice based learning in the ARTISAN workshop in Wadowice combined with online learning/consultation

Impact on the participants
– they gained a social learning space for upgrading their skills and competences relevant for work
– learned artisan techniques of woodwork renovation opening new pathways to small business creation or employment
– took entrepreneurial initiatives firmly grounded in their skills/experience and supported by qualified staff
– enhanced their Europass portfolio with documentation of valuable non-formal learning experience

Impact on partner organisations
– we benefited from the exchange and shared development of the approaches and resources
– have a new set of learning materials at our disposal to be used in forthcoming courses
– better focus our educational offer on entrepreneurial skills
– built our capacity in the youth field as a result of the above

Impact on external organisations in the youth field
– they got access to open educational resources which can be used freely in line with the licence agreement
– received guidelines on exploiting the potential of traditional crafts in fostering entrepreneurial skills of young people
– benefited from the communication and learning opportunities on the platform

The above impact is sustainable in the long run through the on-line platform, multiplication events and wide scope networking campaign.

The focus of the project clearly fell in the annual Work Programme adopted by the Commission which promoted take-up of practical entrepreneurial experiences in education, training and youth work as well as the youth field specific priority: promoting young people’s social inclusion and well-being through projects tackling the issue of youth unemployment.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 59655,07 Eur

Project Coordinator

Placowka Ksztalcenia Ustawicznego EST & Country: PL

Project Partners

• Centro Machiavelli S.r.l.