One of the main issue that is clearly seen in all partners' countries for different various target groups and especially young girls and women is a need for empowerment. Partners' experience shows that participants need to be empowered to realize that they CAN DO IT (meaning to start the business or social entrepreneurship). Thus, the training programs must have not only motivation part for starting an entrepreneurship initiative, but also some specific educational tools like dialogue groups, discussion on success stories, analysis of role models , mentoring etc. Programs that provide mentoring or opportunities for gaining practical knowledge about social business principles give a great educational support for participants to develop sustainable social initiatives. Especially empower is needed for young girls as most of them think that business is not for them, it is difficult , needs a lot of money etc. Thus, WomenPro will put strong emphasis for empowering of young women within the training program. Social entrepreneurship topic is important topic for all partner countries as there are still lack of public understanding. However, there is a great potential for initiatives development compared how far other European countries went. Thus, the awareness raising aspect is of great value for the local communities. The project will develop an integral and holistic training approach to motivate & support young women to start and manage their own social business. WomenPRO training course will encompass the areas of social entrepreneurship, creativity & innovation and will include five separate modules on soft and hard business skills. The course will be conducted through peer-to-peer activities and online individual learning (through reading materials & interactive tests & exercises). Moreover, WomenPRO course will be tailored according to the needs of the young girls and women. The target groups of the project are young girls and women from rural and remote areas who have difficulties to find employment in their region and are forced to move away to bigger cities. The project general objective is to enhance & promote social entrepreneurship spirit among young women by raising awareness about & supporting them in evolving their skills in entrepreneurship, creativity & innovation. The concrete aim of WomenPRO is to provide training outputs that are: * flexible to address target group’s specific needs; * adoptable & modular; * clearly practice-oriented. Concerning the target groups WomenPRO has following aims: * to provide the young women with online self-learning tool on WomenPRO web platform to start and develop their social business, lower the risk of failure & raise their competitiveness; * to provide consortium members with materials to be used in their portfolio offered to female entrepreneurs; * to educate training providers & consultants how training & learning programmes for social entrepreneurs (young women in particular) can be better developed and implemented. The activities are divided in 6 stages & 4 processes. The core activities start with definition of the specific characteristics of the training pack, development of learning model, elaboration of draft WomenPRO pack, pilot testing and finish with the provision of WomenPRO pack final version. The 4 processes that will be ongoing during the entire project are: Project management; Quality management; Dissemination; Exploitation. WomenPRO project will develop the following intellectual outputs: * WomenPRO Pack Specification * WomenPRO Learning model with didactic methodology * Training Course: a b-learning, modular training course with 5 main modules: “Be motivated”, “Be skilled”, “Be informed”, “Be creative” & “Be successful” * Manual for coaches of young social entrepreneurs * Interactive exercises & tests for self-assessment * WomenPRO platform with learning part, interactive tests & exercises; informative & feedback sections. All outputs will be in 5 languages: EN, PL, LT, BG & GR. Each partner will organise 1 discussion group, evaluation seminar and national conference with project target groups & stakeholders. Besides that, the consortium will inform about WomenPRO outputs via e-mail: * 300 target groups representatives; * 120 organisations working to support entrepreneurs and/or women in need; * 120 stakeholders, local, regional and national authorities. Expected impact on target groups & stakeholders include: * development of new & contemporary approach to learn & increase competences in social entrepreneurship, creativity & innovation; * development of new e-learning approach for training and new & attractive tools for young women support; * improved flexibility & adaptability with respect to market demands; * increased commitment for lifelong learning & career planning; * motivating the youngsters to stay and find employment in their home region in support of their local community; * promotion of creativity & entrepren
The WomenPRO project develops an integral and holistic training approach to motivate & support young women especially from remote and rural areas to start and manage their own social business in the local community. The training course provides the women with the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes required of a female entrepreneur to succeed. It allows them to turn their vision for a successful new business into a reality (from idea to business plan). It empowers young women with employment, skills and hope. The project general objective was to enhance & promote social entrepreneurship spirit among young women by raising awareness about & supporting them in evolving their skills in entrepreneurship, creativity & innovation. The primary target group of the project included: - young girls and women from rural and remote areas who have difficulties to find employment in their region and are forced to move away to bigger cities (unemployed/ disadvantaged/ minority/ migrant women under 29 years) - coaches, trainers, professionals working with aspiring female entrepreneurs in the partners’ regions. The secondary target group of the project included: - unemployment offices &labour directorates - consultancy companies, NGOs, professional associations, career orientation centres - different local educational institutions e.g. VET providers - organisations which working with start-ups or social entrepreneurs - associations & professional unions of (social) entrepreneurial consultants, start-ups supporting structures, professional trainers - local administration structures - agencies for development of entrepreneurship - public & governmental structures - universities, colleges, high education providers, nation-wide VET centres, etc. The project delivery consisted of 5 phases: 1. Learning Model (SIF) 2. WomenPRO pack development (OIC, SIF & AVA) 3. WomenPRO Platform (EuroSC) 4. Piloting of the outcomes (AVA) 5. Refining WomenPRO pack (OIC, SIF & AVA) The WomenPRO project developed the following Intellectual Outputs: 1. Learning Model (IO2): provides didactic methodology (reversed training methodology) for WomenPRO training course and the Manual for coaches as well as increases the capacity of trainers to facilitate training program for young women. The instructional design for the Learning Model is explored with reflection to the Need Analysis undertaken in partnership countries by interviewing 18 women-entrepreneurs from Poland, Lithuania, Cyprus and Bulgaria. 2. Training Course (IO3): modular training course which consists of 5 main modules (Be motivated, Be creative, Be skilled, Be informed, Be successful). It combines traditional training with self-paced learning on the e-learning platform. The course consists of 186 academic hours (2 hours of introductory session, 178 hours of the training course both face-to-face and online learning, 6 hours of the final assessment – business plan presentation and pitch). 3. Manual for Coaches (IO4): It is the ultimate guide to WomenPRO blended learning, combining online learning on the WomenPRO platform with face-to-face instructions. It guides the coaches/trainers through the process of delivery of the Introductory session and five modules of the WomenPRO Training Course. 4. Interactive exercises and tests (IO5): tests for pre-assessment and post-assessment of the obtained soft skills - it forms integral part of the learning process as it guides trainers/coaches in the approach taken to reach the learning objectives of the WomenPRO training course and perform evaluation of learning outcomes regularly and systematically (pre-assessment, end of the module evaluation and post assessment). It includes 175 self-assessment questions (35 per module) and the Business Plan template. 5. E-learning platform: online environment for both trainees and trainers with theoretical and practical content (Open Educational Resources) on the modules of the course. It brings coaches/trainers and trainees together with open source. All the results are freeely accessible as open source material in all partner languages: PL, GR, LT, BG and EN on the WomenPRO website and e-learning platform. The partners secured wide coverage of the project at local, national and European level and impact on the target groups and stakholders. In the piloting phase, 21 aspiring female entrepeneurs and 7 trainers were involved to test the resuts and provide their first-hand feedback on their usability and applicability. Multiplier events were organized in all project countries and attended by 117 people. The partners estabilshed a network of 14 associated partners, strongly supporting the project. The project has its dedicated website: https://www.womenpro.eu/ and social media account.