Enterprise+ Innovative Potential Meets Experience

Identifying and fostering the entrepreneurial potential of young people is the basic idea of “Enterprise+” – reducing youth unemployment in Europe through entrepreneurship is the central concern. A new combination of entrepreneurship-assessment and entrepreneurship-education is developed to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit of young people between 16-25 years. Teenagers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Spain and Greece participate in the country-specific profile check for entrepreneurial talent „Losleger“.  They receive professional feedback showing them their entrepreneurial potential and being the fundament for the further fostering of their competences. Moreover, they obtain a certificate documenting their individual results. During the project the young people will set up their own pupils company. Experienced mentors, executive staff and managers at the age of 55+ provide their expertise and experience. The exchange across generations is supposed to be profitable for both parties.

By training the organizers, observers and mentors to analyze and find entrepreneurial potential, participating countries will benefit through the multiplier effect. Therefore the project management, the Institute of Work studies, Ruhr-University Bochum, which is represented by Dr. Martin Kröll, has competent partners at its side. In detail these are: The organization Alt hilft Jung e. V., the Chair of Business and Economic Education, University Duisburg-Essen, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Hungary and Bulgaria, the European Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Spain, a consulting agency in Greece as well as the Technology Centre of the Crete University and the Chamber of Foreign Trade in Lithuania.

The Chair of Business and Economic Education is going to provide and advance the analysis of potential for the associate countries as well as the development, realization and evaluation of the observers’ course of instruction. Also, a module with the relevant information regarding the autonomous acquirement of the competences needed for conducting the analysis of potential and the observers’ course is going to be developed.

In December 2017, the Project was awarded as Best Practise-Project of the National Agency at the German federal institute of vocational training. It was even ranked on the first place among the ten best projects of the last three years.

Project management: Dr. Martin Kröll (Ruhr-University Bochum)

Project staff, University of Duisburg-Essen: Prof. Dr. Thomas Retzmann, Anh Dinh

Project partners: Alt hilft Jung-NRW eV, Pécs-Baranyai Kereskedelmi és Iparkamara (Hungary), Gabrovska Targovsko – promishlena Palata (Bulgaria), AHK Service UAB (Lithuania), Fundacion Centro Europeo De Empresas E Innovacion De Murcia (Spain), Managing Company of Science and Technology Park of Crete und Nikolaos Raptakis & SIA O.E. –  iniochos.Simvouleftiki (Greece)

Project funding: Erasmus+

Project aim: Advancement of entrepreneurial thinking and acting of juveniles in Europe through a science-based concept of entrepreneurship-education.

Project period: September 2014 until September 2017

http://enterpriseplusproject.wordpress.iaw.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/