YiA_social entrepreneurship.pdf

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Youth in Action

Programme

Focus on:

Young peopleand entrepreneurship

YOUTH IN ACTION PROGRAMME

European

good practice

projects


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Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers

to your questions about the European Union.

Freephone number (*):00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11

(*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbersor these calls may be billed.

More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu).

Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.

Luxembourg: Publications Offi ce of the European Union, 2013

ISBN 978-92-79-24173-4

doi:10.2766/31812

Printed in Belgium

PRINTEDONELEMENTALCHLORINE-FREEBLEACHEDPAPER(ECF)
http://europa.eu/http://europa.eu/


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Focus on:

Young peopleand entrepreneurship

YOUTH IN ACTION PROGRAMME

European

good practiceprojects


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Androulla VassiliouCommissioner for Education, Culture,Multilingualism and Youth


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3

Foreword

he European Union promotes entrepreneurship as

a key competence that can boost competitiveness

and growth. It has highlighted the importance of

advancing a European entrepreneurial culture

by fostering the right mind-set and entrepreneurship-related skills in the Europe 2020 strategy. As a result,

entrepreneurship education is now being increasingly

encouraged across Europe.

Encouraging entrepreneurship is particularly important

to face challenges related to alarmingly high youth

unemployment rates in most of the EU Member States.

Entrepreneurship and self-employment offer pathways

for young people to emerge from unemployment. In

this context, special attention is paid to the social

entrepreneurship model, which is embedded in the real

economy, close to people and to local communities, and

primarily aimed at contributing to the general good of

society.

The European Unions commitment to growth and

jobs is not just about boosting major infrastructure

investment, promoting exports or improving the business

environment. The EU vision is much broader, embracingthe development of human potential. For the sake of its

own citizens, as well as if it wants to stay competitive,

Europe needs to invest in people, in their skills, in their

ability to adapt and in their ability to innovate. The

challenges of modern society can be met only when its

members develop a sense of what it is to be an active,

critical and responsible citizen of Europe, and when they

T


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4

Androulla VassiliouCommissioner for Education, Culture,Multilingualism and Youth

are equipped to make the best choices for themselves in

a constantly changing world.

To achieve this, there is a need to encourage young

people, to instil a spirit of entrepreneurship from early

on in life initiative, confidence, calculated risk-taking,creativity, organisation, tenacity and to help them

in the transition from school to adulthood. This booklet

demonstrates some of the wide range of pioneering

projects in Youth in Action programme that nurture the

development of such entrepreneurial skills.


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5

Pioneering practice in youngpeoples learning aboutentrepreneurship

oung people creating a local theatre or a school magazine,

or running activities for young refugees, are giving real

meaning to the concept of entrepreneurial learning. The

projects in this booklet illustrate the benefits of stimulating

young people and providing them with the tools, resources orenvironment to put their ideas into effect.

Personal development requires the ability to set personal goals,

and the know-how to attain them. This is what entrepreneurial

learning for young people is all about. Alongside finding out how

to start a business, they acquire practical skills and positive

attitudes: greater awareness of society, a sharpened appetite

for active engagement, new competences and confidence to

play a part.

Formal qualifications do not always help young people when

it comes to solving problems, rising to challenges, assessing

opportunities or taking risks. Even managing a small project can

be a real achievement for someone who has never before faced

such a challenge. And opportunities for networking can open the

eyes of young people who lack a wide range of contacts or the

possibility to compare their situation with others.

This is the rationale behind the projects outlined in this booklet.

A sense of initiative and entrepreneurship refers to an

individuals ability to turn ideas into action. It includes

creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the

ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve

objectives. This supports individuals in their everyday

lives at home and in society, and in the workplace. It

alerts them to the context they operate in, and makes

them more ready to seize opportunities.

Y


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6 Entrepreneurship depends on:

* knowledge, including the ability to identify

opportunities for personal, professional and/or

business activities;

* skills, in proactive project management (planning,

organisation, leading and delegating, analysis,

communication, evaluation and recording),

representation and negotiation, and working as an

individual and in teams;

* attitude, characterised by initiative, independence and

innovation in personal and social life, as much as at work,

and motivation and determination to meet objectives.

Some of them recount how creating an app at school,

compiling video profiles or making a cross-border movie

helped develop creativity and innovation, and in several cases

the skills and confidence acquired led to the setting up of

companies or to self-employment.

Some of the projects focus on giving new chances to

younger people with fewer opportunities, by involving them

in entrepreneurial activities where they acquire confidence inthemselves through non-formal learning.

Other projects are focused on upskilling youth workers,

exploring social entrepreneurship models or on building bridges

with professionals in education, local authorities or the business

community.

Success can be measured by how many successful businesses

participants subsequently set up, or how many of them found

jobs. But what counts even more is the extent to which theyoung people acquired those abilities and attitudes that help

them to take charge of their own lives, to influence their own

futures and to play an active role as citizens of Europe.


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Table of contents

Foreword 3

Pioneering practice in young peoples learning about entrepreneurship 5

1 Bouncing back from early school-leaving to help others 8

2 Fashioning a future through youth initiatives 10

3 Creating cultural links across the Dniester 12

4 A factory for social entrepreneurship 14

5 The art of youth engagement 16

6 Making movies and making movie companies 18

7 Finding a place for herself by helping others 208 Get inspired! 22

9 Cycles of self-improvement 24

10 Finding new skills in a new country 26

11 Moving from idea to action 28

12 Bringing school magazines into the Internet age 30

13 Generating cultural warmth in a freezing room 32

14 Change laboratory 34

15 Bringing Europe to Marseille 36

16 A second home for immigrants to Norway 3817 Helping young Belgians become independent 40

18 Opening young peoples eyes to citizenship 42

19 The mechanics of developing a sense of engagement 44

20 Stage by stage to new confidence 46

21 Leading to successful youth projects 48

22 BringArt bike-design workshop 50

23 Rocking around Europe 52

24 Taking initiatives to break out of the box 54

25 Young women bring drama to rural Finland 5626 Spinning a new tale of the industrial past 58

27 Encouraging the journey towards entrepreneurship 60

28 From earth to body, from body to heart 62

29 Rescuing a sense of engagement 64

30 Guiding young people towards their personal paths 66

31 Documenting how theatre helped integrate migrants 68

32 Opening up a future in Greece for immigrant girls 70

33 Turning obstacles into opportunities 72

34 New insights into asylum 7435 Battling poverty 76

36 From training in entrepreneurship to running a business 78


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8

1.

Bouncing back from early school-leavingto help others

Leaving school at 14is not the easiest start to acareer. A group of young men in Vienna somewho were early school leavers, some with Iranian andRussian backgrounds, some who were daunted by the

world of work and did not know what profession tochoose created a video project to help other youngpeople nd their way from school to employment.Tey knew how big the challenge can be.

Whatchado (1) the network for occupationalorientation (http://www.whatchado.net) hasbeen functioning in Vienna since September 2011.Te group designed and created an online platform

carrying interviews with people working in a widerange of occupations, providing an informal career viewoffered by manual workers and television presenters,apprentices and accountants, craftsmen and musicians and even the president of Austria.

(1) Whatchado an American English abbreviation, enquiringWhat do you do (professionally)?
http://www.whatchado.net/http://www.whatchado.net/


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9Today there are so many

different jobs and it is

not easy for youngsters

to decide what kind of

job they want to do andhow to get there. I know,

because it took me a

long time to find myself

too.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Austria.Project carried out by Whatchado Netzwerk fr Berufsorientierung,Austria.

o provide a framework for the project, the young meninitially set up a non-prot association. Tey selectedinterview subjects, made contact with companies andpublic organisations and requested interviews with

employees. Tey then conducted and shot the videosthemselves, asking questions about interviewees dailyworking routine, what they liked and disliked, and theireducation. Te resulting series of ve-minute videosprovides young people with a realistic insight into theworking environment and helps them think about theirown choices on education and career.

Te team promoted the platform at career information

days and fairs for young people. Tey also liaisedwith schools and young people on the sort ofinformation that they would like to see in interviews.An accompanying online questionnaire helps users tomatch job proles with their personal interests, and asearch engine directs them to interviews with peoplein relevant occupations. Te project has proved agreat success for young people exploring the worldof work, and also for the young people who ran the

project. Te target of generating 500 interviews by2013 was already reached in 2012. Tere are nowplans to develop related apps, to offer the service inother languages and to make further links with privatecompanies. It has also led to two of the founders of theinitiative turning the association into a business start-upin early 2012 with investor backing: this offers onlinevideo-based proling services for private business, andhas three full-time and nine part-time employees. Tis

won a social impact award from the Vienna Universityof Economics and Business Administration, and waschosen as one of the 50 top start-ups in 2011.Te Youth Initiative project ran from September 2011to May 2012 in Vienna.


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10Alongside the 2012 Bilbao InternationalArt & Fashion competition for young designers,Bilboost, an online platform, was set up to encourageinnovation among young creators around Europe and

beyond. It benets from the fact that the competitionhad 36 nalists from 13 countries, selected from826 contestants of 47 nationalities. Te platform usesIC to promote young peoples access to creative formsof self-expression, and to offer links to top designers,which reinforce their relationships with the world ofwork and their sense of entrepreneurship. But it alsopromotes intercultural dialogue and awareness of social

issues, since the project is run by non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) using fashion to tackle youthunemployment, racism and post-conict dialogue.

Tis multimedia tool is available in English andSpanish, and includes social media with a monthlynewsletter. Te platform is public, but individual userscan obtain passwords allowing them to access videocompetitions and virtual galleries where designers

can show their work and make themselves known.It contains a guide for young entrepreneurs in theelds of art and fashion, and it has run a design acommunication campaign, inviting young peopleto enter art and fashion contests. Young peopleinterested in arts and fashion across Europe canenjoy the many-faceted virtual communication. Teability to make contact with each other not only

promotes understanding among people from differentbackgrounds, but can also give new cross-borderimpetus to fashion trends and ideas, and generate

Fashioning a futurethrough youth initiatives

2.


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11Being present on this

platform has changed

my career as a designer

by offering me a shop

window where I candisplay my work.

Its about ideas. You

dont have to present a

huge saleable collection,

but just show your

creativity.

This has made itpossible for me to

dream, and to start

my professional career

through new technology.

Project funded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture ExecutiveAgency in Brussels, Belgium.Project carried out by the Asociacin Cultural Roda, Spain; FashionAwareness Direct, United Kingdom; Associazione Moda e Modi, Italy;CityArts, Ireland.

interest from international fashion companies. At thesame time, it develops the social aspect of the fashionindustry and helps young designers to compete on equalterms using new technologies.

Setting up the project involved the identicationof good practices and successful methodologies forcreating virtual tools for young people, and testing andadapting the tools to the needs of users. Preparatorytransnational meetings were held in Ireland, Italy, Spainand the United Kingdom, along with a series of regionalseminars. Tis made it possible to collect information,analyse needs, design tools and recruit participants.

Constant communication about the project was acentral element and a report on results was deliveredat the end of the project.

After 18 months, 1 300 European young people wereusing Bilboost, demonstrating the merits of promotingmedia literacy and e-youth work. Tis has fosteredentrepreneurial spirit and developed skills among youngpeople, and strengthened relationships in the art worldbetween young creators and acclaimed designers. It alsoinvolved schools and NGOs in the exchange of learningand experience.

Te project took place from December 2009 to the endof May 2011 in Dublin, Getxo (Spain), London andMilan. Te participants were mainly 16- to 25-year-oldfashion designers, stylists, graphic designers, architects,managers, trainers, teachers, students in art schools andunemployed young people.


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12When Luka went to Comratin Moldova for a six-monthstint as a European Voluntary Service volunteer, he foundthat the art and culture project he was assigned to wasnot fully ready. But instead of going back to his scouting

organisation in Slovenia, he decided to stay anyway, and todesign a project himself. Within weeks he had identiedneeds among local people, and in response he created aseries of activities around the theme of awareness of Europe.

Some of his programme offered new skills. Since Englishis little known in Comrat, he organised an English club,and together with a local American, provided a course ofinformal English lessons for young people, introducing

games and other non-formal methods to make themcondent in using the language. When he realised thatyoung people had diffi culty in using computers, heorganised a course in touch-typing in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Creating cultural linksacross the Dniester

3.


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13With the EuropeanVoluntary Service,something new comes intotown. Everywhere people

welcomed me with openarms, and I will neverforget our endless debatesabout culture, economicsand politics.

The European VoluntaryService was a greatexperience in my life. Youget to meet new people,learn foreign languages,understand other culturesand ways of life.

A European Voluntary Service project funded by the Youth in Actionnational agency in Slovenia.Project carried out by Zdruenje slovenskih katolikih skavtinj inskavtov, Slovenia; International Committee of Citizen Diplomacy,Moldova.

Other elements broadened his contacts with local people.He explained the scouting movement, which is virtuallyunknown in Moldova, and made several presentations onscouting activities. And he cooperated with other local

projects, including a photo exhibition, a lm club, an artcompetition focused on womens issues and round tablesabout Europe and the European Union.

One of his activities there had a major impact on his life.He studied the techniques used in building traditionalGagauzian houses, in which natural materials such as strawbales and clay offer good insulation properties, and helpedbuild one which was of particular interest to him as a

student of engineering. On his return to university, at theend of his European Voluntary Service project, he decidedto focus his diploma paper on these techniques. As a result,he is now employed as a construction site manager in aSlovenian company specialised in natural building.

While he was there, Luka not only developed his ownsense of social entrepreneurship; he also learned sometechnical skills including speaking and writing Russian

and improved his English. And he widened his culturalawareness, learning that people in Moldova treasure what islargely taken for granted in the EU: health, peace, prosperity,rule of law, and human and civil rights. He developedgreat affection for Moldova, but also a new sense of theimportance of the values of the EU and a pride in beingEuropean.

Te project ran from February to August 2010, andwas hosted by the International Committee of CitizenDiplomacy, a Moldavian non-governmental organisationworking to support the non-governmental sector inransnistria.


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14Social enterprises offer a valuable model for youthwork. How to set them up was the focus of a seminarfor 24 youth workers that took place in July 2011, withparticipants from the EU and Eastern Europe. Te

starting point was that social entrepreneurship offersa double advantage: it can help sustain many NGOsstruggling with nancial issues as grants get harder tond, and it offers some innovative ways of introducingyoung people to the world of work, and even of creatingemployment.

Youth workers from Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Georgia,Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Sweden

and Ukraine explored the topic as an opportunity foryouth work. Tey discussed how to develop the abilitiesof people working with youth particularly with youngpeople from ethnic minorities and how to makeyoung people more competitive in the labour market.Te seminar did not suggest that social entrepreneurshipis a universal model for the trouble-free work of a youthorganisation, but it did identify where opportunities

exist, how they can be seized with imagination andinitiative, and what skills are most useful in exploiting

A factory for social entrepreneurship

4.


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15Social entrepreneurship is veryinteresting, and this way young peoplecan develop their skills and get newknowledge that is really useful for them

as well as for the organisation.

This is a very good tool to solve thesocial problems of vulnerable populationsthrough income-generating activities.

With participants from youthorganisations that are social enterprises,non-commercial organisations, and

commercial organisations engagedin business related to social issues,we collected experiences reflectingdifferent national approaches to socialentrepreneurship and created a generalconcept of how we can use socialentrepreneurship as a method of workingwith young people.

A training course funded by the Youth in Action national agency in Estonia.Project carried out by Mis? Kus?Millal? MT, Estonia; Daugavpils10. Vidusskola, Latvia; JUBUK Verein zur Pflege jdischer Bildung undKultur e.V., Germany; Helsingin Venjnkielinen NuorisokulttuuriyhdistysAlliance ry, Finland; Ryska riksfrbundet i Sverige, Sweden; Agency for Non-Formal Learning, Russia; Ukraine-XXI, Ukraine; Apriori, Moldova; FialtaNGO, Belarus; Abkhazeti (CHCA), Georgia; Volunteer Service of VelikiyNovgorod, Russia; Slavic Youth Organisation, Lithuania.

the opportunities. Te seminar employedthe methods of non-formal teaching,encouraging the exchange of experiencefrom different countries to alert the

participants to opportunities they hadnot been aware of, along with theoreticaland practical exercises, and simulations ofentrepreneurship challenges.

Tere was agreement on the need todevelop the competences of peopleworking with youth, so that they werebetter equipped to build links between

youth work and social enterprises. Teparticipants acquired new capacitiesfor counselling, and for supporting thecreation and development of YouthFactories of Social Entrepreneurship intheir own countries as part of Youth inAction, so that social entrepreneurshipand entrepreneurial skills would be

promoted among young people.Tis ve-day seminar took place inNelijrve, Estonia, in July 2011, andwas run by the NGO Mis? Kus?Millal?It was one component of a four-monthproject entitled Youth factory of socialentrepreneurship: jobs, enterprise andsociety, which aims at increasing the

employment chances of young peoplefrom ethnic minorities.


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16Young peoples participationin cultural life and thearts was the focus of a three-day event in Dublin inMarch 2010. Te 60 young delegates, aged between15 and 25, were all enthusiastic and determined to

be involved in arts and culture policies.Delegates came from across Ireland, from a wide rangeof different backgrounds. Te event featured arts-basedworkshops and discussions, aided by professionalartists, initially in small interactive groups that allowedthe participants to take ownership of the processand express their own ideas. Te discussions werethen extended to include representatives of cultural

institutions, relevant government departments andother agencies. In this broader forum, and using music,theatre, dance, lm and the visual arts, the youngparticipants explored engagement in cultural life andthe arts, and expressed their own concerns and ideas.

The art of youth engagement

5.


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17This gave me a chance

to speak about these

issues and I got to

try new things I would

not have gotten to tryanywhere else.

A seminar funded by the Youth in Action national agency in Ireland.Project carried out by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaion, Ireland.

Te event had echoes across the country. Schoolsand youth groups were encouraged to hold relateddiscussions and activities. A young arts collective ran adedicated website as a forum for ideas, with an online

record of the event. And a screening of lms by youngpeople was organised.

In addition to the dialogue that was generated at theevent itself, there were other immediate effects, withthe Irish Arts Council inviting youth representativesto take part in discussions of resource allocation foryouth activities, and numerous invitations from otherorganisations to make presentations on the initiative.

Since then, some of the young participants haveorganised a follow-up youth-led meeting to build onthe ideas generated and to broaden their reach to moreyoung people.


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18Ten French and Spanish young adultsmade a shortlm, in a cooperation between non-governmentalorganisations that work with lm in the two countries.Tey worked together in creating the script, preparing

and then supervising the shooting, and in the post-production phase. Across such a wide range of tasks,close coordination was vital. Success was achieved byexcellent communication and teamwork: everybodyknew what they had to do at any particular time, andthey took the responsibility for doing it.

Te story recounts how a man driving aimlessly acrossa physical and cultural desert gives a lift to a hitchhiker

and becomes involved in a journey that provides himat last with a sense of identity. Every element wascarefully integrated, from looking for actors to rentingthe furniture and nding the sets and locations. Tepreparations involved extensive discussions betweendifferent members of the team to establish every shot,how it should be made and what was needed for it.Prior to shooting, rehearsals took place with the actors,

and the technical and artistic teams were taken to visit

Making movies and making movie companies

6.


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19Everyone brought

their own vision and

artistic sensibility to the

teamwork and this made

the project a success.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin France.Project carried out by Le Grenier Du Shanak, France; Filmephilos, Spain;La Casquette Productions, France (http://www.lacasquette.fr).

the locations and all the last-minute administrativeproblems were dealt with. Once the lm was actuallyshot, the group organised all the subsequent technicalstages of the movie editing images and sound,

creating and recording the music and harmonising thecolours.

Major obstacles had to be overcome to keep the projecton track, mainly because the group was a non-protorganisation. Te team eventually overcame thediffi culties by creating their own production company,La Casquette Productions, which has subsequentlyworked with French cities and institutions on

movies, including Mmorial de la Rsistance et de laDportation for Saint-Etienne.

Te Seul Seul project ran from September 2011 toMarch 2012, and took place in Paris and in abernas,Spain. Te six French and four Spanish participantswere all in the 2530 age range.
http://www.lacasquette.fr/http://www.lacasquette.fr/


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20People can find their own placein the world throughhelping others as in the case of a young immigrant girl inBelgium. She was one of a group of young people who set upa Youth Initiative project in Antwerp.

Te focus of the initiative was young people in residentialcare, who are frequently cut off from the activities thatmany their age take for granted. Tis can reinforce theirsense of exclusion and limit their possibilities for realisingtheir full potential. Te risk was averted for some care-homeresidents in the city of Antwerp after this Youth Initiativeproject started to offer meaningful and enjoyable leisure-timeactivities.

Te group went to listen to what the youngsters in residentialcare would like to do with their free time. Te result was aseries of organised activities such as cycling tours, trips toamusement parks and the seaside, and craft afternoons. Everyweekend and every holiday period there was something newas a cultural, creative or sporting opportunity, providingthe chance for contact with new ideas and new people, andovercoming boredom and the limitations of pocket money.Te activities eventually extended to young people in severalcare-homes across Antwerp. For the young organisers, theproject gave them the chance to learn new things themselves about planning and execution, about teamwork, aboutcommunication and about overcoming obstacles and risingto challenges.

Finding a place for herselfby helping others

7.


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A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin the Flemish-speaking community of Belgium.Project carried out by Wingerdbloei vzw, Belgium.

Te young immigrant girl who was one of the organisersof the initiative had dropped out of school because she wasconfronted with racism, and had come to feel out of place andlacked condence. She was attracted to this project because

although she had never worked with other young people ordone any extracurricular activities, the focus on welfare forvulnerable children was something she could sympathise with,based on her own personal experience as an immigrant.

Subsequently, other opportunities opened up for her. Shewent to the Netherlands to give a presentation about theproject and to exchange experiences. She moved on to doingwork related to women in society and the opportunities for

women from ethnic minorities.She became a youth ambassador for the Antwerp EuropeanYouth Capital and part of a project on equal opportunities.Since then she has resumed studying, with a focus on socialwork. She is also a participant in a living library projectwhich aims at constructing a pact in Flanders between youngpeople, policymakers and society at large for youth policy in2020. Ideas have been submitted by 5 500 people, and she

presented the results at an EU youth summit in May 2011.Project Bijzonder gewoon sjell (extraordinary natural chill)run in Antwerp, Belgium, for 13 months from April 2008.

Youth in Action projectsgave me a new confidenceand a new sense ofengagement. I felt I was

really learning. I felt asense of commitment Ihad never felt at school. Idiscovered not only what Ilike to do, but also what Ican do.

As a 17-year-old, I did nothave many interests and

I was studying somethingI never wanted to study.I was treated like a childthat was incapable ofachieving anything. Icould not stand the unfairtreatment, including fromsome of the teachers, so

I did not feel good aboutmyself or my life. I shutmyself offcompletely andsaw no future for myself.


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22Offering inspirationfrom collaboration among the threedistinct elds of non-formal education, business and formaleducation was the ambition of this week-long project inPoland. Representatives of the three sectors came together for

a rare sharing of comparisons and exchanges. Te seminar wasa conscious attempt to build bridges between sectors and learnfrom each others philosophy, approaches and experiences.

Te 25 participants from 12 countries included youth leadersexperienced in implementing Youth in Action projects,particularly projects with a strong entrepreneurial impact, andyouth workers from organisations developing entrepreneurialskills among young people. Tere were also academic and

business specialists in formal entrepreneurial education andrepresentatives of public institutions.

Tis projects starting point was that a formal educationalbackground and vocational experience are nowadays notenough for nding ones place in the labour market. Moreis needed: entrepreneurial competences gained throughnon-formal education such as the ability to plan andmanage projects, adapt to changes, deal with risk and solve

problems. Widening the understanding of entrepreneurshipin different countries helped to identify factors and resources

Get inspired!

8.


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23Ive learnt new tools

and methods about

youth entrepreneurship

education and useful

skills.

I learnt a lot of

the theory behind

entrepreneurship

education and this really

helped me to understand

it.

It inspired me a lot andgave me the chance to

meet professionals and

businesses that our NGO

could work with.

A seminar funded by the Youth in Action national agency in Poland.

that can help young people in taking initiatives and showingentrepreneurialism. Te programme also explored Youth inAction activities as a catalyst for developing the entrepreneurialcompetences of young people.

Participants were encouraged to seek a common visionand understanding of what was meant by entrepreneurialeducation, building on proles they provided of successfulentrepreneurs from their own countries. Te seminar examinedwhat makes an entrepreneur, and what are the attributes, interms of knowledge, skills and attitudes, that entrepreneuriallearning should promote. As a creative element in theprogramme, participants formed groups and then produced

their own versions of the tools, resources and methods thatcould best support youth entrepreneurship education.

One session explored building cooperation with companiesand identifying the kind of support (nancial, knowledge,voluntary service of employees, etc.) that a company canprovide. One participating NGO obtained a contract toprovide counselling services to an international bank as a resultof the seminar.

Te seminar took place on 1924 April 2012 in Konstancin-Jeziorna, Poland. Te participants came from Belgium,Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia,Lithuania, Malta, Poland and the United Kingdom.


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24More peoplecan get around the Croatian townofNovska on a bicycle, thanks to this project. But just asimportantly, the young people involved in the project havebeen able to develop their creativity and entrepreneurship,

and to nd ways of giving practical expression to anengagement in environmental protection.

Te central activity of the project consisted of 19 youngpeople collecting old and broken bicycles, repairing themand putting them back into use for tourists and for localcitizens. Te reconditioned bicycles were offered for rental at very low rates at the busiest places in town, andthe revenue generated was ploughed back into keeping

the project going. Deals were negotiated with cafes at therental locations, where the rental money would be taken.Te bicycles were also distinctively decorated in workshopsessions, to give the project even higher visibility.

Te project, which ran throughout the second half of 2011,was initiated by members of a youth cycling club whoalso wanted to promote cycling for health and ecologicalreasons. Tey started by recruiting local young peopleand agreeing with them on the objectives of the project.ogether they planned how to carry it out and theyallocated the tasks and responsibilities to make it work.First, promotional materials were designed and produced.Tese were then distributed to the public, to explain the

Cycles of self-improvement

9.


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25This was a great

experience where

we learned a bit of

everything from

marketing andentrepreneurship

through to solidarity and

tolerance.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Croatia.Project carried out by Novi svijet gradska udruga zabrigu o djeciI mladima, Croatia.

project and its purposes. Further publicity was generatedthrough social media and local radio. Cycling events wereorganised and the project was presented at local schools.Open workshops on basic bike repair were held. In response,

local people donated unwanted bikes.

Te group could then start restoring and decorating thebikes, and buying the necessary tools and parts. Teyoungsters involved developed new mechanical skills.But many of the associated activities also boosted theircreativity and sense of entrepreneurship. Tey acquireda better sense of organisation and teamwork. Tey learnthow to deal with nance and to cooperate with different

institutions. And by making presentations on the projectsobjectives and subsequently on its outcomes theyextended their communication capacities. Tey expandedtheir own environmental awareness and concern for health,and because several of the youngsters involved were fromdisadvantaged backgrounds and living in care, the projectprovided new experiences in solidarity among young people.Overall, the group had the novel experience of taking

responsibility for what they were doing, as active citizens,bringing change and improvement to their local community.

Some of the citizens of Novska have become more physicallyactive too, and have also acquired greater awareness aboutpreventive actions to protect the environment.


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26Young people from a Sudanese communityin Kilkenny part of an international resettlement programme worked

with Irish teenagers to create a two-week culture club forprimary-school age children in the city. Te aim was to explore

and expand the views of young people on cultural diversity.Te club helped to promote different cultures and to counter

racism and discrimination.

Te 60 primary-school children who attended were a mix of

Irish, Nigerian, Polish and Sudanese. Tey were engaged in

games and workshops on dancing and drumming, on sportand storytelling, and on making masks and cooking food

activities that allowed them to explore different cultures. Te

focus was on the individuals uniqueness and social skills.Alongside, some of the activities introduced European topics,

to raise awareness of European citizenship and of the childrensplace in Europe.

Te project gave the teenagers a chance to display their owntalents. Tey were involved in designing, preparing and

delivering the activities. And each of them took a role in

planning the activities, obtaining equipment and supplies,

Finding new skills in a new country

10.


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27The success of the

adultyouth partnership

on this project was the

key to the young leaders

achieving their goals.A youth-led project like

Culture Club brought

many people together

within their new

communities and helped

the integration progress.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Ireland.Project carried out by Ossory Youth, Ireland.

ensuring health and safety, promoting and advertising the

project, or project evaluation. Daily reviews with all of them

meant they could express their views, offer suggestions for

improvement and discuss and resolve issues as they arose. By

being part of the club, they also became better known locally,and they acquired a greater understanding of cultural norms

and new knowledge about other cultures.

Not only did they make a real contribution to local life, but

they also helped more widely in spreading the ideas and values

of a multicultural society and tolerance. Tey also enjoyed

working together and gained valuable experience along theway, developing leadership skills, taking on responsibility and

working in partnership with adults to achieve set goals. Teygained condence and self-esteem, made new relationships

and friends, and even became positive role models for youngerchildren. All of them completed a full week of youth leadership

training at the start of the project. At the end of it, they created

a toolkit of practical advice that could benet other young

people considering setting up a similar initiative in their own

community.

Te project took place in the second half of 2009, in Kilkennycity, Ireland. Te 16 teenagers from Sudan and 11 fromKilkenny had already been working together as mentors to a

youth group under an international integration programme.


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28From idea to actionwas a ve-day training course thathelped guide 20 young people in turning their entrepreneurialideas into action plans. Each of the participants already hadan idea about a project: a vegan cafe for young unemployed

people, an NGO to advise people with fewer opportunitiesabout setting up a business, an association to develop culturalevents, a volunteer-based theatre group for disadvantagedchildren, etc. Te trainers used non-formal techniques togive the participants the tools to develop their projects, andthe course provided a platform for support, networking,cooperation and sharing of ideas.

Te programme included case studies, visits to projects and

evaluation. Reection on their projects led to improvements intheir planning and to clearer ideas about what to expect, andwhat to do and who to ask when diffi culties arise.

Tey learnt about business planning, marketing and visibility,and business analysis, nancing and funding. Te coursegave them the space, resources and links to test their ideas,practise new skills, obtain feedback and to implement theirprojects in cooperation with others. And they could experiencetechniques new to them in self-directed learning and peer-to-peer work. Te participants also practised and improved their

Moving from idea to action

11.


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29Bridging the worlds of business andnon-formal learning is challenging,because they do not immediatelyunderstand one another. But it provides

real potential for the future, in developingyoung and creative people who alsohave the necessary skills and tools forentrepreneurship.

I learned a lot about entrepreneurshipand had the chance to explore how tomove from idea to action.

For us as trainers it was very challenging,working together for the first timeand bringing our own experiences andbackgrounds from different countries, andcombining non-formal education with thebusiness field.

A training course funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Spain.

presentation skills in general, and sincethey came from Austria, Belgium, Croatia,Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Spain,Sweden, urkey and the United Kingdom

they developed their ability to do so in aforeign language. Trough working togetherin groups they learnt the value of mutualsupport.

Tey discovered ways to progress their projectsand how to nd the right match between theirown ideas and the frameworks available forsupport such as the options in the Youth in

Action programme, social entrepreneurship, orstructures such as NGOs and associations.

Te team of trainers included both non-formaland business trainers, who together provideda comprehensive view of what is needed tomake an entrepreneurial project happen. Bythe end of the course, the participants had aclear view of the steps needed to translate theirideas into reality.

Te course took place in Madrid, inMay 2012. Te four trainers were themselvespart of a Youth in Action raining of trainerscourse.


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30Pupils at a secondary schoolin Luxembourgdecided that their school magazine could be updatedto take advantage of the Internet age. Outsideschool hours, and through non-formal learning,

they developed an app which not only carries thecustomary magazine articles, but also provides up-to-date information about the school such as newsabout whats going on, which teachers are absent orthe days menu in the school canteen. It also providesphotographs of events organised by the school.

Teir motto was no adults. Te entire project wascreated and managed by the group of young people

themselves during their free time. Tey set uptheir own working groups on techniques, contentand management. Tey carried out the technicaldevelopment of the app, including the I programming(they attended training courses in I during weekendsand visited a V studio in Cologne, Germany), they

Bringing school magazinesinto the Internet age

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31I never thought I would

manage such a huge

project. But failure

wasnt an option It

was difficult to workout all the details,

but it was great to

succeed. I would love to

do it again. No adults

what a great idea

but sometimes we

suffered

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Luxembourg.Project carried out by the informal group of young people De Periskop,Luxembourg.

designed the content and they planned and controlledthe budget. Te application for a Youth in Action grantwas also written by themselves.

o launch the app, they presented it in the schoolduring an event with a concert, and promotional-shirts and yers. Tey also promoted it outside theschool: they developed a logo, wrote press releases andcontacted local media. By late 2012 the app had beendownloaded by 900 people.

Tey learnt to work continuously on a project, toorganise themselves and to recover from setbacks

and disappointments by continuing to work on theirconcept.

Te project ran for seven months from the end of 2011.en young people were involved, aged from 15 to 17.Te app won a prize in July 2012, the annual Prix AlineMayrisch for special creativity among schoolchildren.


34/84

32In the remote Snfellsnes peninsula in Iceland, atheatre called Frystiklenn, which means freezing room has been created. It has enhanced local culture. It hasalso generated new opportunities for young people.

Over the course of six months in 2011, a group of youngpeople rented an old and dilapidated sh freezing plant inthe village of Rif, renovated it, and turned it into a theatre,fully equipped with sound and lighting that they installedthemselves. o help them with these tasks, they involvedother local young people many of them with feweropportunities, including unemployed young immigrantsand people with social problems. Once the theatre was

set up, the group prepared and staged a new play, calledGirhlsar, based on the semi-historical legend of Axlar-Bjrn, a 16th century serial killer from the region.

Te project was conceived and managed by ve youngIcelanders, all between 18 and 30 years old, who had

Generating cultural warmthin a freezing room

13.


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33I learnt a lot of useful

skills not just in

art, but in knocking

down walls, putting

in electrical wiring,writing grant requests

and communicating

with people on the

project and in the local

community.

Frystiklefinn gave me an

insight into the world of

theatre, and made meinterested in acquiring

skills in electronics or

carpentry.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Iceland.Project carried out by the informal group of young people FrystiklefinnLeikhs, Iceland.

backgrounds in political science, graphic design, lighting,sound and acting. After the project ended, the theatrecontinued to operate, with additional home-grown showsand with other acting groups visiting. It also hosted a youth

arts festival in July 2012. Some of the participants managedto use the project to create part-time employment.

Te young people involved converted an idea into a reality,taking an active role in shaping their own community andcreating new opportunities for themselves. Te projectdemonstrated how creativity and entrepreneurship canbe stimulated by setting up something new, from scratch and how young peoples general employability can be

boosted by this experience. Te participants found that theyhad learnt more than they had expected including socialand civic competences acquired through communicatingwith external stakeholders, and a sense of achievement bothfrom seeing for themselves what they had done and from theextensive positive feedback on the project.


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34Social entrepreneurshipis a new concept in Latvia. Mostpeople know nothing about it, and there are hardly any social

businesses operating there. So this training course was designedprimarily for non-prot and non-governmental organisations

dealing with non-formal education, to explore socialentrepreneurship as an alternative to grant-based funding. Te

participants people working in the third sector wereoffered a view of how to take advantage of social business

opportunities, and were given some relevant skills.

Te programme provided hands-on experience in creatinglow-cost social entrepreneurship projects in the areas

the participants chose environment and sustainable

development, education, intercultural collaboration, supportfor people with disabilities, rural development or youth work.

Te participants generated business models, wrote businessplans, evaluated marketing tools and learnt to pitch their

ideas convincingly. As an experiment, the participants were

challenged to start a business selling products or offering

services, but using EUR 10 or less as a starting capital, with anyadditional funding coming from business prots. Te course

examined the success factors in setting up social enterprises.And throughout, it encouraged participants to develop

their sense of initiative and their capacities for analysingand overcoming obstacles, and identifying and maximising

opportunities in the social sector.

Te project also raised public awareness in Latvia about socialentrepreneurship and the programmes that exist to help social

business start-ups. Communication with the wider public was

a major element of the project, and featured a website, regularupdates on social media about the course and its outcomesand information about available support. Te organisers have

since participated in meetings, presentations and conferences

Change laboratory

14.


37/84

35

Going abroad and encountering other

people and other cultures gives you new

ideas to start a business.The trainers changed my way of thinking,

developed my imagination. It was first time

I saw myself as a social businessman, and

also this training gave me the courage to

dare, to share and to think big things about

myself and the world.

Sometimes taking decisions is difficultbecause of a lack of support, lack of

confidence or lack of enough people daring

enough to share your dreams and try as a

team to make it come true.

People should be aware that every simple

business could be turned into a social

business and this way help people who

really need it.

A training course funded by the Youth in Action national agency in Latvia.Project carried out by Piepildto sapnu istaba, Latvia; AEGEE-Patra,Greece; Parteneriat pentru Dezvoltarea Capitalului Uman si AlternativaSociala, Romania; Stowarzyszenie Modzie, Integracja, Aktywno,Poland; Associacao Hemisferios Solidarios, Portugal; Estonian UnescoYouth Association, Estonia; ACHO Aktivne chvile oddychu, Slovakia;Europos savanori tarnybos asociacija SALTES, Lithuania; Znanstveno-raziskovalno zdruenje za umetnost, kulturno-izobraevalne programe

in tehnologijo EPeKa, Slovenia; Exchange net, Czech Republic; CompassEurpaiIsgi Kzssgrt Egyeslet, Hungary; Tamam, Sweden.

concerning social entrepreneurship, to share

their training experience. In 2012 several such

projects were set up in Latvia.

Te one-week course took place in Riga andCiruli in October 2011, and was attended by

24 participants aged between 18 and 30, from

the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary,Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania,

Slovakia and Slovenia. It was hosted by Room

of fullled dreams, a Latvian organisation

that supports young unemployed people andpromotes social entrepreneurship and creative

approaches in education, and the participatingpartners were all non-prot and non-

governmental organisations providing non-formal learning opportunities to young people

from different social and ethnic backgrounds.

Since the course ended, some of theparticipants started their own business,

including an online shop and cafe with

educational toys in Moldova. Othersare developing business concepts or arelearning more about becoming social

entrepreneurs. Te training team has also

been asked to provide advice and support

for similar educational activities on social

entrepreneurship.


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36Four young studentsin Marseillecreated a new way ofcelebrating Europe day, by displaying huge photographsof other European cities on billboards. Te aim was to givepeople walking through the streets of Marseille a novel

sense of being European on Europe day. It was a concreteexample of young people demonstrating civic engagement,by creating a project that emphasised European citizenship.

Tis project was highly innovative in using advertisinghoardings for non-commercial information. Te teamstarted by taking photos in seven cities. One week wasspent in each of the selected cities, obtaining photographsthat captured the specic atmosphere of each of them.

Back in Marseille, the team negotiated advertising spacefrom billboard companies, then chose the most appropriatepictures for different streets in Marseille, seeking a visualinteraction between a photograph and its surroundings. Inaddition, the team presented the project to an advertisingcompany in Marseille and local advertisers, who agreed tocooperate with the campaign.

Te group not only showed a keen sense of initiative,but they also developed real skills in teamwork,

Bringing Europe to Marseille

15.


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37If I had not taken part

in this project, and

had not learned what I

learned, my new project

to promote Europeanvolunteering could never

have happened.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin France.Project carried out by Communes europennes du Var, France.

entrepreneurship and in negotiating with partners ata senior level including the EU offi ce in Marseilleand local advertisers. On many occasions they had tobe very persuasive to win cooperation. Tey had to

communicate in foreign languages, too, while they wereon location in the other European cities that were featuredin their photographic tour. Tey also gained new digitalcompetences, in working with photographs at professionallevel, all the way from taking the picture to post-productionand large-scale display.

Most of the group are now developing entrepreneurshipfurther. Some started a fair-trade -shirt company, and one

made lms about disabled people and migrants, and is nowrunning a project to promote volunteering, non-formallearning and access to culture, with a focus on incentivesfor young people from disadvantaged inner city areas(http://www.tempoconnect.com).

Te photographic tour of seven European cities took placein JulyAugust 2005, and the exhibition in the streets ofMarseille in May 2006. Te project involved four French

students in their mid-20s, and partner organisationsincluded the European youth hostelling federation and theClear Channel advertising company in Marseille.
http://www.tempoconnect.com/http://www.tempoconnect.com/


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38Young immigrants in the Norwegian town of Drammenset up a cafe called Second home to provide ameeting place for other young people coming to thecountry from different cultures and with different

languages. Tey designed it as a place where people fromelsewhere could feel at home, and to increase tolerance andunderstanding of the multicultural society in Drammen.

Te project involved young Norwegians, and adults too,who could help young immigrants to nd their place. Tecafe, open one day a week, offered not only conversationand a welcome, and past-times such as billiards, but alsoworkshops, lectures about Norwegian society, training in

activities such as rst-aid, introductions to local sports andleisure clubs, and the chance to meet older guest speakersand local people.

Te project, initiated by Intermezzo Youth, an organisationof mainly non-Norwegian young people, provided an arenafor real integration of immigrants with local people, andhelped them all towards becoming condent and tolerantEuropean citizens.

A second home for immigrants to Norway

16.


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39We knew how difficult it

was to get answers to all

your questions when the

country you find yourself

in is so different to whatyoure used to.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Norway.Project carried out by Intermezzo Ungdomsorganisasjon, Norway.

Tere was a strongly practical aspect to the project, too.Assistance to the young immigrants included such simplebut necessary tasks as helping read letters and gettinginformation. It also contributed to personal as well as social

development, in an open-minded ambience that helpedto generate trust and to promote non-formal learning. Atthe same time, the project also boosted capacity among theyoung people involved, who had to prepare, implement andevaluate the activities. Everyone involved was made moreaware of their own potential for improving the quality oftheir own lives and of those around them, by taking greaterresponsibility and exercising initiative. Te group grew

continuously and new friendships were made.Second home took place in Drammen, Norway from Mayto December 2012. Tirty young people aged 16 to 30 tookpart in the project.

Te Intermezzo Youth organisation organised the project,and partners included Aktiv Ungdom, Drammenmunicipality, career centre, Akademiet high school,Drammen chess club, Drammen tourism association,

Red Cross, Drammen pistol club.


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40This projectwas designedto help young peopleinthe German-speaking part of Belgium become creative andindependent, by giving them new opportunities for learningabout entrepreneurship.

Weaknesses in young peoples condence and skills ininnovation, creativity and developing an entrepreneurialspirit have been repeatedly revealed by consultations thathave taken place within the framework of the Polish,Danish and Cypriot EU Presidencies. In the German-speaking community of Belgium, for instance, youngpeople complained of a lack of encouragement for self-employment and a lack of awareness of entrepreneurship.

In response, the regional youth council created a platformwhere those gaps could be lled by exchanges with youngpeople. wo events were organised on the theme of Young dynamic independent, where career planningexperts and people who were self-employed offered advice,assistance and information.

Te events took place in the towns of Eupen and St Vith

in April 2012, with the involvement of the local junior

Helping young Belgians become independent

17.


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41How osten do young

self-employed people

get the opportunity to

discuss starting up a

business? In just anevening, I learnt so much

from experts on taxation

and creating a company

and made some

contacts I know I can

call on if I need further

advice.

A seminar funded by the Youth in Action national agency in the German-speaking community of Belgium.Project carried out by the National Working Group, Belgium.

chambers of commerce. Te programmes were geared toproviding initial insights into starting a business. In eachcase, a keynote speaker, already self-employed, outlinedthe prospects and the obstacles of being successfully

self-employed. Ten the young people who came along weredivided into working groups, where they discussed workingfor themselves with other self-employed people from variouselds and experts in career planning, business start-ups,insurance and taxation.

o attract young people, publicity campaigns were createdwith a deliberately informal approach, directly addressingthe ideas of someday being your own boss, living out your

dreams and letting your career ideas run free.

Te project was conceived and run by the regional youthcouncil, and the young people who came along to the eventswere mostly pupils in their last year at school and trainees.Te experts who took part also found that it was a goodopportunity to learn more about what young people needif they are to acquire the skills and competences to exercisegreater independence and entrepreneurship.


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42Four young peoplecreated a magazine inMalta known as Wink aimed at a youngaudience, and with a focus on citizenship, solidarityand the environment. Te monthly print run of

5 500 copies was distributed in 50 public libraries andsecondary schools. Te team researched, edited andpromoted each issue themselves, working with specialcontributors on each topic covered.

Te magazine carried strong messages to stimulateyoung peoples involvement in the society they are partof. In a cooperative venture with a local environmentalNGO, Wink ran a recycling campaign to encourage

the reuse of sheets of paper that still had a blank side,and promoted the collection of waste or rough paperwith a stand at the University of Malta. Te magazinealso carried a regular green tips feature on theenvironment. And it launched a campaign on positiveliving, known as Te positive diary, which urged

Opening young peoples eyes to citizenship

18.


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43The Youth in Actionprogramme gave us theopportunity to turn an ideainto a real working project,

and it provided us with ahuge learning curve, givingus innumerable insightsinto organisation of alarge-scale project as wellas into art of publishing.

I was shy about takinginitiatives or taking onresponsibilities like this,but this project showed methat if you focus on yourobjective, share it withlike-minded people andhave sufficient drive, yourdreams can see the lightof day, and large-scale

projects like this can becarried out successfully.It was a rollercoaster ofself-discovery.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Malta.Project carried out by the informal group Wink, Malta.

young people to take more control of their own lives tochange things for the better, and offered some practicaltips on everything from lifestyle to personal relations.Te team contacted local personalities to obtain their

support for the campaign.Schools made use of Wink in lessons in English,science, geography and social studies, and the entirecontent of the magazine was licensed under CreativeCommons 3.0, to allow free use by anyone, promotingboth informal and non-formal learning. Awareness wasraised of the work of local NGOs through collaborationwith students involved in organisations that deal with

the environment, and social and animal welfare. Testudents uploaded blogs onto the Wink website abouttheir experiences.

Te project ran from July 2009 to June 2010 inMarsaskala, Malta. Te four members of the team wereaged between 18 and 30.


46/84

44In a small town in the Netherlands countryside, fouryoung men created a project based on stock-car racing thatgave a new sense of engagement to nearly a dozen localyoung people with educational and social problems.

Te participants worked for four months to get twostock-cars into shape and ready to race. Tey had guidancefrom an experienced car mechanic, and learned the basicsof car engineering. But they also played an active partin realising the project as a whole: they got involved infund-raising, they found sponsors, they arranged test ridesand they painted the car. Te high point of the project wascompeting in a regional stock-car race. And the project was

rounded off with a presentation to sponsors, parents andlocal schools.

The mechanics of developing a senseof engagement

19.


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45These young people

have shown that they

have a lot of potential

and that they can

achieve a lot as long asthey have a goal.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin the Netherlands.Project carried out by the Stichting Wiel, the Netherlands.

Te result was not only that the young people founda new way to spend their free time and learnt a lotabout car mechanics and basic competences in scienceand technology; they also responded to the challenges

of working together learning how to cooperate, tocontrol their own emotions and to take responsibility.Teir involvement in running the project taught themabout management and about working within a budget,and developed their self-condence and capacities forcommunication, including in public. And the sense ofachievement and the disciplines acquired gave them a newinterest in pursuing their education. Tey are all now active

in the local youth centre, deploying their new-found senseof entrepreneurship in helping to set up projects there forother young people.

Te four young men who initiated the project were agedbetween 18 and 23. Tey had a vocational educationbackground and were aware, from their own experience, ofthe diffi culties young people encounter in nding a placein society without education, employment, interests or any

sort of goal in your life. Tey designed the project to giveyoung people the chance to acquire some skills for shapinga positive future and they ran the entire exercise, with somehelp from a coach from Foundation Wiel.

Te 10 young people involved in the activities were between13 and 15 years old, all facing educational and socialobstacles, most with behavioural problems, and all at risk ofdropping out of school.

Te project took place between July 2011 and November2011 in Elburg, the Netherlands.


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46This projectgave unemployed young peopletheopportunity to use drama to analyse their situationand experiences and to discover and unleash their owncapacities. As a result, they built-up their self-esteem

and learnt new skills. By engaging in a performance,and everything that was necessary to create and prepareit, they strengthened their sense of initiative and theirabilities to organise and present. Te project alsoallowed them to share their vision and understandingof youth unemployment with decision-makers and thewider public.

With the help of a drama teacher, the young people

created a play about their own lives. Tey werein charge of the preparations, acting and stagetechniques, and they also lmed the performance.Te improvisation methods they used in creating theplay gave them an opportunity to explore not onlytheir own experiences, but also to take account of thebroader context of their lives including the waymedia cover youth issues, general public attitudes and

European youth employment strategies. Tis helpedthem to rene and clarify the message in the play theycreated. Not everyone acted, but everyone took partone way or another, in initial discussions, in marketing,in stage technique or in technical assistance.

Tey performed the play in the town hall, in frontof local offi cials, and invited politicians responsiblefor youth policy. After the performance, the young

people switched places physically with the audience.People working at the job centre or social benets

Stage by stage to new confi

dence

20.


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47I feel like Ive got back

my human dignity.

A seminar funded by the Youth in Action national agency in Finland.Project carried out by Liedonkunta/Kisllikellari, Finland.

offi ce, or sitting on the local council, took on the roleof unemployed young people, while the young peoplethemselves acted as the decision-makers.

Since the whole event was lmed, a DVD made itpossible to share the messages with youth workers,entrepreneurship educators and students in a specialpreparatory class of a vocational school. Te event wasalso covered in the local media.

Te project took place over SeptemberNovember2011, in Lieto and Raisio. Te participants, Finnishyoungsters mainly aged from 18 to 25, were local

unemployed young people. Tey gained a signicantsense of achievement from the project and displayed ahigh degree of engagement and motivation. Tey alsolearned how to allocate tasks and responsibilities in aproject, how to use their talent and how to stand up andmake a statement in public.


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48A city park was revitalised, a club for theatreimprovisation was started and a street art summit washeld as a result of a training course in leadership in theCzech Republic. And these are just some of the tangible

results of the academy of young leaders. Other projectsincluded discussion weekends for economics students,an intergenerational festival of ageing and open-airconcerts.

Tis long-term training course helped a group of youngCzechs to unlock their leadership skills. It provided asequence of non-formal group training sessions overthe course of a year, using case studies, eld visits and

discussions. Initial training examined the qualitiesand characteristics of leadership, as well as providingtraining in project management, needs analysis andgroup dynamics. Further sessions boosted skills inproject development, team-building and motivation.And a nal session gave guidance on how to evaluatea project and how each individual can steer his or herown learning process.

Leading to successful youth projects

21.


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49This was valuable

training over the course

of an entire year. And

with the help of the

trainers, we did goodteamwork too!

A training course funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin the Czech Republic.

Individual coaching was also provided on projectpreparation and development, in which the participantshad to do work on their own to plan and implementconcrete projects. Tey were supported in developing

their initiatives, which were designed for their own localcommunities. Tey had to nd a team for the projectand carry it out with others, so they learnt not onlyabout project management, but also about teamwork,how to cooperate with local civic administrations andhow to interact with the media. At the same time, theygot to know their local community better.

Te project involved 22 young Czechs from a range

of social and regional backgrounds, and took place inHrdek nad Nisou in September 2011, Litomyl inDecember 2011 and in ehlovice in July 2012.


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50Secondary-school studentsin Budapestbecameinvolved in a pioneering volunteer project that led tothree valuable outcomes. Te most concrete result wasthat disadvantaged families were given professionally

rebuilt and highly decorated bicycles. But the studentswho volunteered to carry out the renovation anddecoration were also beneciaries: they explored newdecorative techniques and new sources of inspiration,and developed a new sense of teamwork. Te thirdprincipal outcome was the boost that the success ofthis project gave to young people taking initiatives toimprove the world around them.

Before the decorating started, the students werefamiliarised with the motifs of traditional artworkin distinct cultures: Arabic, Aztec, Black-African,Celtic, Hungarian, Japanese, North-American Indianand Oceania-Indonesian civilizations. With thatbackground, they were invited to create designs todecorate the frames of the 16 bicycles. Ten they

BringArt bike-design workshop

22.


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51The participants enjoyed

working together, but

they also learned a lot

about different cultures

and different paintingmethods. Being engaged

in social work was

new to them, and their

happiness was evident

when they handed

over the bikes that

they had so carefully

renovated and decorated to young people with

fewer opportunities.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Hungary.Project carried out by the informal group BringArt, Hungary.

received instruction in diverse painting methods andtechniques. And over the space of two two-day sessions,they then applied their new knowledge to paintingthe bikes, with constant support and guidance. Te

painted frames were nally professionally varnished atNB Paintworks Studio (Budapest), and the studentshelped specialist bike technicians from Bringa Konyha(Budapest) to reassemble the bicycles. As a closingevent, the students were invited to personally donate thereborn bikes to needy families and charity organisations.

Te 16 volunteer students, aged 15 to 18, attended aschool that specialises in using art in the education of

young people with behavioural problems or impairedabilities. Te project took place in AprilJune 2011,and was run by BringArt, which started as an informalgroup of young people wanting to promote initiativeand social awareness, and which has since become afoundation, planning new projects.


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52An informal group of young artists from Swedenand the United Kingdom relied exclusively on their ownideas and skills to create a short lm that explores thecharacteristic adolescent search for direction in a way

that has resonance for young people across Europe. Teyworked together in writing the script, they acted in it,they directed and edited it and they wrote the music for itthemselves. And when it was completed, they promotedits distribution via screenings, school visits and festivals.Sharing the experience and the responsibilities was centralto the project. Te climate was much more open than iscustomary in lm-making.

Te plot of the lm reects the underlying attempt bythese artists from different countries and cultures to ndnew bridges through art. Entitled Bergtagen in Swedishand By the mountain in English, the lm recounts thebreak-up of a young British rock band during a Europeantour. In Sweden, the lead singer walks out on the band,

Rocking around Europe

23.


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53The key factors are

to get everybody to

speak up the project

will be so much better

if everyone feelsresponsibility and

participation and to

have a good coach who

supports and advises.

Being a producer here

was more like being a

project manager. I had

to make sure everything

flowed and that the

group worked well

together.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Sweden.Project carried out by the informal group Mumrik Film och Drama,Sweden.

and the rest of the band (aided by some of his childhoodfriends) try to nd him before the bands producers learnwhat has happened and sack him. Te fugitive lead singer,trying to hitchhike back to Scotland, meets a young girl

who is a Sami the indigenous people of the Nordicregion and they overcome language barriers as theytravel the highway together. Meanwhile, the band enliststhe help of locals in their search and learns a lot aboutScandinavian culture.

Te project gave the participants a new sense of teamwork they cooperated at a distance in writing the script,then came together in Sweden for the shooting. It gave

them real experience in lm production, and several ofthem obtained jobs in media production as a result. Italso provided them with the chance to learn about andunderstand different cultures. Te lm subsequentlyreceived screenings, with the presence of the team, allowingdiscussion on youth projects.

Te project took place over 12 months from July 2010,and involved eight participants from Sweden and nine

from the United Kingdom, all in the 1824 age range.


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56A group of young womenwere keen to widen the rangeof leisure activities for young people in their village, so theydecided to start a drama club open for all young peopleliving nearby. Not only did they start a club, but they

created a show a play based on a well-known childrenstale, When the robbers came to Cardamom town. Tenthey performed the play in villages in the neighbourhood,so that many more local people could see it.

Te project brought together a dozen young people fromacross the surrounding area. With the help of a coach,they learned about theatre techniques set design,costumes, acting, directing, marketing and front-of-house

management. Each was allowed to develop their ownparticular interests. Ten, during the rehearsal phase,they explored the themes of the play, particularly how tocope with situations of discrimination when some peopleare different to others. Tis extended into discussions oncitizenship at national and European level, and on howindividuals can inuence their own environment. Since therehearsal period coincided with national elections, in which

Young women bring drama to rural Finland

25.


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57I learned that everything

doesnt always go as

planned but that hard

work pays off, and that

in a short time you cancreate something great.

Participating made me

more open towards new

people, and showed me

how important it is to

do things together as a

group.

Today I dare to be the

centre of attention, and

despite how nervous

I am, Ive now got the

courage to go for it. Im

a lot braver now than

before.

The following summer,me and three of my

friends decided to

make our own summer

jobs by performing. We

rehearsed a play, had

eight shows, got new

experiences and also

money! What a nice way

to earn money by doing

something you love with

the people you love.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Finland.Project carried out by Hankasalmen 4H-yhdistysry, Finland.

multicultural societies and racism were frequent topics ofdiscussion, the group was able to make its own examinationof these subjects.

Te members of the group developed a sense of initiativeand discovered that they could make a difference in theplace they lived. In addition, they learnt how to cooperateand they boosted their condence in themselves and theirself-esteem. Four of the young women behind the projectcontinued the activity by making their own small project,and the drama club continued in cooperation with the localadministration.

Te project took place in the rural municipality ofHankasalmi, Finland, in the rst six months of 2011. It wasrun by Hankasalmen 4H-yhdistysry in Finland, a youthdevelopment organisation that supports entrepreneurship,employability and active citizenship among young people.Te initial group included many youngsters with diffi cultbackgrounds because of health issues, unemployment intheir family or social problems.


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58The cultural linksbetween past and present weredemonstrated in a novel way to a wide public in aproject in Liechtenstein. Young artists created anexhibition celebrating the fth anniversary of the

Gasometer, an arts centre in riesen. Te exhibitionwas organised by an art group called 415 that aimsto create a bridge between art and daily life. Teirmethod was to utilise new combinations of art, designand culture, drawing on the history of the place andthe weaving and woodwork industries that were centralto its past, as well as the arts centres own previousexhibitions.

Te result was a celebration of the historicalbackground of the Gasometer, bringing together thecultures of yesterday and today with the theme ofmaking new things out of old. Te exhibition made useof basic materials fabric and wood and featured ahistoric Spoerry and Cie weaving loom.

New cultural expressions were the concrete result ofthe project, with a three-week programme of concerts,readings, recitals, workshops and a fashion show. But

Spinning a new tale of the industrial past

26.


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59The project enriched and

developed our skills: we

learnt to communicate

within the team and to

the outside world, tomake proper business

plans and to turn theory

into practice.

A Youth Initiative project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Liechtenstein.Project carried out by the art group 415, Liechtenstein.

just as signicant were the new skills that the artistsacquired as they designed, planned, organised andcreated the exhibition. Te young artists also widenedtheir own creative experience as they worked together

in exploring and researching local history, and buildingan event around it. Tey developed new competence inteamwork, public relations, communication and eventmanagement which required them to become expertsat last-minute improvisation and acquired a newsense of entrepreneurship. And many of the exhibitsthey created sprayed pieces of wood, decorativelighting, scarves and bags were sold during the

exhibition.Te project took place in late March and earlyApril 2011. Te vernissage welcomed 120 visitors,and overall there were 350 visitors to the exhibition,which received extensive media coverage. Te exhibitswere created by three women aged 25 and 26 fromLiechtenstein, one with a training in design, another whostudied cultural management and one a psychologist.


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61The discussions were

interesting and useful

on youth unemployment

and the lack of jobs in

rural areas. These issuesare very relevant to us

and our work.

A Youth Exchange project funded by the Youth in Action national agencyin Bulgaria.Project carried out by Association for Development of AlternativeTourism Koriten, Bulgaria; Posledniaya nadezhda, Belarus;Perspective Centre of Initiatives, Russia; Krimskaya Liga, Ukraine; MyGeneration, Moldova; Asociacin Xuvenil Vrenza, Spain.

focused on active participation, so the young peoplereceived practical training and practised their learningskills. All the participants had to make presentations ontheir respective organisations and their aims, and a part

of the course consisted of team-building activities.Tere were discussions and workshops, and excursionsto learn about the appreciation of cultural heritage andto see and discuss successful rural tourism ventures.Te youth workers also met local people, and engagedwith them often through role-play in discoveringthe assets and drawbacks of poorly developed regions.Exercises led to depictions of possible rural scenarios,

followed up with analysis and comment. And sessionsfocused on professional development and ideas on howto build careers, and to set and achieve personal goals.Representatives of local and national authorities tookpart in exchanges on youth employment, and subjectscovered included ideas on education and qualications,interactions with local administration and politiciansand funding possibilities under European programmes.

Te Entrepreneurship and youth in regions withweak economies project was run by the Associationfor Development of Alternative ourism in Koriten. Ittook place during one week in July 2012 in Mezdra,Bulgaria, in collaboration with youth organisationsfrom ve other countries.


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62A group of Turkish studentsof jewelleryin the townof Afyonkarahisar decided to make use of the offcuts ofornamental stones that are usually thrown away. Te initialimpulse was to preserve materials that had been formed by

nature over millions of years and to reduce environmentalpollution from unnecessary waste disposal. But the projectdeveloped into a broader exploration of recycling of wastes.

Teir project, called From earth to body, from body toheart, investigated attitudes to surplus inorganic andorganic materials. Tey explored giving a second life todiscarded objects by encrusting them with fragments ofornamental stones such as agate, chalcedony and opal

including the stones from olives, peaches and dates, seashellsfound on the beach, pine cones from picnic areas, meatbones retrieved from dumpsters and animal horns.

Te widened horizons this gave to their imaginationpropelled them into developing the project into a broaderapproach to environmental consciousness, with an emphasison traditional handicrafts, which they called the Jewelleryclub. Tey aimed to treat the environment with greaterrespect, to recycle more and to support the jewellery andornamental stone market with new alternative products. Teyrealised that not all surplus material is trash and they workedtogether as a team in experimenting with new ways to createnew products with low costs and high labour content.

From earth to body, from body to heart

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63I learned how I can use nature withoutharming it, and how to turn what Ilearned

Documents

YiA_social entrepreneurship.pdf