Creative Paths for Young Social Entrepreneurs

The six schools that participated in this project were all drawn to the topic and ideas of social innovation and entrepreneurship and wanted to learn more about it and saw it as a means to tackle some of the problems their schools were facing. For example, low student motivation and lesson participation, declining interest in formal ways of education that are often not in touch with everyday realities, and early school leaving trends. Further, high rates of unemployment among young people in the EU in general, often due to low basic skills and experience, leading to social exclusion and insecurity. That is why we, the participating schools in this project, decided to join our experiences and work together to find fresh and innovative ideas to deal with these problems.The project aimed to develop and increase students´ sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, improve their basic skills, and assist them in acquiring skills and knowledge in and awareness about social entrepreneurship (projects) that would help them with future employability or possible business creation. Social entrepreneurship is not only a way of employment but also a means of realising innovative ideas and solutions to solve problems in our communities and society. By learning how to contribute to community development in a new, creative and effective way participants learned how to help with social inclusion of disadvantaged or marginalised groups of people and adapt a non-discriminatory approach. We wanted to encourage students´ creativity and potential and motivate them to be active members of society. Through various activities project participants were made aware of the needs in their communities, country and Europe. A further objective was to increase students’ ICT skills, they learnt how to effectively use various digital tools to materialise and present their social business ideas. During the LTA students worked collaboratively in international teams which helped them develop language, communication and social skills.To achieve our aims we employed diversified approaches and introduced non-formal and experimental pedagogical methods. We adapted a “hands on approach” (learning by doing) which made learning more interesting and engaging for participants. Students were taught how to create a business and marketing plan for their social enterprises, they got a practical understanding of how social enterprises work by visiting them, meeting and speaking with founders or staff. They created their own social projects to address some of the needs in their communities, regions and the EU. The project “Creative paths for Young Social Entrepreneurs” focused on 5 main topics that were developed in between meetings and presented at the LTA.1. Knowing you–knowing me2. Social entrepreneurship3. Green entrepreneurship4. Social entrepreneruship and eSkills5. If you were walking in my shoesAt the Learning/Teaching Activities (LTA) student representatives presented all the work done on the topics, attend workshops about setting up a social enterprise, visited social enterprises or projects and got deeper insight into the life of disadvantaged people. They worked collaboratively in national and international teams adapting personalised learning, creating company profiles and social projects. They were also engaged in the local community through volunteer work. Work done in the project was regularly uploaded and presented on school and project webpages. The final product is the “eGuide” a learning platform with educational resources on social entrepreneurship, like how to start a business in each participating country, student fictive company business plans, webpage and mobile app., company profiles, videos, photos and more. The project results were evaluated and disseminated as planned in the project.The results of the project activities are an increased knowledge about social entrepreneurship and how to start a social enterprise. The development of useful ICT, communication and language competencies. Participants have become more socially aware and more active members of society. Participants gained practical experience in cooperating with peers in an international context, became more aware of other countries, their cultures and the European diversity. The impact on the project participants and target groups, was that it enriched their learning and teaching with new methodologies, activities and tools. Students were able to see new potential and future working opportunities thanks to real life experiences which we believe increased their confidence. They acquired new skills, developed new attitudes and have become more aware and interested in the world around them. The project opened up their eyes to various current topics. They were able to see that even as an individual one can contribute and change society for the better. All participants were enriched through the international cooperation and exchange of good practice.