The project “‘Workshop for Dreams – Developing the business skills of young people with fewer opportunities” unites youths, volunteers and young workers to encourage the European collaboration in the field of entrepreneurship training as well as to help the youngsters with fewer opportunities to acquire business skills.

Venue – Razlog, Bulgaria, period of YE – 01-08 April 2018.

The goal of the project is to contribute to increasing the suitability for working with the youngsters with fewer opportunities/including those that neither study nor work/ by helping them to acquire and master their entrepreneurial and business skills through the methods of non-formal education and “Studying by doing”.

The organizations involved in the project are the following: Association  ”Brainstorm group”, Bulgaria-project coordinator and a host organization; Jordan Youth Innovation Forum; TERRA DI MEZZO (TDM) 2000 MALTA; Sunflower Youth and Education  Association; Uludag University; Scientific Advisory Center «Consciousness» – Falcogroup; Armenian Marketing Club; ANKA Project Team.

The project target group includes youths in need from 17-30 years of age with fewer opportunities.  Our project aims at their needs. The project provides one activity-youth exchange in Bulgaria. There will be 45 participants in total-32 youngsters with fewer opportunities, 8 group leaders including the one from Bulgaria, 1 coordinator, 1 facilitator and 3 tutors from Bulgaria too. The duration of the youth exchange is planned to be 8 days, without the days for travelling.

The working methods will stimulate the youths’ participation and communication as well as their collaboration in exchanging experience and discussions. We are going to use interactive studies, strategies for team building and developing empathy, assertive training, interviews talks, pair and group work, brainstorming, analysis and evaluation. Thus the studying by doing process will help the project to achieve its goal.

The project studies  aim at acquiring and developing the following knowledge, skills and competencies the youths need: gaining initial knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship, initial knowledge and skills for carrying out marketing research and analyzing the result; working out a business plan; developing skills for turning the creative ideas into constructive innovations; advancing their digital competencies; acquiring new language terms regarding the entrepreneurship, marketing, business and finances; improving the communication in their mother and English languages; improving their ability to work in a team and individually; raising their civic activity through involving them into activities for reforming the policies related to supporting the youth business initiatives in local, regional and national level.

Here are the non-formal activities we have planned to be used during the project implementation:

Before the exchange-investigating in details the following issues: the unemployment rate among the young people in the country during the last 5 years to fix the recent tendency; the availability of a national youth strategy-period, main problems and suggested measures that will help for these problems to be solved at national level, results; analysis of the active national programs about entrepreneurship for the vocational schools  and universities; availability of regional and national programs for business initiatives to be financed especially for young people; European programs; investigating good practices among the successful young people; the role of the so called NEET youths to fix the latest tendency. The results of all these studies will be used during the project activities.

During the youth exchange itself-offering group solutions of the cases discussed at the sessions; role plays that help the young people to get to know the business rules, the different stages in the process of realizing a business idea, obstacles and difficulties; practical knowledge and skills in the local firms as well as talks with their owners about the business “hidden sides” and the personal motivation of each of them; interviews-talks with bank clerks to clarify the significance and the use of taking loans for private business; workshops with people that have turned their hobby into successful  and profitable business; developing a business idea and discussing its pros and cons with the lecturers and mentors; preparing the project products-e-book “First steps in business”, video film “Workshop for dreams”, leaflets with information about the project and the results achieved.

Project results: 32 young people trained, information spread among 10 000 youths /approximately/; project products and recommendations sent to local and regional authorities, educational departments, schools, NGOs and youth organizations.

The organizations involved in the project will continue their partnership and broaden the topic through collaborating in other projects within the frame of Erasmus+ program.