On the 19th of October 2014 the “Social Entrepreneurs for Mediterranean Countries – SEMCO”Training Coursecame to its end, funded with the support of the European Commission in the framework of the Youth in Action programme, Sub-Action 3.1 – Cooperation with the Neighboring Countries of the European Union.
In the period from 11th till 19th of October 2014 SEMCO brought together 26 participants – mostly youth and social workers – from a variety of Euro-Mediterranean countries, such as Italy, Malta, Lebanon, Poland,Egypt, Latvia, Tunisia, Palestine, Israel, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain, UK.
During the Training Courseparticipants have followed the cohesive learning path designed by the experienced trainers. Participants took part in a variety of non-formal and informal sessionswith the aim of acquiring anddevelopmentof the skills and tools to be a social entrepreneur. Those sessions were composed of group-building and outdoor activities, Creative Thinking workshops, role-playing games, Open Space Technology, World Cafè, buzz groups etc. Practical workshops have been combinedwith the theoretical sessions on the financing for the social enterprises, Erasmus+Programme, European and EuroMediterraneanprogrammes in the field of youth work and international cooperation. The SEMCO’s learning path has been shaped according to the UNESCO Four Pillars of Education: Learning to Know, Learning to Do, Learning to Live Together, Learning to Be.
Throughout the TC participants have acquired and improved their skills crucial for being social entrepreneurs in the local communities – communication, intercultural skills, sense of creativity and entrepreneurship. The Social Enterprise Business Plans, developed by the participants, have been the final product of the TC. At the final stage of the projectthey have been presented by the participants to three members of the SEMCO team who represented three funding sources respectively (European Commission, Bank, Private foundation).This activity enhanced participants’ presentation and public speaking skills, gave them an opportunity to receive concrete feedback about their Social EnterpriseBusiness Plans, possibility of getting funding and room for improvement of the proposals.
The Training Course has been led by the trainers with international experience, who guided and helped participants to obtain, deepen and share their knowledge, skills and competences in the realmof social entrepreneurship in the EuroMediterranean region.
The next steps of the project will consist in:
- Creation of an on-line Toolbox for collecting theoretical and practical information exchanged during the TC ;
- Final Public Report for spreading information, ideas and best practices exchanged during the TC, main results achieved and a photo gallery.
For further information please contact Alberto Biondo at the alberto.biondo@danilodolci.org