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Enterprise+ Innovative Potential Meets Experience
Start date: Sep 1, 2014, End date: Aug 31, 2017 PROJECT  FINISHED 

In view of the fact that youth unemployment is high in the EU, the planned project aims at promoting the consideration of self-employment in vocational education. Therefore, the objective is to benefit from the emerging synergy effects of the cooperation between youth and (ex-) managers from the age group 55+ in entrepreneurship projects. For this purpose an analysis of the potentials in terms of entrepreneurial thinking and transaction of young adults in the age of 15-25 years is conducted. To recruit the young adults a cooperation with (vocational) schools and employment agencies is going to be arranged. The implemented diagnostic tool has been developed, tested and evaluated in the context of the Project “Losleger”. The tool assesses to what extend characteristics, attitudes and skills are given which are necessary for business formation or running a company. This analysis of potentials is a special form of career counseling. The analysis’ results are presented to the participants in a constructive way in professional and individual feedback talks. Furthermore the participants receive a certificate documenting the results. This certificate can be presented by the potential founder of a company when raising capital resources and borrowed capital at banks, venture capital funds, business angels or public funds. Subsequent to the feedback talks youth which were identified as having entrepreneurial potentials are promoted by entrepreneurship education. This promotion includes not only competence development programs but also working with an older employee in the age of 55+ as a mentor who assists with his/her experience-based knowledge. This special methodological-didactic form of qualification shall stimulate the youth to deploy their potentials and to use the emerging synergy effects, which originate from the different perspectives of the two involved groups. For recruiting the older managers so called multipliers which come from organizations, schools, and career centers are necessary. To attempt if the described concept can be implemented in various European countries, the project will be conducted simultaneously in Germany, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Spain. The learning philosophy the project is based on is the focus on strengths. This approach is beneficial for the competence development of both the youth and the older employees. The reason is that the necessary effort for further developing strengths is significantly smaller and therefore more promising than transforming weaknesses to strength. Furthermore the manager and other multipliers will be trained in the project’s course. Therefore the specifically needed competencies to conduct their tasks successfully are identified at first. These tasks are dependent on the multiplier and can include organizing, initiating, conducting and evaluation the analysis of the potentials and the new formed companies of the youth in a specific country, as well as coaching the youth. Following the identification, self-learning units which support the multipliers in their work are developed on the basis of the different experiences made during the project in the countries. In sum the project aims at initiating projects which are conducted by youth and older employees together and if necessary accompany them when founding a company. To reach this aim partner organizations in the named countries where found which contribute to the project with their expertise and coordinate the project locally. In Germany it is the chair of Economics and Economic Education of the University of Duisburg-Essen, which supports the projects with the tool for the analysis of potentials. Furthermore the organization “Alt hilft Jung” supports with their expertise in the cooperation of youth and older employees. In Hungary and Bulgaria the chamber of commerce, in Lithuania the chamber for foreign trade could be won as partners. The Greek partners are on the one hand a research institute and on the other hand a consultancy and the Spanish partner is the European corporate center for innovation and entrepreneurship.
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