When Bulgaria, the initiator of the idea that materialized into the YELL project, first posted it on e-twinning, there was an immediate and enthusiastic response from the schools that would later become partners in the project: Romania, Belgium, Italy and Norway. All of them bring with it their valuable experience of different education systems, so their participation was immediately and very warmly welcomed. All these schools share the fact that they have been running mini-companies for some time and that they want to take their expertise and activity in this field to the next level, being keenly aware of the extraordinary benefits their students would gain from it. Therefore, the project reunites schools with experience in entrepreneurship education and while they run mini-companies with very diverse fields of activity, they all share the need to know what more can be done, what can be done differently, what can be done better. So the project is mainly about exchange of good practices, keeping in mind that the world we live in is a globalized world, that our students are very likely to pursue careers on any labor market of the European Union and that by going there already equipped with the knowledge, the skills, the competence acquired in school thanks to concepts such as mini-companies, their chances of getting a job increase considerably, and their contact with the real world will no longer take them by surprise. The project is structured into two years, each focusing on a different aspect: the first year will be more formative in nature, equipping students and teachers alike with what they need to learn and teach entrepreneurship better, more efficiently, more realistically, more in practice, less in theory. The second year will bring the students in particular in contact with the world of business thus preparing them for any venture they may wish to pursue in their adult life. It will also be a way for teachers to find out what they need to include in their methodologies so as to bring their students to the level of skills and knowledge required for accessing jobs after leaving school. Overall, the project, its activities and its results will be attractive enough, interesting enough and useful enough for students so as to prevent them from early school leaving, disappointment, frustration, lack of confidence. Most activities conducted during mobilities as well as in-between will tackle the three main dimensions: teaching, training, learning and will be conceived so as to best serve the attainment of the project objectives which are: -To promote the acquisition of the skills and competences necessary to become a young entrepreneur or at least a successful professional -To facilitate access to entrepreneurial education to students who otherwise would be less likely to ever get such a chance because of disadvantaged background, physical challenges or lack of social skills. -To endow students with the set of abilities that would make them attractive to employers and eligible for the field they wish to pursue in their active life. Two of the most important results of the project, and also twos that are likely to endure even after the project ends, are a virtual partnership of mini-companies, formed of all participating companies, that can be furthered, perpetuated, monitored even after the project has ended. It is an accumulation of all our best practices (existing knowledge, know-how and activities) and all the exchanges that happened during the project. The second is the ”Young Enterpriser in the Virtual Space” Fair, the crowning of the exchanges of best practices carried out throughout the project, and a true milestone and example for all those who wish to implement the concept of mini-company in their schools.
Promoting a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation among young people in school education and helping to bringd a new generation of entrepreneurs in Europe was a key element in our motivation to participate in this strategic partnership between schools from Bulgaria, Belgium, Italy, Norway and Romania. The behavioural change of European society towards entrepreneurship goes through good practices and exisiting cases of success. To this end, we, the YELL partners (an acronym meaning "Young Entrepreneurs on European Learning Level"), focused on activities based on learning through direct experience: how our students manage their student companies; teacher training; the strong participation of business and the local community in the form of business visits, the presence of mentors and consultants. We can summarize the project objectives with the following sentences: - Strengthening entrepreneurship education, through the European level for the exchange of experience of the best existing teaching practices in the partner schools; - Building entrepreneurial attitudes, skills and knowledge that allow the student to 'turn ideas into action'; - Increasing the opportunities for success in the future educational and career paths of students (to study higher education; development of active citizenship; suitability for employment and creation of new business, including social entrepreneurship); - Learning to work in a team, solidarity and inclusion of disadvantaged students; - Improving personal digital and language competencies. YELL project activities are covered by 4 different subtopics: A) More effective teaching - through collaboration between teachers and professionals to exchange inspiring practices and discuss best ways to prepare and implement entrepreneurial projects and methods in the classroom. So, within the project, various activities were carried out, the teachers participated in round tables and trainings: 'Challenging teachers to teach better'; 'Student companies as training for students with disabilities'; 'What skills make a successful entrepreneur?'; 'Entrepreneurship and STEM'; 'Entrepreneurship training in an online environment'. B) The creation of partnerships - was a necessary condition in YELL's strategy because entrepreneurship education aims to make a connection with real life, and also because of the paramount importance it attaches to experiential learning. Many partners were involved in this area: Binario 5 coworking for innovative ideas and start-ups; participation in 'Lavora con noi' ('Work with us'), a joint forum with companies, universities and local authorities; meeting with social entrepreneur; lecturers from Kristiania University College; Dobrich Regional Information Centre; women entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs in agriculture; meetings with innovative entrepreneurs, small companies, agencies and businesses: Agoria Solar Team;Statik; Fablab; visits to large businesses such as AB Inbev. C) Joint activities of the student companies and establishment of an international mini-company and its demo platform for simulation - during all short-term exchanges students from the host school presented their business ideas and products that they had developed and promoted in their mini-companies; Junior Achievement mentors conducted Brainstorming and idea development - Establishing YELL student company; students participated in the debate 'The mini-company - a bridge between school and real life'; workshop: 'I, the future entrepreneur and employee'; wrote a guide 'How to run an International Student Company. D) Other activities directly related to the topic: Brochures and presentations in support of entrepreneurship education, researches; tips, puzzles & motivational slogans for young entrepreneurs; dictionary of the entrepreneur with general terms and vocabulary; organizing 'Entrepreneurship Week'; arranging exhibitions and participating in fairs at national level. At the end of the project was created YELL INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COMPANY, whose product 'Flowganiser' - combines different accessories produced by the mini-companies in each country. The developed virtual platform https:/flowganiser.wordpress.com/ is a final educational project product, with high value, which allows to create simulation companies at European level, which can import and export typical products from the respective region; Another final result was the competition between the mini-companies 'Young Entrepreneur in Virtual Space' held virtually during the last meeting. All activities can be downloaded at https://twinspace.etwinning.net/64835/home (guest access: username: etwinning.yell - password: Yellproject21). Impact and sustainability are achieved by including the project products in the entrepreneurship curriculum, maintaining information and materials available on eTwinning and the simulation demo; by disseminating the results of conferences, workshops, articles and newsletters.