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About

Overview

In recent years, social entrepreneurship, a sub-discipline within the field of entrepreneurship, has gained increased attention from entrepreneurship scholars. It involves the recognition, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities that result in social value, the basic and long-standing needs of society as opposed to personal or shareholder wealth.

However, regardless of the value that social entrepreneurship has for the European society as a driver for solving environmental problems, schools in many European countries are rather slowly embedding social entrepreneurship in their curriculum.

Project Aim

The INITIATION project aims to cultivate the social entrepreneurship and social innovation mindset of high school students and their motivation to become more community-oriented and be actively involved in solving environmental problems that their local communities face.

Specific Objectives

The project incorporates in its training approach an innovative web-based Digital Platform for Schools Social Entrepreneurship.

Moreover, students they will have the opportunity:

  • to identify environmental problems and develop social enterprises and business plans to combat these, with the help of their teachers.
  • to connect with their local social actors.
  • to cultivate their green skills, creativity and other key competences, such as team working and problem solving.

Project Outcomes

The project will have the following outcomes:

  • Methodological framework and curriculum
  • Learning resources on Social Entrepreneurship for sustainability
  • Digital Platform for Schools Social Entrepreneurship
  • Teachers handbook
  • Recommendations for the implementation of the INITIATION approach

Methodology

  • STAGE I. Developing the initiation methodological framework and curriculum

  • STAGE II. Developing learning resources for building the social entrepreneurship competences of high school students

  • STAGE III. Developing a web-based digital platform for schools social entrepreneurship

  • STAGE IV. Testing the initiation approach and evaluate its effectiveness

  • STAGE V. Take measures to support the exploitation and sustainability of project results

Partners

Regional Directorate for Primary & Secondary Education of Peloponnese
ΠΔΕ Πελοποννήσου

The Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of the Region of Peloponnese resides in Tripolis, capital of the Regional Unit of Arcadia. Established in 2003 constitutes a direct carrier of the Ministry of Education and Religious Matters. Apart from Arcadia, the Directorate also supervises the Regional Units of Argolida, Korinthia, Lakonia and Messinia. The Directorate is headed by the Regional Director Dimitrios Oikonomopoulos. The Directorate activities can be summarized in the administration, supervision and guidance of all the bodies pertaining to education, within the Peloponnese Region, concerning Primary and Secondary Education. The number of school units under its jurisdiction amounts to 900 and the number of employees that fall under it, directly or indirectly, is about 9500. More specifically, the staff comprises of education executives, such as Coordinators of Educational Work and Headmasters of school units, educators and administrative employees. The Directorate has been actively involved in the materialization of Cultural, Health Education and Environmental Education programs, school competitions and educational meetings. It is also coordinator of the Erasmus+ project: «European herItage 3D games platform for teaching mAths (IDEA)». Regional Directorate lists a whole of 71. 150 students under its supervision (38.000 study in Primary Education and 33.150 study in Secondary Education).

CNR ITD

The Institute for Educational Technology (CNR-ITD) is the only public scientific institute in Italy entirely devoted to studying how ICT-based tools and methods can enhance and innovate teaching and learning processes. Over the years, the National Research Council of Italy has played a pioneering role in this field. The Institute for Educational Technology was established back in 1970, and the Institute for Education and Training Technologies was set up in 1993. These two institutes were merged in 2002 to form the current institute, with its headquarters in Genoa and a division in Palermo. The institute’s mission is to perform research and technology transfer activities focusing on: ICT as a resource for teaching/learning processes; innovative approaches to the design, deployment, management and assessment of learning environments; study of emerging educational needs and opportunities brought about by evolution in ICT and the demands of the knowledge society.

Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci (CSC Danilo Dolci)

CENTRO PER LO SVILUPPO CREATIVO “DANILO DOLCI” is a non-profit organisation located in Palermo, born in 1958 from the experience and work of Danilo Dolci, a social activist, sociologist, nonviolent and educator.
It is a non-profit organization that involves young people and adults and has successfully operated for more than twenty years mainly on the educational sector in collaboration with schools, universities, institutions, associations and social groups both at local and at international level.
CSC “Danilo Dolci” works at local and European levels, focusing on two main pillars:
– Local Development, starting from the needs of the community and paying special attention to the most disadvantaged target groups;
– Creativity, promoting innovation in education and using new methodologies to empower young, adults and professionals.
Particularly, the work of the Center is based on the Reciprocal Maieutic Approach, a methodology of research and self-analysis useful to develop creativity, communication,
cooperation and active participation.

Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus”

The Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus” is a research and technology organization focusing on research and development in Information and Communication Technologies. Particular emphasis is placed on education, by developing and deploying conventional and digital media in education and lifelong learning; publishing printed and electronic educational materials; administrating and managing the Greek School Network; and supporting the organization and operation of the electronic infrastructure of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and all educational units. Since its establishment in 1985, and in the past decades of rapid technological development, CTI has actively contributed to many of the ICT advances that today are taken for granted.

Vändra Gymnasium
Varnas_Gymnasium

Vändra Gymnasium is situated in the middle of Estonia. It has 320 students, 37 teachers and 30 staff members. This rural school is 100 years old and plays an important part in the local life of small country town Vändra with the population of approximately 3,000 people.
From 2015 there have been important changes in the management as 4 departments have been created to involve teachers actively in more democratic improvements of giving quality education. In the gymnasium part the focus is on entrepreneurship and sport with extra English and Maths lessons, in the basic school part there are special classes in the Creative and sport branch.
The school participates in various Estonian projects, for instance, the ones connected with prevention of bullying or nature etc. It has good academic results and large choice of extra-curricular classes for students, including music, choir singing, art, folk dancing, and sport.

The Junior and Senior School (TJSS)
The junior & Senior school

The school aims to provide for its pupils an excellent, innovative and creative education that enables them to realise their full potential and to enjoy a fulfilled life as confident, compassionate and healthy members of the global community. The Junior and Senior School offers top-class facilities in two sites, operating in beautiful grounds with modern, state-of-the-art facilities fit for 21st century learning, including well-equipped classrooms, sports grounds and recreational areas as well as, at the Senior School site, science laboratories, drama and music studios and a swimming pool.
The Junior and Senior School is an all through school that follows the National Curriculum for England with a continuum of education from Early Years through to the Sixth Form for children aged 3-19. Over 800 children attend the long-established Junior School and nearly 600 the rapidly expanding Senior School, which can also be joined by students from Greek and other primary schools in Year 7 (equivalent to the first year of gymnasium). The medium of communication in our school is the English Language and therefore all our students graduate fully proficient in speaking, listening, reading and writing in English.

University of Patras (UPatras)
University of Patra

The University of Patras (UPatras) is located in Patras, Achaia, Greece, and was founded in 1964, consisting of 7 schools and 35 departments. It caters for a large number of sectors and consequently a great range of disciplines through 35 undergraduate and 50 postgraduate study programs. One of its main goals is the creation of new knowledge through the promotion of scientific research. This makes the university particularly active in research, with a high reputation for quality and innovativeness. In the QS World Ranking / Top Universities (2021), UPatras is ranked 751-800. Along with its other activities, UPatras operates the Foreign Language Teaching Unit and the Educational Center for life-long learning. The university runs an undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral program in business administration following the latest scientific developments and covers a full range of topics related to business administration in private, public, and non-profit sector and entrepreneurship.

CARDET

CARDET (Centre for Advancement of Research and Development in Educational Technology) an independent, non-profit, non-governmental, research and development organization based in Cyprus. It is one of the leading research and development centres in the Euro-Mediterranean region, with global expertise in project design and implementation, capacity building, and e-learning. CARDET is independently affiliated with universities and institutions from around the world, such as Yale University, the University of Nicosia and the International Council of Educational Media. CARDET has completed numerous projects relating to the development of capacity building and planning in education and VET, youth support, adult learning, literacies, digital tools, eLearning, educational technology, and social integration of marginalized groups and seniors.


Τhe material of the project reflects only the author’s views. The European Commission’s 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 or the Hellenic National Agency cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein​.
[Project Number: 2021-1-EL01-KA220-SCH-000031559]