SUStainable TRADitions for Entrepreneurs in a Rural environment -ERASMUS+ project-SUSTRADER-got to its end in the capital province of the location of the coordinator partner: Piedrabuena (Ciudad Real)- Spain. After more than two years, an awful pandemic, a war within European borders and rises in travelling costs, the 5 partners of SUSTRADER managed to exchange beautiful and very well rooted traditions considered as sustainable ways of preserving national culture, boosting promising businesses. The learners who have travelled to the different participating countries have had the time of their lives by travelling for a few days to unknown European countries to live experiences connected to the labour market. Some of them have decided to go on studying English as a communication tool. The learners who have not travelled in the TPMs, have been influenced by these seeds of active citizenship since they have collaborated in the implementation of the scheduled activities in the TPMs in their country. One of our main objectives was to develop entrepreneurial skills. We have witnessed many different examples of ordinary people, in the different partner countries who decided to start up small enterprises, on a trial and error basis. Some of them have succeeded, others had to change their marketing or production strategies in order to minimise business losses. Some grew and became medium-sized businesses. In all events, all of us were able to see entrepreneurial models. Our learners had examples on how and what to do to become business people, risks, investments, how local authorities can help or, in the worst scenario, how they can interfere and become an obstacle. They learnt that the most important point is to have a clear idea of the product, if it is something needed or demanded locally, is it already in the local market, how much can be invested, how much could be lost and how to face the initial phase. The reflection on those key factors were mixed with the respect for old handcrafts using recycled materials and very old techniques and machinery. They use these old ways of production and locally sourced materials to dodge, somehow, the high prices of energy. They make little profit but if local authorities support them by lending public places or putting low rents on the use of such places, reducing taxes on their businesses...they can manage to survive and, in some cases, thrive and become an active and important part of the corporate structure of their communities. As for the directly or indirectly involved teachers, technicians and monitors, they are now motivated to work on developing entrepreneurial skills holistically, not just in terms of work, but to learn subjects like science or history, acquire digital skills to use online banking applications, to include their profiles on digital platforms, to enrol on further studies by applying to them on educational digital platforms. Another aspect we were very clear about in SUSTRADER and we have worked on has been fostering European citizenship. We have shown, for sure, among our communities, the traditions and labour realities of each partner country. We have seen the differences and similarities that make us a prosperous and democratic continent, an open-to-diversity and welcoming group of countries with a more or less similar or common past. We have common challenges for the future to be faced with the help of common policies decided at the European central institutions, shared, voted on and implemented at the same time focusing on the general welfare of each citizen. We have been presented with initiatives by the local authorities to work on the promotion of rural areas, even in our own countries, that we were not aware of. Strategic programmes to let urban citizens realize the value of the way of life in the rural environment, to discover the rural past of everyone, the traditions that have allowed whole communities to thrive and develop even though conditions were very critical, after a war, an economic crisis, etc. Before we started our project, in the midst of it and now that we have finished it, we have always born in mind the necessity of showing our learners how essential it is to become involved with job creation rather than just passively wait to be offered one. That is a very important and potentially extrapollating skill which is proactivity rather than reactivity. We do believe in that principle and it is what we have been trying to show our learners through our experience in each of the partner countries. It has been a great journey with 5 great stops!
We listed on our application form the aims SUSTRADER partners considered essential for working on throughout the project: • To give our senior and migrant learners a relevant role in all the courses they are on by showing the other learners and the rest of the community all the knowledge they have. Their fighting and resilient spirit need to be transferred to our young and middle-aged learners who, in most cases, have a reactive attitude rather than a proactive one. • To safely show how a simple enterprise is created and run, its problems and/or positive aspects. • To work on developing different skills: entrepreneurial spirit (resilience, teamwork, how to transform mere ideas into actions, etc). • To contact private and public organisations to enquire about programmes promoting self-employment, new ideas for businesses and try to show those institutions that it would be more beneficial and lasting to help people employ themselves rather than relying on others. • To compare and enrich traditional crafts that are common among the partner organisations as potential entrepreneurial-based jobs.
SUSTRADER partners know the difficulties people have in coping with this society in flux whose labour and energy needs keep changing in quantity and quality. Energy production prices reduces working and living possibilities. Aware of this chaotic scenario, we came into contact with each other to help our locals survive and thrive in this challenging society by a large and realistic range of studies and courses. Once our project was underway, we began exchanging views and practices on starting businesses, preserving traditions in rural or urban areas, promoting entrepreneurship, support from local authorities to start businesses based on migrants and local traditions. In all TPMs the partners´ representatives could learn and practice some local traditions promoted as possible ways of living. We met local authorities that are implementing such mid and long term policies. One aspect we really enjoyed was comparing how such entrepreneurship is promoted-public or private- in the partner countries: business incubators, public and heritage spaces for promoting maintenance and acknowledgment of traditional work, successful entrepreneurial businesses and similar businesses that are part of the corporate structure in the local areas, etc.