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Developing Entrepreneurship and Self-employment Skills of Immigrants

2020-1-DE02-KA204-0074232020Strategic Partnerships for adult educationfinalized
Countries: DE|TR|SE|EL|LT|NL · Grant: €152,101
Entrepreneurial learning - entrepreneurship educationICT - new technologies - digital competencesIntegration of refugees

Project summary

Europe is experiencing one of the most significant influxes of migrants and refugees in its history. It is interesting to note that more than a million migrants and refugees crossed Europe in 2015. This migration is mostly forced due to civil wars or armed conflicts and it derives from the wish for a better and safer life. In this regard, the role of the host countries becomes crucial especially when it comes to finding lasting solutions for migrants and refugees in terms of their resettlement and integration to the host society. Immigrant and ethnic minority entrepreneurship has attracted increasing attention in the last few years. Migrants’ contribution to the economy through the direct creation of new businesses is an aspect that has received limited attention. In order to enhance the entrepreneurial skills, it is crucial to create, develop and promote the new forms and ways of raining to support growth and business creation. Through their participation in the labour market, including entrepreneurs, migrants can add value to society in their adoptive country. However, migrants often lack knowledge of, and information about, the cultural business and regulatory environment of their host country. Furthermore, administrative and socio-cultural difficulties may hamper the potential of migrant entrepreneurs and impact on the sustainability and growth potential of the businesses they set up. As a consequence, effective and targeted business support schemes have an important role to play in supporting migrant entrepreneurs. These supports can be provided by education and trainings Our project is looking for both: to promote the entrepreneurship education of immigrants and to use the entrepreneurship as an important tool of integration and social inclusion for the immigrants regards so many exclusion factors that they have to suffer. The situation of immigrants has motivated this partnership to create the best tools possible to gain entrepreneurial adequate skills and competencies, based on successful real-life experiences of entrepreneurs will contribute to the shaping of unemployed immigrants into future entrepreneurs, helping them to fight the social and economic exclusion. Our strategic partnership will focus on promoting access and learning through Open Educational Resources (OER), supporting ICT-based teaching training. In the field of adult education, the partnership aims to improve and extend the offer of high-quality learning opportunities tailored to individual adult learners, including through innovative ways of outreach and delivery. All of that is an essence of entrepreneurship experience journey as an important integration tool for immigrants. Project idea comes from the result of a previous collaboration of the partnership in the projects related to entrepreneurship education and training, which serve as an important base to keep this journey on and benefit from its social implication in the field of adult education. The main objectives of our project that will help to achieve all of that are as follows: • To develop and create more efficient and innovative training focused on entrepreneurship and self-employment for immigrants. • To transform and integrate the entrepreneurship as a new tool for social integration and inclusion among immigrants; • To integrate and complement social inclusion methods with practical and innovative methodology according to immigrants with fewer opportunities needs; • To motivate immigrants in order to spread and facilitate their access to self-employment All major expected results are listed & detailed in the Intellectual Output of the project; O1- DESSI Training Manual O2 -DESSI E-Learning Platform The main activities will be occurred by intellectual outputs, multiplier events(150 participants). The project will contribute enormously to inspire all the community and increase immigrants entrepreneurs opportunities at European and national level. Also will have an important impact on immigrants who are at a disadvantage in comparison with their peers. As a short term impact project network expect to extend the use of innovative e-learning methodology of education and training in member countries. As a long term impact, we expect to increase the number of entrepreneurs willing to become mentors and of newborn companies among immigrants across the European business community. At a European level, the project results will hopefully have a longer-term impact, with key agencies benefiting from the outcomes and results. The partnership will also identify appropriate European events such as the partners are invited and participate constantly, ensuring the successful transfer of results to the key policymakers in the EU. Moreover, it will be engaged in other initiatives focused on the promotion of entrepreneurship in Europe. The database of relevant stakeholders will be constantly updated and will be offered as a resource available for all stakeholders

Objectives

Our project's main goals included meeting the needs of immigrants and refugees by fostering their entrepreneurship, promoting their integration and social inclusion, equipping adult educators and mentors, promoting cutting-edge teaching and learning techniques, and ensuring the long-term accessibility and use of project outcomes. We submitted for this project because we were aware of the difficulties that immigrants and refugees encounter while trying to establish their own enterprises and fit into society. Our intention was to provide them the information, abilities, and skills they would need to be successful businesspeople. We sought to provide a welcoming and accepting learning atmosphere where immigrants could interact with their peers, exchange stories, and find a sense of community. We also wanted to improve the abilities of mentors and educators who work with adults. By giving adult educators and mentors thorough training materials and tools, we also hoped to increase their ability. We recognized the potential for utilizing cutting-edge teaching strategies and technology to increase the accessibility and engagement of entrepreneurship education.

Background

For this project because we saw the pressing need to attend to the unique requirements of immigrants and refugees in terms of entrepreneurial education and integration. We sought to empower people to create successful enterprises, overcome socioeconomic problems, and positively contribute to their new communities by offering them the necessary assistance, resources, and chances. Our inspiration came from the desire to assist in these people's social and economic empowerment by providing them with the information, abilities, and tools they need to succeed as entrepreneurs. We addressed several different needs. First off, immigrants and refugees frequently encounter obstacles when trying to access chances for high-quality entrepreneurial education and training. They lack the assistance and direction needed to deal with the challenges of establishing and operating a business in a foreign nation. We sought to enhance immigrants' economic independence, help local economies, and promote social cohesion by equipping them with entrepreneurial skills. Through our initiative, we aimed to remove obstacles and deal with issues that immigrants have while trying to access business possibilities.

Project partners (6)