"Return on Investment of Work Based Learning and apprenticeships" (N°: 2017-1-SK01-KA202-035375) is a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union*. * Erasmus+ is the European Union’s (EU) programme for education, training, youth and sport, with the EU committing £12 billion to the programme between 2014 and 2020. By 2020 it is expected that over 800,000 education and training staff and youth workers will teach or train abroad across Europe with Erasmus+. Projects provide opportunities for learners and staff to improve their skills, enhance their employability and gain cultural awareness. Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club (KISMC) is a partner along with a diverse and complementary mix of organisations - from Slovakia the Technical University of Kosice (TUKE), 3 training organisations active in VET: IDEC - Greece, CECOA - Portugal, PIT - Spain and also from the UK - Social Value UK - a network focusing on social value and social impact, from Italy a network focusing on the promotion of digital learning and use of ICT - DLEARN and an ICT company focusing in ICT-enabled E&T - Cosmic Innovations - Cyprus. Calculate the ROI for Apprenticeships & WBLThe ROI project promotes open and innovative practices in a digital era. It delivers a web based digital tool accessible also by mobile devices in the form of a Dynamic Demonstrator capable of depicting in a purely visual way how investment in WBL and apprenticeships can manifest to multiple benefits for the company and the local society. The digital tools developed in the framework of the project will remain available as open educational resources under Creative Common License. For SMEs with limited financial resources, work based learning (WBL) represents an important tool. The RoI online tool offers:
ROI Project Objectives
A Project Designed to EngageROI of WBL and apprenticeships has been designed to engage:
In addition to that, long-term beneficiaries such as VET learners who will benefit from the increased provision of WBL opportunities in their local, regional and national area. On 26 October 2017 the BASET project kicked off with a meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria where all partners – the project coordinator Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club (KISMC) and the project partners CEED Bulgaria, IDEC, Caban Capital and Creative District – launched BASET: Boost Aid for Social Entrepreneurship through Training [Project No. 2017-1-BG01-KA204-036360]. The project has been successful in the Erasmus+ call in 2017 and consequently co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union for its 2-years' implementation. Erasmus+ is the European Union’s (EU) programme for education, training, youth and sport, with the EU committing £12 billion to the programme between 2014 and 2020. By 2020 it is expected that over 800,000 education and training staff and youth workers will teach or train abroad across Europe with Erasmus+. Projects provide opportunities for learners and staff to improve their skills, enhance their employability and gain cultural awareness. During the kick off meeting in Sofia all partners discussed their previous experience in social entrepreneurship and agreed on an agenda that would focus on producing quality intellectual outputs that would assist all stakeholders in the social entrepreneurship ecosystem. For more information on the blog publication, where you can also review more details about the BASET project, please read here
Steps2Scale is a new project where the Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club is a partner along with other organisations from Bulgaria, Austria, Spain, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. The project has been co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union and aims at creating a harmonized qualification and competence framework for the profession Scaling up Adviser which currently does not exist in any EU country. Why a project for scaling up in Europe?To those who haven't had a chance of exploring this topic, it is a fact that Europe is hosting around 4200 scaleups (SEP Monitor; Scaleup Europe, June 2017). INFO: * Scaleups are high tech companies with minimum 5 years of experience on the local market, already proven and well established market niche, have developed internationalization strategy and readiness to go and find new markets as well as add value by identifying and realizing win-win opportunities for collaboration with established companies. Scaleups are already past the search phase, thrive in the execution phase of the business model and exist on top of a solid startup ecosystem. The new Start-up and Scale-up Initiative of the European Commission (EC) focuses on providing opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs to become world leading companies, improving the conditions for startups and scaleups and enhancing competitiveness in Europe. Besides this initiative, there are joint efforts to boost the growth of startups and SMEs in Europe but it has been concluded that very few make it beyond the critical first few years. Therefore, the European Commission is determined to change that and help startups deliver their full potential by creating a culture that supports growth. We all know that it is considered that small businesses are the backbone of a country's economy, but exploring deeper it does appear that growing companies bring prosperity whereas such an ecosystem needs to be cultivated and stimulated. "The goal is for Europe to become the first choice for ambitious entrepreneurs to set up and grow their breakthrough business ideas into successful companies in well-performing ecosystems. In return, they will create new jobs, foster social responsibility and some will become global leaders." (Start-up and Scale-up Initiative; EC, 2016). What are the Steps2Scale's objectives?The objectives in the Steps2Scale project are concentrated on the development of support system in the field of adult education and training; support to entrepreneurs in the key phase of the lifecycle of their business and support the entrepreneurial culture in Europe whilst establishing new innovative managers too. Partners in Steps2Scale
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. On 2 April 2018 all partners in the BASET project gathered for the 2nd project meeting in Piraeus, Greece. The project coordinator Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club (KISMC) and the project partners CEED Bulgaria, IDEC, Caban Capital and Creative District presented social entrepreneurship case studies from each country with regard to the Social Entrepreneurship Development Model (SEDM) for BASET: Boost Aid for Social Entrepreneurship through Training.
For more information on the Project Meeting in Greece, please read here 7 fascinating conclusions from the international conference "INNOVATION - Creating the Future"12/12/2016 The international conference "Innovation - Creating the Future" was attended by more than 200 delegates from over 15 countries, brought businesses and universities together and provoked them to brainstorm on how to work together for a better future for both parties and how innovation could be an integral part for a better collaboration. After months of preparation and challenges the team at the Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club together with the State University of Library Studies and Information Technolgies and the partners from the Erasmus+ funded APInno project did host not only a successful event summarising the benefits the results of the project will bring, but an event full of excitement, great networking and plenty of follow ups bringing potential opportunities for everyone. There have been missed flights, travelling for days to come from the other side of the globe, emotions, exhaustion, sleepless nights for some but the enthusiasm and the sparks around the conference main hall and additional rooms were simply amazing. The whole APInno team were also extremely delighted to have 20+ universities from different countries, 80+ companies, social partners and policy makers which contributed to a valuable discussion throughout the whole day of 21 November 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria. If you missed the opportunity to join us at this illuminating event, we have recapped 7 conclusions drawn from the conference day below. 1. Innovation for collaboration needs a structured process Innovation plays a focal role in the university and business collaboration BUT this role needs to be structured the same way innovation is a systematic process. Therefore, after trials and erros for 2 years the APInno project established an innovation management methodology which is based on expriential learning in order to bridge the large gap between what workforce universities 'produce' and what companies actually need. The methodology shows us that from the messy idea generation moment through concept development and pipeline management, execution and implementation have to follow. 2. The university model requires a fundamental change The public is already beginning to question the value higher education provides to society. It is obvious that things need to change as we can all observe how students have troubles finding appropriate jobs after graduating and trying to settle their debts which they took to be able to study at a university. Therefore, instead of making money and contributing to the economy, students waste time and incur expenses. Yes, the university model needs to be fundamentally altered so they could feed businesses with the energy and enthusiasm of skillful employees ready to 'fight' in a competitive world where innovation is not only a buzz word but reality. 3. Innovation is not about technology at all We see new mindsets, new generations, new organisations appearing on the horizon. We also see new markets emerging. The world has moved from having thousands of businesses each with millions of customers to millions of businesses with hundreds of thousands of customers. This is a result from shifting to technology-supported industries. However, innovation is not about technology at all, it is about how we efficiently and effectively use what we have in order to produce value for ourselves and others. 4. Design thinking - a buzz word for business success? Perhaps most people have already observed that creativity and innovation have become buzzwords for business success, followed by terms such as ‘Design Thinking’ creeping into business education. However, some research shows us that there is around 20% decline in creative capacity of learners in the past 20 years. In an era when creativity is in demand, we need to first understand the creative thinking process and the difference between implementation (doing things that are determined by others and matching against their expectations) and innovation (producing multiple and varied solutions that respond to change and often surprise). 5. Entrepreneurs have to focus on designing The entrepreneurial journey is simple: starts from an idea, right through a business model to the business plan. However, entrepreneurs need to take into consideration the market desirability, financial viability and technical feasibility of the business they are trying to establish. Therefore, designing a business model is the essence of a business opportunity, whether it is to be pursued in a start-up, corporate venturing or social entrepreneurial setting. 6. Balance the academic and commercial interests Universities are a great source for technological opportunities for creating high-technology ventures. Despite that, universities are generally characterized as having weak capabilities for the development of commercial applications. The academic culture values getting its hands on research, but the commercial and entrepreneurial aspect comes right outside it and this is a sensitive issue. Academia has to develop not only creative and confident minds but commercially oriented graduates prepared for the business challenges they will come across. 7. Internships and real work for students is a must The APInno project has proven once again the importance of business and academia partnership. But the collaboration focuses on the topic of innovation and this has brought new amazing ideas for future work on assisting the two parties. The project sets out important points to look at, for example, how such collaboration can accelerate the university-work transition for students through internships and how setting real innovation challenges to be solved by students could be a real asset for businesses. Indeed, it's a win-win for everyone.
In this blog publication we are presenting the discussion panels speakers of the international conference "INNOVATION - Creating the Future" which will take place on 21 November 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria. We have experts and professionals with experience in the field of innovation, entrepreneurship, new business model generation, knowledge management, open innovation and social innovation, design thinking, R&D, business development, startups, NGOs, etc. In the meantime, if you are also curious to review the experience of our keynote speakers, you can find more information here. With the event approaching in less than a week and registration closing on 17 November, you can review the speakers at the two discussion panels Innovation in Education & Education in Innovation below and decide if you would like to come and meet all the speakers and international guests from over 15 countries (the number keeps growing with every post we write).
Estíbaliz Hernandez is a researcher at Mondragon Innovation & Knowledge (MIK), the research center for organizational management of Mondragon Corporation and is also the Director of the Degree in Business Administration at the Faculty of Business of Mondragon University (Basque Country, Spain), where she is a lecturer too. Both MIK and the University of Mondragon are part of the Mondragon Corporation, a leading Spanish business group, integrated by 250 business cooperatives with presence in 41 countries that employs more than 80 000 people. Her research has been mainly conducted in the field of innovation, entrepreneurship, new business model generation and knowledge management. She is a PhDc in the domain of User Driven Innovation in Service Industries, and holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Deusto (Spain) and the Hoge Hotelschool Maastricht (Holland) and an MBA Master from the University of Mondragon (Spain). Pilar Tovar is a Social Educator and Educational Psychologist who works at Fondo Formación Euskadi (Trápaga, Basque Country). She holds a Master Degree on Human Resources and a Master Degree (with Honours) on Social Innovation and Culture Industries and is also an expert on Community Correct Process (PROCC Methodology). For several years, she has jointly been leading Demola Basque Country node as part of the Demola network: a co-creation and open innovation project. Pilar, along with her team, guides companies and students by giving them the opportunity to work together, learn from each other and develop new joint solutions (DEMOS) in a highly innovative environment. As a coach, mentor and facilitator of these projects, she designs her own tools and methodology in social business (Value creation proposition) and open innovation ("Design Thinking", "Thinking out of the box", "learning by doing and solving problems"). Pilar is also a social entrepreneur. For years she has been leading projects with schools, Public Care centers and the Community in healthy diet, launching building relationship promoting social Cohesion, networks, etc. Magda Ropotan is an Innovation Consultant and Design Thinking Facilitator from Romania. After 13 years of working in human resources for large corporations, such as Honeywell, Genpact and IKEA, both in Romania and internationally, Magda moved into consultancy, supporting companies to innovate organically through the creativity and involvement of their own employees. Her clients range throughout Europe for whom she facilitates innovation projects, training, coaching and consultancy for their innovation strategy. She is also teaching innovation classes within several entrepreneurship education programs in Romania. Magda holds a degree in Robotics Engineering and studied about innovation, foresight, design thinking and trends in Silicon Valley, Denmark and Netherlands. Watch the conference video now! |
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The Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club is a non-profit organisation set up in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2012 to foster knowledge and innovation management across South East Europe. KISMC is supporting the development of the innovation ecosystem in the region by bridging the gap between education, research and business.
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