Commercially Oriented Social Entrepreneurship Training in Vocational Education and Training

"<< Background >>SME entrepreneurs (especially younger ones) want to contribute to society within a commercially driven business that does follow a social approach. Such specific blended approach towards mixed for-profit & non-profit approach is however not taught anywhere. It’s either pure entrepreneurship or pure social economy. No vocational education and training (VET) offers blended social commercial entrepreneurship as part of a curriculum in Business and Entrepreneurship subjects. COM-SET distinguishes itself by addressing the for-profit sector which can inject specific elements of the social economy model as applied in the non-profit sector. The core idea was to develop a pan-European social commercial entrepreneurial training curriculum (EQF level 4 & 5) and course material for VET that assists VET students in Business and SME entrepreneurship to engage in and “absorb” social entrepreneurship aspects throughout the entire business workflow.Target groups: VET educational staff (lecturers, teachers, trainers) that aim to integrate social economy aspects within mainstream entrepreneurial VET training courses.Beneficiaries: VET students, VET trainers, SME decision makers (entrepreneurs) that aim to integrate in business a social approach.<< Objectives >>COM-SET was designed with the objective of promoting an innovative approach, incorporating the concept of commercial social entrepreneurship into VET courses, catering to students specialising in Business and Entrepreneurship. The project sought to bridge the existing gap between commercial and social entrepreneurship, specifically targeting for-profit enterprises seeking to generate social value. This was achieved by augmenting established VET entrepreneurship courses with the incorporation of concepts from the Social Business Initiative, encompassing social economy and entrepreneurship, and amalgamating them with principles of commercial entrepreneurship. The project's distinctive feature lay in its emphasis on real business cases, driving the development of mobile and online learning content enriched with actual examples of good and best practices drawn from Bulgaria, Belgium, and Türkiye. This approach aimed to deliver an innovative pedagogical experience, wherein online and mobile applications served as vehicles for introducing innovation. Accordingly, COM-SET adopted a 21st-century teaching and learning methodology, persuading students of the tangible value of social entrepreneurship within a commercial context.<< Implementation >>Following activities were implemented for each project result.Development of Pan-European multilingual curriculum and training modules:- Development of a curriculum, tailored for Vocational Education and Training (VET).- Creation of a set of ""injectable social commercial entrepreneurial training modules"" designed to be applicable across Europe.Creation of multilingual educative case studies videos provided via the online and mobile training platform/apps:- Generation of a range of educative case studies on social commercial entrepreneurship.- Hosting of the educative case studies on a multilingual online (https://www.com-set.eu/elearning/?lang=en) and mobile training platform and apps, compatible with both Android and iOS devices.- Creation and release of multilingual mobile applications on both Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.comset.mobile) and iOS (https://apps.apple.com/app/com-set/id1618770135) platforms, providing access to project content and resources.Production of engaging multilingual interview videos:- Development of engaging interview videos, with social commercial entrepreneurs, from Bulgaria, Belgium and Türkiye.- The videos showcase good practices by socially oriented commercial entrepreneurs, with each video corresponding to specific modules within the training program.Piloting in Bulgaria, Belgium, Türkiye- VET trainees pilot our project results in all partner countries and allowed us to finalise the outcomes, addressing all their comments.Multiplier event in Zlatograd:- Organisation of multiplier event in Zlatograd to disseminate project outcomes, share knowledge, and gather feedback from stakeholders.Establishment of multilingual project website:- Creation and maintenance of a dedicated project website at https://www.com-set.eu/.Utilisation of social media:- Establishment and management of social media presence, particularly on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/comsetproject.<< Results >>Following results were realised by the project:- PR1: Pan-European multilingual set of “injectable social commercial entrepreneurial training modules”, following a predefined curriculum / course material & handbook for VET.- PR2: Range of educative case studies on social commercial entrepreneurship- PR3: Engaging videos (storytelling) of good practices by socially oriented commercial entrepreneurs for each moduleAll outcomes are hosted on a multilingual online (https://www.com-set.eu/elearning/?lang=en), as well as mobile apps available at Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.comset.mobile) and iOS (https://apps.apple.com/app/com-set/id1618770135) and also include online/mobile SWOT and PESTLE analysis tools. These outcomes were also piloted in Bulgaria, Belgium and Türkiye.Also:- Multiplier event in Zlatograd on 28.09.2023 in Zlatograd, Bulgaria - https://www.com-set.eu/2023/09/29/multiplier-event-of-com-set-project/- Multilingual website at https://www.com-set.eu/- Social media at https://www.facebook.com/comsetproject- White paper at https://www.com-set.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/COM-SET_White-paper.pdf and in all other partner languages"