Since the outbreak of the global economic crisis in 2008, youth unemployment rates have significantly risen and still remain very high in several European countries. Aiming at reducing the number of young unemployed persons throughout Europe, a wide range of policies and initiatives are stressing the urging need to promote self-employment, entrepreneurship and the creation of highly innovative start-up companies in order to ensure sustainable economic growth while creating new jobs. However, a number of barriers still persist which hinder the implementation of innovative entrepreneurial ideas such as the lack of finance, the administrative burden especially in the Eastern countries, the lack of information on how to start and/or lack of entrepreneurial skills and mind-sets. With the proposed project, we aim at reaching the following long-term objectives:• To equip young adults with entrepreneurial ideas with all necessary skills and knowledge for putting their ideas into practice• To improve young adults’ employability opportunities through providing them with an innovative training curricula which is open, flexible and accessible from anywhere and anytime• To create awareness among local, regional and/or national policy makers and authorities responsible for educational policies on the importance of promoting entrepreneurship education in a lifelong learning perspective• Through involving business experts, investors and potential innovators in our activities, we intend to act as intermediary organisations creating a bridge among these stakeholder groups. • To foster environment-friendly and sustainable business management practices among future entrepreneursTo do so, an international consortium has been set up comprising 5 organisations:1. IMRO-DDKK Nonprofit Ltd. (HU), lead partner: non-profit organisation situated in the Western Transdanubian area of Hungary committed to promote environment-friendly attitude and sustainable development.2. Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (GR): IED is a Greek NGO committed to the promotion of innovation and the enhancing of the spirit of entrepreneurship.3. Youth Association from Transylvania (RO): NGO in Romania created to help develop, promote and represent the general interests of the communities in Transylvania by having social, cultural, sporting, educational, recreational and professional training activities.4. Local Development Agency Pins (HR): Croatian NGO created for collecting, processing and supporting realisation of entrepreneurial ideas and programmes and developing projects with aim to support SME’s in the Gorski kotar area5. CEEI (ES): NGO supported by the most representative local and regional public and private entities such as the Innovation and Development Agency of the Regional Government of Andalusia, the University of Cadiz, etc. CEEI Bahía de Cádiz has been working since 1997 providing professional support to SMES and entrepreneurs.In order to reach objectives set by project partners, the following activities are foreseen:• Large-scale surveying in Croatia, Greece, Spain, Romania and Hungary to get a clear and complete vision on the extent of innovation potential Croatian, Greek, Spanish, Hungarian and Romanian young adults – with a special focus on those residing in less favoured geographical areas • Innovative entrepreneurial training courses developed, implemented and continuously optimised• Online community of young European entrepreneurs established where stakeholders can interact, exchange ideas or good practices, and propose new business initiatives• Support and business coaching services provided to young entrepreneurs Through implementing the proposed StartUp Academy project we intend to reach the following long-term impacts at regional, national and European levels:• Young adults currently inactive in the labour market and aged between 18 and 35 residing in rural areas enabled to put their innovative business ideas into practice thus fostering the creation of new jobs and encouraging other young persons to not to leave their home towns or countries seeking better labour opportunities• Future entrepreneurs equipped with all the necessary skills and competences to plan, implement and manage their own businesses. • General awareness created among local and regional policy makers (with special regard to those responsible for educational policies) on the importance of taking measures for promoting entrepreneurship education during all cycles of the formal educational system• Development and mainstreaming of the new StartUp Academy approach and training materials developed by the project (these will be open and available via Moodle event after the project’s conclusion)• Creation of an international collaboration network for young entrepreneurs where cooperation opportunities and new business ideas can be generated besides having the opportunity to share doubts, experiences and good practices
StartUp Academy is a two-year project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme and implemented by a transnational consortium formed by five organisations representing five different EU countries (Hungary, Greece, Romania, Croatia and Spain). The main goal of the project was to develop and mainstream an accelerator program for young adults with innovative business ideas in rural areas. The partners conducted a large-scale surveying in Croatia, Greece, Spain, Romania and Hungary to get a clear and complete vision on the extent of innovation potential Croatian, Greek, Spanish, Hungarian and Romanian young adults – with a special focus on those residing in less favored geographical areas and we developed an innovative entrepreneurial training course which will be implemented and continuously optimized. Then in the next phase we established an online community of young European entrepreneurs, where stakeholders can interact, exchange ideas or good practices, and propose new business initiatives. Then, we will provide support and business coaching services to young entrepreneurs. The e-learning platform is accessible from anywhere anytime and it consists of 7+6 modules. The partners held a Hackathon training and competition in Hungary in the spring of 2018 in Hungary where 48 young adults competed from five different countries who presented their business ideas. After the first round the jury chose the 12 best and most innovative ideas who stayed in the competition. After a training with experts they presented their ideas and four of them were chosen as winners. The winners later received another training and they had the opportunity to further develop their business plan with the help of experts. With the implementation of the StartUp Academy project, partners aimed at reaching the following long-term objectives: • To equip young adults with entrepreneurial ideas with all necessary skills and knowledge for putting their ideas into practice. • To improve young adults’ employability opportunities through providing them with an innovative training curriculum which is open, flexible and accessible from anywhere and anytime. • To create awareness among local, regional and/or national policy makers and authorities responsible for educational policies on the importance of promoting entrepreneurship education in a lifelong learning perspective. • Through involving business experts, investors and potential innovators in their activities, partners intend to act as intermediary organisations creating a bridge among these stakeholder groups. • To foster environment-friendly and sustainable business management practices among future entrepreneurs. Partners: IMRO was founded in 2009 and its aim is to preserve nature and to educate in environmental thinking and sustainable living. IMRO supports developments, investments and renewals aiming energy saving. Local development agency PINS is a limited liability non profit company for research and development in economy, established in 1996. Main mission is developing mountain and rural area through different projects. Pins perform and/or participate in different projects focused on encouraging sustainability, educating parties involved in the process and promoting resources of our region. Pins employees are dedicated to advising young entrepreneurs, start ups and supporting existing entrepreneurs. The Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED) is a Greek Organization committed to the promotion of innovation and the enhancing of the spirit of entrepreneurship. By recognizing entrepreneurship as a crucial factor for the development and cohesion of societies, we develop research and are in a position to provide innovative solutions that facilitate the growth of healthy entrepreneurship and promote employment. CEEI Bahía de Cádiz is a not for profit foundation, with the aim of promoting growth and employment in the area of the Bay of Cadiz, providing professional and competitive support to entrepreneurs and facilitating the successful creation of innovative companies, under the EU model of BIC (Business Innovation Centre). The Youth Association from Transylvania (ATA) aims to help develop, promote and represent the general interests of the communities in Transylvania by having social, cultural, sporting, educational, recreational and professional training activities, and thus promoting the active involvement of youth in the perpetuation of ethnic, national and European values. Their motto: To show Europe to Transylvania and Transylvania to Europe!