Entrepreneurship for migrants

For society migrant entrepreneurship is a powerful driver of economic growth and job creation since it creates new companies and jobs, opens up new markets, and nurtures new skills and capabilities. For each migrant and refugee, having the possibility to achieve self-employment have an impact on all aspects of daily life, including an income, gives identity and gives life a meaning and purpose. Recent research and statistics show that integration of migrants is slowing down, not only in partner countries, but in most European countries that have received refugees in recent years. This fact is an opportunity to rethink the strategy and find new ways to succeed. To stimulate, train and follow up more migrants to become entrepreneurs will therefore provide major results for individuals, families, communities and society as a whole. Therefore the partner organisation wants to establish this project, which is a systemic approach to increase self-employment among migrants by entrepreneurial training and follow up. The project will develop and share methods and tools for successful training and follow up activities, including how to motivate and build self-confidence for entrepreneurship. The project will develop a curriculum for tailored entrepreneurship and language training for migrants, supported with new training methods as well as an online platform, which not only allows for an exchange between tutors, trainers and participants, but includes training modules so that tutors and trainers can develop their methods online. Furthermore the project will develop a customized “Digital business simulator “, tailored for migrants to score their idea. This tool will helpful for both the migrant and tutors, trainers and other person supporting the development of the migrant’s business idea. The methodology involves aspects of traditional and creative formal education methods as well as informal education methods. The experience will be summarized in a “best practice handbook”. Each partner will conduct a pilot among motivated migrants, where the developed methods and guidelines within tailored language training and/or entrepreneurship training will be tested in all countries. As a result of the project, some participant migrants will be self-employed and many more will have an increased awareness of the opportunities that exist to such tailor training. The positive effects of training will likely motivate local and regional authorities to give this opportunity so even more migrants can undertake training. For trainers and tutors the project will help them to improve their methods in planning and working with entrepreneurship training and follow up activities. In order to achieve longer term benefits, the project’s methodology is centered around a close cooperation with all stakeholders, such as governmental education and employment institutions, innovation institutions and migrant organizations. The professional network of the project partners aims to create a network where one reaches as many potential participants as possible in a given region, and show how it is possible to work together in order to be self-employed.