Javier Gonzalez is a New Entrepreneur from the Canary Islands. He has a start-up promoting sustainable tourism and environmental education. Javier discovered Erasmus Entrepreneurs since a friend recommended it to him in Tenerife. He saw it as an excellent opportunity to improve his entrepreneur skills and knowledge as well as a way to improve his German and establish a business network abroad. On the other side, Dr. Krüger is an experienced Entrepreneur from the company VHS Reckenberg-Ems, located in Rheda-Wiedenbrück. He has many years of experience and agreed to have Mr. Gonzalez in his team.
Javier went to Germany from September 9th until December 20th 2019. Once in the company Dr. Krüger explained him the company structure and introduced all the colleagues. Together Mr. Gonzalez and Dr. Krüger agreed on the tasks for the Erasmus entrepreneurs. The first task for Mr. Gonzalez was to improve his German which was essential to establish long term collaboration with the VHS. Dr. Krüger and Mr. Gonzalez decided that the long term collaboration, which was one of the most important pillars of this program, should be an educational trip to Tenerife. The objectives of the Erasmus where widely accomplished.
Javier got a B1 certificate of German language which will support the development of his company in Tenerife. He also learned about business structure and team management. Mr. González and Dr. Krüger developed a trip based on sustainable tourism to Tenerife, which will be executed in November 2020. This trip was introduced during an event of the VHS, attended by more than 50 people. This is a perfect example of long term collaboration that they expect to last many years.
“This is a perfect example of long term collaboration that they expect to last many years”.
In addition, Javier also developed a game to teach German in an enjoyable way. It is based on techniques of gamification and focusses on the integration of migrants. This game pretends to make the process of learning German easier while also allowing the participants to establish positive connections among other students in the class. This game was presented to the teachers of the VHS and they accepted it with great enthusiasm. This educational tool will be integrated in some class with students and thus meets the long term objectives as well. The experience of the Erasmus Entrepreneur program was very positive on both sides. The NE as well as the HE received new points of views thanks to this program. Mr. Gonzalez is very grateful with the Erasmus Program and Dr. Krüger and his team for the opportunity. Now Mr. Gonzalez will apply to become a Host Entrepreneurs for the next year. He will introduce all what he learned and his new know-how in his company to make it more competitive and open to new markets. The Erasmus Entrepreneur program enables the connection of entrepreneurs in all of Europe, it enhances the opportunities of European market, and allows the small start-ups to show all their potential abroad. Connecting people, creating new opportunities, sharing knowledge, that’s Erasmus Entrepreneurs. Reducing the boundaries to nothing and making committed European citizens.
