Our project aims at developing the entrepreneurial skills of students by means of the method “learning through making”, as well as raising the level of financial literacy, communication and presentation skills and the abilities to work as part of a team or the so called “soft skills”. This is a project that will encourage the study of professional English language in the sphere of entrepreneurship through creating the textbook “Successful steps in Entrepreneurship” and the use of English as a working language with students from partner countries. We have put entrepreneurship in the centre of our project in order to be in unison with European tendencies. The project will implement its activities and products mainly in 2017 which is announced a European year of entrepreneurship. We want to give our students opportunities for development of entrepreneurial skills and at the same time to face them with social realities which will motivate them for volunteering. We will also try to develop self-consciousness for tolerance to differences, empathy towards the suffering and desire to spread the value of helping each other. That’s why, volunteering is the second important point which will also be present in our project. We believe that if a person is surrounded with models which express desire to help others, the chances of adopting these models are quite high.The main aim of the project, which includes 5 schools from 5 different countries, is to establish the criteria for successful implementation of an entrepreneurial idea on the European market.To achieve the goal of the project, the following activities will be organized: a competition, called “Business incubator” on a given topic in every country; “Entrepreneurial market”- when students meet and they will also be supported by mentors, business representatives and NGOs. The final product will be a handbook “Successful steps in Entrepreneurship”. This handbook will present all mandatory stages that every entrepreneurial idea goes through from its origin to its fulfillment. We are 5 schools from different countries and we have planned to make two training meetings in the middle of each year. At these meetings the participating teachers and students will discuss the criteria and features that every successful entrepreneurial idea should conform to. During these training meetings voluntary initiatives, aiming at solving both a social and ecological issue, will also be organized. The voluntary initiative with eco focus will be “Plant a tree, save the Earth”- cleaning a particular region, collecting waste, planting trees and from the waste collected- making an art product. The voluntary initiative solving a social issue will be called “Dance with me”- a dance lesson in SOS children’s villages/ family-type accommodation centers/ nursing homes.The ideas, participating in “Entrepreneurial market”, will be presented to business representatives, other students and educational institutions, too. Thus, the participants in the project will become part of global education, aimed at performing the goals of sustainable development. These goals will definitely be a priority in the next 15 years. Entrepreneurship and initiative, one of the key competences mentioned in the European Framework of Reference, can solve one of the global problems- youth unemployment. Project activities will be based on what labor market requires and that is flexibility. That is why, students will combine knowledge in ICT, foreign languages, entrepreneurship, business research, geography and even psychology. Good practices and innovation will also be applied in the curriculum. We will cooperate with non-governmental organizations, local formal and informal institutions, similar schools and schools in the region to distribute products and project results. This synergy is shown in the fact that the project unites students with different interests, coming from different socio-economic environments. Our aim is to define common points of interest and create products which will be a symbol of cross-border cooperation through entrepreneurial skills. One of the best activities will be the organization of voluntary initiatives. The best art products will be awarded and long-lasting dissemination will be ensured.We will achieve project sustainability by making films for each stage on CDs. The handbook “Successful steps in Entrepreneurship “ will be presented to each partner country on paper and uploaded online on project’s page.Partners will prepare and publish two issues of magazines. Number of people involved: Mobility of teachers: 96 Mobility of students: 144People, accompanying students: 96 Total number of participants: 336
The project started in September 2016 and lasted for two years. The project was conceived as an opportunity for the European Year of Entrepreneurship - 2017 and its topic “Volunteering A Benefit Entrepreneurship” aimed to analyze all the skills of a young person who will contribute to its easier integration into the labour market, leads his self-entrepreneurship, gets acquainted with various forms of business in different participating countries, and in a wider context, leading to altruism, interest in society to help others and to volunteering activities. The main objective of the project, involving 4 schools from 4 different countries, was to set the criteria for successful implementation of the entrepreneurial idea on the European market. In order to achieve this goal, the following activities were organized: a “Business Incubator” (Entrepreneurial Incubator) and an "Entrepreneurial Market" competition were organized in each partner countries where students were supported by mentors, business representatives and non-governmental organizations. Other activities included: presentations on Soft skills, Marketing, Economics in individual countries, Volunteer activities such as Plant the tree, Dance with us, attending various different conferences, visiting companies such as - Pilsner Urquell factory, Agricultural farm, organizing Charity events, Ekoden - Volunteering environmental protection, discussions with experts and shooting promotional videos. The final product was the "Successful Steps in Entrepreneurship" guide. This guide presents the obligatory stages and phases that every business plan has to go through from the beginning to the final stage. We created two magazines that map the course of the project and summarize the knowledge gained during the 2 years of the project, a professional dictionary on business economy and marketing, a collection of best presentations, leaflets on professional topics of the project, a report on the meeting with professionals from the business sphere - film. Project outputs are available in electronic form on DVD, on Face book and on eTwinning and schoolweb. We cooperated with non-governmental institutions, formal and informal partners, companies, the media (CT) and our partner College of International and Public Relations, Prague. We presented the project on school open-door days to pupils' parents, general public, companies and others. We also had meeting with representatives of the city administration. The partners of the project were secondary vocational schools from Italy, Bulgaria, and Romania. The long-term benefit of the project is the creation of materials that are used by all schools as references in teaching and presentations during the school's activities.