More digital, sustainable and socially impactful stays

How to improve the functioning of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs has been the objective of a meeting held between all project partners OPEN-EYE-t3 in Fulda, Germany, from 10 to 13 September. The team that met is composed of the Fulda University (Germany), AR-TER (Italy), UP (Slovenia), Civitta (Latvia), WKO (Austria), Sieneva Foundation (Spain), Inter Research (Germany), Semper Avanti (Poland), CCITABEL (Belgium) and the ITC from the Canary Islands (Spain), all of them being some of the 39 European destinations available. Based on an analysis of the indicators and objectives set in the renewed international consortium, different points of the entrepreneurial path were addressed, as well as the profile of the host companies, in order to enrich the exchange experiences and share knowledge, practices and ideas with which to improve the services provided.

The meeting resulted in the definition of new accompanying services to the participants to boost the quality of the exchanges, with special interest in the areas of digitalization, sustainability and social impact. New entrepreneurs receive a coaching service during their stay, which allows them to reflect on the lessons learned during their stay, as well as improve their communication skills and participate in a pitch competition.

After several years of operation, the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme has proven effective in bringing new entrepreneurs closer to initiatives with a digital, sustainable and social background. In fact, EYE Canarias has facilitated exchanges such as the Vanessa Mata, also known for her travel blog as ‘The Flying Squirrel’, she moved to Venice to work with Tommaso Merkel on exploring more sustainable tourism alternatives. Another noteworthy case is that of Nancy Mass, who came from Finland to the Canary Islands to work with John Dale Beckley at Canary Green, a non-governmental organisation that promotes the sustainability of tourism experiences in the Archipelago. These cases are the prelude to the strategy outlined at the Fulda consortium meeting, where the focus was on these sectors to promote profound changes in the entrepreneurial and economic fabric from the early phases of life of start-ups.

For established companies, this smart specialization is transmuted into more profitable exchanges with which to explore new dimensions of social responsibility and business innovation. Given the experiences of other partners, a new dimension of the action plans was introduced during the meeting to take advantage of the digitalisation and sustainability of many initiatives, so that the benefits are mutual and knowledge and practices circulate more quickly between the two sides during and after the exchange.

These actions are focused on promoting the exchanges of new entrepreneurs, opening a wide range of possibilities with which to enrich their entrepreneurship projects, learning within experienced companies and with interest in welcoming them.

If you are interested in making a funded international stay and want more information, you can contact us here.