The idea for this project arose from a common interest in working with innovation and entrepreneurship in an international exchange. For Solna's part, an international element would greatly enrich the program we offer at the school by allowing students to understand their place in the wider context of Europe and the opportunities this offers. For Sint-Maartens college, much of the interest has been the opportunity to create and improve their curricular development of entreprenurship in economics. The curriculum for upper secondary school in Sweden clearly states that students should develop knowledge and approaches that encourage entrepreneurship, business and innovation. Entrepreneurial capacity is valuable for society, for work-life and for further studies. Even at the EU level these questions have been raised, primarily in the strategic goals for 2020. There it is stressed that if Europe’s productivity is going to increase, we need an investment in innovation and human capital, as well as an integrated, well-functioning internal digital market. In this light, we believe that it is important that our students expand their horizons and work together. In the Netherlands, the government has stressed the importance of schools working with the UN 21st century skills, including: critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. These skills are applied in order to reach the goals of this project, that is: entrepreneurial thinking with a clear sustainability approach. The goals we wish to achieve with the exchange are: 1. Innovation and entrepreneurship with a sustainability perspective 2. Becoming familiar with another EU country's industry and trade, thereby strengthening cultural ties between the young people involved. 3. Improving English language skills through project- cooperation and presentations in English We find that these objectives tie in with our selected priorities for the Development of high quality skills and competencies and the application of the social and educational value of European cultural heritage. In the two years this project will be running, participants will include: 2 1st- year economics classes from Solna, and 2 4th level bi-lingual classes from Voorburg and corresponding staff. The project we propose here is arranged as one week exchanges in the respective host-countries. Activities include, a doubble tracked focus in Sweden, where students follow part of our program for entrepreneurship lead by our economics teachers, creating a business plan around an idea, culminating in the "pitching" of this idea in a "Dragon's den" consisting of small buisiness owners, municipal employees and teachers. The other track, focuses on the historical, cultural and social development and impact of industry in Sweden. Arriving in Vooburg, students who are already familiar with working together in groups, will be able to participate in Sint-Maartens program of exchange focusing on communication, cultural inheritance and the importance of sustainability in business and innovation. The methodology involved in the program is directly related to the curricular goals in both countries relevant to innovation and entrepreneurship through communication and creative thinking. Solna Gymnasium has a national program in place which involves structured activities, planning and evaluation of results through the Youth Entrepreneurship program, where students start their own businesses. The activities proposed in this exchange program would embellish this program in important ways, principally by broadening the students' perspective on culture and social cultural heritage, new ways of thinking and cooperating accross national boarders. Students will continue to be trained in thinking innovatively from a sustainability perspective and their experiences in the exchange ought to have strengthened this aspect. For both schools, getting the chance to acquire connections and first-hand knowledge of another culture is part of our common vision of the students' development as a whole person. Voorburg's students are also participants in a bi-lingual program. Intercultural exchange and cooperation is an integral part of the school's profile which this program will contribute to and help to enrich. A further long-term benefit, particularly for Solna's school is the experience that comes along with having arranged and completed such a program, thereby opening up for discussion, sharing and learning amongst colleagues, and ultimately, the establishment of international exchanges as a feature we may continue to offer, through one form or another, at our school. Our experience and the knowledge we gain will be published digitally in a handbook available for viewing/ consultation via our digital platform for Solna's municipality, Voorburgs schools and the School Education Gateway or the Erasmus+ Project results platform.
The goals we have achieved with the exchange are: 1. Innovation and entrepreneurship with a sustainability perspective 2. Becoming familiar with another EU country's industry and trade, thereby strengthening cultural ties between the young people involved. 3. Improving English language skills through project- cooperation and presentations in English We found that these objectives did tie in with our selected priorities for the Development of high quality skills and competencies and the application of the social and educational value of European cultural heritage. The main aim of the exchange was to get the participants to work in collaboration on a business plan together. The model for the collaboration was the "Dragon's den" where students presented and sold their business plan to willing "venture capitalists". The goal was for them to get inspiration from each other, which contributed to more interesting and innovatively- thinking potential companies. Students also learned about the conditions and challenges they face regarding sustainability in their respective country's business and industry. The language of communication between the students was English, which helped improve their development and self-confidence in the language. This primarily was in conversation between the group participants and that the students were given the opportunity to present and explain their business idea in English. Communication within the group was also done in writing in the form of report writing, mail and via social media. The idea was also that the exchange of knowledge served our teachers through sharing thoughts and ideas on how to improve teaching in the field of entrepreneurship including sustainability and social-economic responsibility. In the Netherlands, the government has stressed the importance of schools working with the UN 21st century skills, including: critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. These skills were applied in order to reach the goals of this project, that is: entrepreneurial thinking with a clear sustainability approach. Moreover, the Swedish students, withing the project, actively worked with the global goals with their English teacher a few weeks before the students from Voorburg arrived. The last mobility was unfortunately cancelled, because of Covid, so one part of the project was never realised.