Become a successful entrepreneur

Project summary

During this difficult period of the financial crisis, which we have been experiencing for a while now, one of the most affected groups is the young generation which is now facing the major problem of youth unemployment. This major issue is faced among all young individuals regardless of their educational background. However, this leads to another problem which the European Union has been trying to tackle for some time now, that of the brain-drain phenomenon. The phenomena put together lead to long-term effects such as adoption of a pessimistic attitude towards life, reduction in self-esteem and may also lead to bad health and social isolation. However, these must be tackled as soon as possible since the young generation is the one who will actively assist in overcoming the financial crisis and bring us to a prosperous future. Resolving the unemployment crisis and providing access for the entry of youth in the labour market but without displacing other employees, has become a global challenge and one of the top priorities on the development agenda in many countries. Additionally, entrepreneurship has become an important aspect in the rehabilitation of the economies in Europe, and many governments have introduced or are working towards introducing policies to promote such endeavors in young people. It is widely acknowledged that entrepreneurship can contribute positively to economic growth by promoting job creation and youth employment. Integrating young people into the labour force as entrepreneurs will allow them to use their energy, talents, creativity and skills increasing productivity. Through this project we will aim at promoting entrepreneurship awareness and reinforcing entrepreneurial education in third level education. Our objective is to enhance knowledge, skills and resources, by encouraging the development of new approaches to entrepreneurial education, so as to improve the quality of education and training on higher education level. Investing in entrepreneurial education will foster entrepreneurial mindsets and will provide young people with the necessary entrepreneurial training and experience of how to start a company and run it successfully. The BaSE project addresses the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan and specifically the first strategic objective that is "Entrepreneurial education and training". The project is developed in two Member States and consists of four main partners and two associated partner. The applicant partner is the M.C Institute of Public Relations in Cyprus (MCIPR) active in the field of designing and offering professional oriented education and training in the areas of business and social communication, public relations and entrepreneurial behavior. The second partner, Kalys Solutions LTD, a private company in Cyprus, active in the field of consulting on available funding and on business planning. It was considered of utmost importance to involve Higher Education Institutions in this Partnership in an effort to connect higher education with the business sector. Therefore, the University of Thessaly and its Career Services Office (CSO) and the Department of Computer Science of the University of Cyprus were also included in the partnership. For the better visibility and dissemination of the project and its outcomes two more actors were included in the project which will participate. Their participation will also ensure the project’s quality and sustainability. Those are the Cypriot Young Business and Professional Women Federation (YBPW) and the Cypriot Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW Cyprus), full members of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women Erasmus+, in its essence, offers opportunities for studying, training and obtaining experience, developing programs for digital education and promoting the use of ICT. The BaSE project aims at encouraging the use of all the aforementioned opportunities when entering the entrepreneurial world. These tools can be used at any stage a business is and in many aspects, such as its promotion, organization and evolution. Consequently, the results which are expected by the project’s implementation are directly related to the goals and objectives of the Erasmus + program. Firstly the project is expected to increase experience of entrepreneurial education and awareness among the participants, participating organizations, stakeholders and decision makers, at national, local and European Level. Also, it is expected to improve the quality of higher education through the promotion of mobility and cross-border cooperation in the field of entrepreneurial education and through linking higher education to the business sector for the exchange of ideas and practices. Furthermore, the participating organizations will exchange ideas and good practice in order to make any necessary changes to their entities to achieve maximum optimization of their businesses. Secondly, the dedicated platform, constituting