Social Entrepreneurial Skills for Advancing Employability

We just got back from our mobility at the Cavan Centre, Ireland! Our young people from Ireland, Turkey, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Germany had a lot of fun during our youth exchange for aspiring entrepreneurs! We spent 10 marvellous days, from 19th to 28th September, learning about entrepreneurship, implementing our ideas and exploring other cultures. The Project Social Entrepreneurial Skills for Advancing Employability (SESAE) is an Erasmus + project that aims to raise awareness about entrepreneurship among European youth through fostering entrepreneurial skills, sharing best practices and promoting social responsibility. The project involves organisations and youth from Ireland, Ukraine, Germany, Georgia, Moldova and Turkey, and fosters intercultural dialogue among youth. The mobility Day 1 – 19th September Our youth exchange for aspiring entrepreneurs started on Tuesday, when we travelled to the Cavan Centre. Once there, we all got to know each other through team building activities and each group presented their sending organisations. Participants also received an introduction about the Cavan Centre, the house rules, the mobility plan and the Youthpass. Then, the Irish participants held a workshop on sustainability and eco-friendly practices to adopt during the mobility. Day 2 – 20th September Wednesday was Germany day! The German team delivered a workshop session to introduce the group to the topic of entrepreneurship. During the session, we got acquainted with some basic vocabulary and discussed the different types of entrepreneurship. We also talked about key entrepreneurial skills and reflected upon our own competences. In the afternoon, participants took part in a teambuilding group activity, scaling the high ropes that pushed them outside of their comfort zones. The second day ended with the first cultural night hosted by Ireland and Germany, who introduced their countries, played games and shared fun facts and stories. Day 3 – 21st September Thursday was Turkey day! They started off the morning with a great workshop about social and cultural entrepreneurship! Participants got the chance to think about current challenges on a given topic and come up with an enterprise idea to solve them. After lunch, the Turkish team led each country group in creating and performing short theatre plays, centred around cultural challenges that characterised their countries. The day ended with a visit from a local young entrepreneur. She gave a very inspiring talk about her experience and also answered participant’s questions about the set-up process and the issues she faced. In the evening, our Turkish and Georgian teams entertained us during their cultural night with traditional cuisine and dances! Day 4 – 22nd September Friday was Ireland day! The group went back to Dublin in the morning and visited Bradog Youth Centre. Participants got the opportunity to learn more about the Irish youth work system. Two of the Irish young participants showed them around and gave some interesting insight into their own contribution to the centre’s activities. In the afternoon, the Irish team took the lead and guided the group on a Dublin city cultural tour prepared by them. They also gave some brief explanations for each landmark they visited, which included the Spire, GPO, O’Connor Street and Bridge, Trinity College Dublin, Molly Malone and the Temple Bar! In the evening, we went back to the cavan Centre and had a delicious barbeque night! Day 5 – 23rd September Saturday was Ireland and Ukraine day! The first session was led by our Irish youth team, who divided participants in country groups and assigned them a small research on successful entrepreneurs in partner countries. Each group had to create an innovative way to present their chosen famous enterprise and convince participants to work for them. The German team received the majority of votes and won the competition! You can find the result of their research in our free Guidebook here! The rest of the day was organised by the Ukrainian team! They explained the key points to consider when creating a start-up and guided a thought-provoking debating session about the challenges and choices of an entrepreneur. In the afternoon, the group participated in an energetic team building session that helped reinforce the team’s spirits and connection. After dinner, the Ukrainian team delivered a very insightful meditation session combining typical relaxation methods with a reflection session about our relationship with money, as this was related to being an entrepreneur. Day 6 – 24th September Sunday was Moldova day! The Moldovan team prepared a well structured workshop where participants were divided into country teams and came up with very detailed enterprise ideas that combined their personal interests and skills with social issues in their community that they are keen to address. They also drafted a specific business plan and SWOT analysis. This allowed them to consider the different aspects to set up an enterprise. You can find all their ideas in our free Guidebook here!  The Moldovan ended their day with an inspiring reflection and debate on how the lifestyle and culture from our countries can influence in a positive and negative way our business ideas. In the evening, we had the third and final cultural night hosted by Ukraine and Moldova. Day 7 – 25th September Monday was Georgia day! The morning started off with discussion sessions on given topics about entrepreneurship. This was followed by theatre performances, where the Georgian team divided participants in groups and provided them with a typical situation that entrepreneurs face. Each group came up with a short play and the rest of the participants had to guess the situation represented.  In the afternoon, they conducted other workshops on social entrepreneurship and understanding the regulations linked to starting a social enterprise. After dinner, we participated in an exciting campfire night in the grounds of the centre! Day 8 – 26th September Tuesday was focussed on exploring European opportunities for young people and discovering new EU initiatives! Participants took part in an interactive workshop, where they first discussed how this project was connected to the European Year of Skills and second researched and presented European Year of Skills events in their