Why this project is necessary?We answer by this project especially on two European Commission document "Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan" formulated needs:described as Action Pillar 1 and Action Pillar 3 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52012DC0795&from=PLAccording to the EU Action Pillar 1, it was stated that investing in entrepreneurship education is one of the highest return investments Europe can make. People who benefit from entrepreneurial learning, develop business knowledge and essential skills and attitudes including creativity, initiative, tenacity, teamwork, understanding of risk and a sense of responsibility. This is the entrepreneurial mind-set that helps entrepreneurs transform ideas into action and also significantly increases employability.(EU ACTION PILLAR 1 – ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING TO SUPPORT GROWTH AND BUSINESS CREATION)The report went on to say that "Europe has a limited number of known entrepreneurial success stories. This is due to the fact that entrepreneurship has not been celebrated as a preferred career path” Despite the fact that entrepreneurs create jobs and power the economy their successes are not presented as role models in the media. For some people, this makes an entrepreneurial career rank rather low in the list of attractive professions and it is a deterrent to those who might want to become entrepreneurs.An important element to change the entrepreneurial culture is thus a change in the perception of entrepreneurs through practical and positive communication about the achievements of entrepreneurs, their value to society and the opportunities of new businesscreation or acquisition as a career destination. To achieve this, their visibility as role models must be stepped up, taking into account the diversity of entrepreneurial profiles and paths to success. Clear and engaging information on the challenges and rewards of an entrepreneurial career can counteract negative impressions. (EU ACTION PILLAR 3 – ROLE MODELS AND REACHING OUT TO SPECIFIC GROUPS)Project description:Target group will be adults who look for job, change jobs, lose their jobs, as well as micro and small entrepreneurs, who are not successful in their business; These people are looking for new opportunities for personal development, which will translate into changes in their life and a new career prospects.Main project activities:About 7-10 persons will be recruited from project target group and from partner countries. These persons will serve as future leaders of change. They will participate in the following programmes:- in each country each project partner organization will organize the meetings – trainings/ workshops – for the leaders which will in turn be mentors (trainers from the partner organization)- in each country each project partner will organize an international meetings for the leaders with a view to exchanging of experience with other leaders and entrepreneurs from partner countries who are successful in their own businesses.- at the same time when the leaders are having their meeting, there will be an international meeting of mentors, participating in their own program.- on their return from international meetings, leaders will organize in their regions\ or communities separate meetings with the target group (adult entrepreneurs) under the tutelage and support of mentors from partner organization and become advocates of the new routes/ changes in their local environments. They will become "the face of entrepreneurship" intheir communitiess. Their role will be to promote the value of entrepreneurship tosociety, emphasise the importance of developing entrepreneurial skills andexperiences in education, and highlight entrepreneurship as a career opportunity. Together with the mentor, leaders will develop an idea for further actions in the region, in collaboration with partner organizations.The effect/result of the project:-the leaders of change, with the assistance of mentors from partner organisations, will form "Mentors Club of micro and small businesses". At the end of the project, these Clubs will continue to operate in accordance with the methodology and strategies developed during the project and will be supported by partner organisations.The intellectual output of the project:- the path of leaders of change led by a mentor developed by mentors from partner organisations, on the basis of an exchange of experience, learning from each other, share experiences, icluding the idea of The Mentors Club of micro and small business methodology
Project "Leaders of change – mentorship program for entrepreneurial leaders in local communities" was conducted between September 1st 2016 and August 31st 2018. The aim of the project was to improve the functioning of adults in small, local communities, affected by the problem of unemployment, economic stagnation, the need to change jobs, or the profile of activity through the development of activities conducive to creating entrepreneurial attitudes and entering the path of entrepreneurship. Project partners: - The AdMERITUM Foundation, a non-profit organization, founded by the micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, business trainers and mentors, and specialists in management, from Mazovia Voivoid based in Warsaw, Poland. It provides entrepreneurship education, especially for the adults and the youth. - CREF Education, a non-profit association of schools and other educational institutions, from Sesimbra, Portugal which provides educational support for basic and secondary school staff and for the continuous training of working and non-working adults and teachers from public and private sectors in the municipality of Sesimbra. - Center Spirala – Center of Selfmobility from Ljubljana, Slovenia, a private and non-profit institute for research and development within social and humanistic area. - Kairos Europe from London, UK, an organisation dedicated to promoting international education and training. One of the areas of expertise are the International partnership projects focused mainly on social inclusion, multiculturalism, employability and entrepreneurship, use of ICT in education. Main activities: During the two-year implementation of the “Leaders of Change” project, we have prepared a group of approximately 40 people in the Polish-British-Slovenian-Portuguese partnership - so-called "leaders of change" to work with local communities on the development of entrepreneurship in the area of SMEs. The target group of our activities were adults who looked for new job opportunities, who were changing jobs, or who had lost their jobs, as well as micro and small entrepreneurs, who were not very successful in their businesses. These people were looking for new opportunities for personal development, which would translate into changes in their life and a new career prospects. Our aim was to introduce to them and to encourage them to start in their life the entrepreneurship path or to support them due to facing certain difficulties regarding their entrepreneurial path. About 7-10 people were recruited from this specified project target group in each partner country. These people wanted to become “the leaders of change” – the leaders of entrepreneurship in their local communities of entrepreneurs and/or future entrepreneurs. In each country, each project partner organization chose the mentors among its educators’ staff (small business and entrepreneurship educators and trainers) who provided the meetings for the leaders in the form of the trainings and workshops. In each country, each project partner organized the international meeting for the leaders with a view to exchanging of experience with other leaders and entrepreneurs from partner countries who are successful in their own businesses. In conjunction with the leaders’ international meetings, mentors took part in their own meeting, which followed a separate agenda. Project results and impact: On the leaders’ return from international meetings, they organized in their regions and communities the meetings with the target group (adult entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs) with the support of mentors from partner organization. The leaders became the advocates of the new routes/ changes in their local environments. They became “the leaders of change” and “the face of entrepreneurship” in their communities. Their role was to promote the value of entrepreneurship to the society, emphasise the importance of developing entrepreneurial skills and experiences in education, and highlight entrepreneurship as a career opportunity. Together with the mentors, the leaders developed these ideas for further actions in the region, called: “Small Business Mentors’ Clubs”. At the end of the project, these Clubs continued to operate in accordance with the methodology and strategies developed during the project and would be supported by partner organisations. The description of the above educational process of mentoring for the leaders of change is the book "Leaders of change. The mentoring program for the leaders of entrepreneurship in local communities”, which is the intellectual output (the result) of this project. Long-term benefits: -During the project, the leaders participated in the mentoring program, which influenced the development of the key competences: entrepreneurship, initiative, learning to learn skills. -The mentoring program developed by mentors has been made available to all European educators - trainers of entrepreneurship and small business. -SBMCs.