ART & ENTREPRENEURSHIP – OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR YOUTH – “EntreprenArt”

Many young people at school who are highly focused on artistic subjects tend to shy away from maths, physics, chemistry, biology, accounting, economics and related subjects, for various reasons. Such youth can benefit greatly if they can have support through Informal and Non-Formal learning, on entrepreneurial values, skills and behaviors whilst at school/college/university and/or after.
Youth workers are in a position to mentor, guide and assist youth in developing entrepreneurial values, skills and behaviors. They can do this more effectively if they are trained themselves in the area of entrepreneurship and the challenges artistic youth face in being successful entrepreneurs and / or successful professionals within enterprises. By training in this area, youth workers can go back to their communities and
• help their NGO organize non formal workshops on the subject of entrepreneurship for artistic youth of different age groups,
• mentor artistic youth, individually and/or in small groups, in the area of entrepreneurship and the opportunities and challenges being an entrepreneur entails
Our informal search in our community, shows that young people who are interested more in art and less in science and financial subjects, face more difficulties in
• finding employment they are happy with
• setting up, whether on their own or with others, a viable enterprise/business
Whilst the above do not mean that all or most artistic youth face these challenges when they seek employment and/or set up their own business, we feel it is an area with many
• challenges for the youth and the people that support them through informal and/or non-formal learning, but also
• opportunities as young artists often have many values, skills and behaviours developed to a higher level than other youth, that are important to disseminate to others in the business world (e.g. creativity, passion, drive, imagination, sensitivity, humanity, positive risk taking, persistence, etc)

The Training Course “ART & ENTERPRENEURSHIP – OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR YOUTH” known as “EntreprenArt” aims to:
• Provide young workers with
o A better understanding of the key aspects in setting and running a viable enterprise and what makes an enterprise succeed.
o An appreciation that setting up and running a business successfully is a complex matter, however small and simple looking the business is.
o An appreciation of the need for youth workers to study in more depth a complex subject before advising / mentoring others.
o A better understanding of their own weaknesses and where they can develop further.
o A better understanding of the common characteristics among artistic youth and the common opportunities and challenges they normally face.
o Something to think about: DISCRIMINATION WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES AND IN EUROPE, BETWEEN ARTISTIC AND NON ARTISTIC YOUTH.
o More appreciation in learning from people who have different values, skills and behaviors than we have.

• Make youth workers think about what it means to revisit and rethink at all times one’s own values and beliefs so that youth workers can become better and more inclusive people, thus incorporating European values into their daily lives and the lives of others around them.
The Training Course aims to bring together 6-7 NGOs and 24-28 youth workers in total to expand their comfort zone and adjust their expectations much more than youth workers are normally asked to do so in Erasmus+ training courses. The Training Course will take place in Nicosia, Cyprus in November 2016.
By the end of the Training Course, the participants will:
1. Improve their knowledge on successful business set up and operation
2. Appreciate the need to study any complex subject more in depth before advising / mentoring youth in need.
3. Better understand their own weaknesses and where they can develop further, especially in the areas of understanding the needs of artistic youth and in understanding the key opportunities and challenges in setting up and running a business first time.
4. Obtain a better understanding of the common characteristics among artistic youth and the common opportunities and challenges they normally face.
5. Understand better that discrimination is a complex area, with many facades, where discrimination many times is between youth with different interests, values and beliefs (e.g. artistic oriented versus science oriented youth).
6. Have explored further the key common differences between ARTISTIC and NON ARTISTIC youth.
7. Learn to appreciate more people who have different values, skills and behaviors than they have.
8. Think what it means to revise at all times their values and beliefs so that they become better and more inclusive people.
9. Expand their spectrum of understanding of the variety of thinking currently in Europe and the positive effect this has in our society.
10. Be reminded that youth work is about mentoring and empowering young people in making their own decisions but with respect for the rights of all groups of people living in the community.
11. Build partnerships that are intergenerational and intercultural, in order to collaborate in the writing and submission of Erasmus+ projects that will more likely be original in their main idea, goals and their implementation.
If your organization is interested in joining the partnership please fill in and return the attached partner information at yiagkou.christiana@hotmail.com.
The deadline for expressing your interest is 5 April 2016.