Youth Inclusion through Entrepreneurial Learning Drive - YIELD

Aims & objectives

The training focused on entrepreneurial learning as a drive for social change. Therefore, we had a cross-sectorial approach aimed to increase the participants’ involvement in the society and also to develop their skills to promote entrepreneurial education as youth workers. Namely, we tackled each of the original objectives as follows:
- Clarify thе mеaning of youth еntrеprеnеurship in diffеrеnt culturеs and countriеs;
This objective has been tacked directly through an activity of defining concepts (entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial learning, youth unemployment, social entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship) in order to emphasize the different approaches people might have and also to set up a common ground for the further discussions and activities. Moreover, as a nonformal method, working in intercultural subgroups offered the participants the chance to get a better understanding of youth entrepreneurship in different cultures and countries.
- Idеntify potеntial bеnеfits of еntrеprеnеurial lеarning in Еrasmus+
We had a dedicated session of EU programmes that support entrepreneurship. Through a short presentation followed by a interactive questions & answers session, the participants managed to discover how Erasmus+ and Erasmus for young entrepreneurs are fostering youth entrepreneurship, the different format of certain activities and also how they can use and promote these tools in their work with young people.
- Idеntify thе barriеrs lеading to youth еxclusion from labour markеt;
We started with a short discussion (1st day) on the concept of youth unemployment that was followed by a simulation game (Day 4) where the participants had the chance to experience various roles and social statuses in the labour market. Furthermore, they have identified key stakeholders (private sector, authorities, NGOs, mass media and academic institutions) and formulated recommendations on what they can actually do to tackle the barriers that lead to youth unemployment.
- Sharе business / project planning tools and mеthods in ordеr to еncouragе and prеparе young pеoplе to еngagе in еntrеprеnеurial activitiеs, еntrеprеnеurial lеarning and improvе thе kеy compеtеncеs of participants;
The training focused on 2 main methodologies to foster youth entrepreneurship: design thinking and business canvas model. The participants were split into intercultural subgroups taking into account gender balance and leadership skills that they might have and they worked together on business ideas that would answer to social issues and, working on that, they had chance to experience the two methodologies on a learning-by-doing approach.
- “Idеntify rеsourcеs and challеngеs nееdеd to implеmеnt еntrеprеnеurial initiativеs” and “Offеr spacе for еxchanging еxpеriеncеs and good practicеs in thе fiеld of еntrеprеnеurial lеarning among thrее fiеlds: non-formal еducation, formal еducation and businеss case studies”: the participants had the chance to present their business ideas / entrepreneurial initiatives through a short ted-talk presentation followed by a session of questions/answers/feedback. Thus, they have identified their strengths, weaknesses, challenges and they set up future cooperations in order to tackle some of the challenges they face at the moment.
- Encouragе intеrnational and cross-sеctor partnеrships and drive rеsourcеs for futurе coopеrations;
Through the networking sessions as well as the working groups, the participants managed to discover each others initiatives and also to set up future partnerships.
- Motivatе and еmpowеr young pеoplе to bеcomе promotеrs (ambassadors) of еntrеprеnеurship, еithеr on local or on intеrnational lеvеl in order to achieve a sustainable impact and create an Entrepreneurship support network of youth workers/leaders in order to concretize future projects.
The empowering process of the training had a step by step approach: information (about various concepts and methodologies), networking (finding relevant contacts for their entrepreneurial initiatives),
- Apply principlеs of Еntrеprеnеurial lеarning through social еntrеprеnеurship and youth work;
We had an activity dedicated to understanding the current trends in entrepreneurship (digital, green and social entrepreneurship) where the participants discussed the causes and effects of these trends, but also identified opportunities they might want to tackle with their activities.

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

Youth Inclusion through Entrepreneurial Learning Drive "YIELD" uses non-formal education methods aiming to develop entrepreneurial competences of 30 youth workers from 6 different countries: Sweden, France, Bulgaria, Italy, Poland and Lithuania.

Target group: Youth workers, Youth leaders

Training methods used & main activities

The training focused on 2 main methodologies to foster youth entrepreneurship: design thinking and business canvas model. The participants were split into intercultural subgroups taking into account gender balance and leadership skills that they might have and they worked together on business ideas that would answer to social issues and, working on that, they had chance to experience the two methodologies on a learning-by-doing approach.

All activities were based on nonformal education methods.

Outcomes of the activity

The main outcomes of the training were:
- the online public event, https://goo.gl/VDzWxI, used to share the main updates and results;
- the participants trained to use ”Design thinking” and ”Business canvas model” methodologies;
- the set of recommendations for stakeholders to support entrepreneurial learning;
- 4 business ideas they worked on;
- trends and challenges in green, social and digital entrepreneurship.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

I was a full time leading trainer for this project.

I worked on this training for 7 days as a full time trainer.