Entrepreneurship is seen as a solution to create jobs for the growing population worldwide. Today, the European situation relative to the job market and unemployment oblige the governments to develop entrepreneurship. The European Commission defined a target for 100% of all students in 2020 to have had certain entrepreneurial experiences. Furthermore Commission encourages entrepreneurship amongst women. Even though there are more women than men in Europe, women entrepreneurs represent a third of the self-employed in the EU. it has been understood that it is necessary to provide training services and to give support in line with the needs of women entrepreneurs and SME owners in terms of sustainability and development through a transnational partnership, in order to ensure the participation of women in the working life through the development of entrepreneurial key competences in women. also, the sustainability of the initiatives is a common problem for the European Union member countries and Turkey, indicating that the policies are not yet in sufficient level. This is a clear indication that entrepreneurs need to be supported not only in the start-up phase but also in the grow-up phase. Using non-formal education methods, entrepreneurial key competencies will be developed by the “Women Entrepreneurs Supporting Tribune” in 400 women entrepreneurs and SME owners from Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy and Turkey, aand at least 300 participants will be able to participate 4 multiplier events, during 30 months project period. The W.E.S.T Project aims to; -contribute the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy by improving the quality of education, contributing to the improvement of the business environment for SMEs, Improving the quality of education and strengthening research activities, -contribute to the development of the EU 2020 entrepreneurship action plan which supports the entrepreneurs designated as emergency response at every stage, -collect and share reliable data and statistics concerning women entrepreneurship in Europe, in the context of work, employment and entrepreneurship and to provide appropriate training and support services according to these data, -promote best policy practices in women entrepreneurship and Contribute to a change and an improvement in European policies in all the issues linked with female entrepreneurship, -work on development of lifelong entrepreneurial learning as a key competence, in line with policies and practice of those of the European Union, -foster entrepreneurial-friendly environments and strengthen the mind-sets for building entrepreneurially literate societies that lead to sustainable economic growth and development, -promote women’s entrepreneurship as a career choice, Increase the visibility of women entrepreneurs, -sensitize relevant stakeholders to the social issues women entrepreneurs have to face, -share and spread information, materials and examples of good practices about women’s entrepreneurship strategies, -encourage women to network across Europe and build links in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, -encourage the achievements and potential of women entrepreneurs and the dissemination of role models. Since the intellectual outputs will put into service via the website, it is expected to reach more women entrepreneurs and women SME owners, policy makers, NGOs, public authorities, at the local, national, European and international levels. So, desired impact of the project will be as follows: • Awareness will be raised and policy dialogue will be advanced on women entrepreneurship policy framework • Best policy practices in women entrepreneurship will be promoted. • Awareness will be raised for the social issues women entrepreneurs have to face in Europe. • Contributiton will be made to the development of national and regional women entrepreneur’s association’s capacity. • To reinforce sustainability of enterprises and to contribute to employment creation and economic development policy support frameworks for women entrepreneurship wiil be advanced. • Women entrepreneurs’ visibility will be increased on the European scene. • Conribution will be made for an improvement and change in European policies in all the issues linked with women entrepreneurship. • The achievements and potential of women entrepreneurs of any origins and social background will be encouraged • Women will be empowered by promoting entrepreneurship and directing them to the financial supports. • Every initiative and activity will be followed on women’s entrepreneurship and will be supported.
The WEST project has addressed the audience, expressed as entrepreneurs, by dividing it into two as entrepreneurs and new business owners. Accordingly, the target audience of the project has been determined as women entrepreneurs and business owners. It is contributed to develop entrepreneurial key competencies by the “Women Entrepreneurs Supporting Tribune” using non-formal education methods with 7 partners from Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy and Turkey. During the project period 4 transnational project meetings, 3 multiplier events 2 learning teaching training activity were held and 3 intellectual outputs were created. In addition, all opportunities were evaluated to disseminate the project. The project process consists of the stages of analyzing the current situation of the target audience, determining the training needs, creating the training content and putting it into service. Now there is a platform called WEST which can be reached "westprojecteu.org". With this services provided the W.E.S.T Project aims to; -contribute the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy by improving the quality of education, contributing to the improvement of the business environment for SMEs, Improving the quality of education and strengthening research activities, -contribute to the development of the EU 2020 entrepreneurship action plan which supports the entrepreneurs designated as emergency response at every stage, -collect and share reliable data and statistics concerning women entrepreneurship in Europe, in the context of work, employment and entrepreneurship and to provide appropriate training and support services according to these data, -promote best policy practices in women entrepreneurship and Contribute to a change and an improvement in European policies in all the issues linked with female entrepreneurship, -work on development of lifelong entrepreneurial learning as a key competence, in line with policies and practice of those of the European Union, -foster entrepreneurial-friendly environments and strengthen the mind-sets for building entrepreneurially literate societies that lead to sustainable economic growth and development, -promote women’s entrepreneurship as a career choice, Increase the visibility of women entrepreneurs, -sensitize relevant stakeholders to the social issues women entrepreneurs have to face, -share and spread information, materials and examples of good practices about women’s entrepreneurship strategies, -encourage women to network across Europe and build links in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, -encourage the achievements and potential of women entrepreneurs and the dissemination of role models. Since the intellectual outputs will put into service via the website women entrepreneurs and women SME owners, policy makers, NGOs, public authorities, at the local, national, European and international levels were reached.