KICK-OFF MEETING "DREAM AFTER COVID"
This kick-off meeting marks the official start of the project proposal that aims to foster entrepreneurship in youth in the post-COVID society and increase the inclusion as well as civic participation.
On 7th of April a kick-off meeting was held online and it gathered partners from Spain, Italy, Egypt and BiH in order to discuss the upcoming activities one of which happens to be a Training Course in Egypt.
Partners from Spain, Egypt, Italy, and Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered to discuss the upcoming project activities (specially the training course in Egypt) and the distribution of other project tasks (dissemination strategy, risk assessment, quality assurance plan..).
This kick-off meeting marks the official start of the project proposal that aims to foster entrepreneurship in youth in the post-COVID society and increase the inclusion as well as civic participation. Another great story is being started and you are about to face great opportunities including online educational sessions, trainings and much more opportunities to create your own social entrepreneurial path.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a global problem, affecting local healthcare systems and productive sectors among many others. It was a “wake up call” for the economy (investors), policymakers (governments) and the entire society. Progressively, it became widely obvious there is no “going back to normal” and a new normal will gradually be in place.
We want to actively take part in its creation, fostering entrepreneurship in youth in the post-COVID society. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor analysed the effect of COVID-19 on entrepreneurship in Spain, with data from a survey of more than 4,000 entrepreneurs, conducted from 20th to 30th April, 2020. It clearly shows that the pandemic has worsened the already not very favourable situation of the entrepreneurs, especially newly established or operating at a small scale.
The entrepreneurs plan to reorient their business model and demand measures to support business creation and training in new technologies. They consider that the public funding is not enough to recover from the economic damage caused by the COVID pandemic. COVID-19 has affected all sectors and companies of all sizes, but especially all of the youngest and smallest ones. It is obvious that exceptional and ad hoc measures will continue to be necessary to stop the drain of companies closing down (which under normal conditions have proven to be competitive), but this should not be done at the expense of ceasing to stimulate the creation of new ones (especially those that best fit into a new normality, with more social impact). The recovery will demand more entrepreneurs with organizational and innovative capacity to generate collaborative and open innovation within a framework of social innovation. New synergies are required between the entrepreneurial, corporate and academia ecosystems, promoting more spin-offs and spin[1]ins. COVID-19 has caused the closure of companies, forcing many to reinvent themselves. This encourages a better use of (intra) entrepreneurial skills and re-entrepreneurship. The crisis has made digitization a priority to meet the challenges and opportunities derived from the new economic reality. Infrastructure development and training in new technologies is an urgent need: people must enter the advanced and urgent phase of digitization.
“The growing COVID-19 crisis threatens to disproportionately hit developing countries, not only as a health crisis in the short term but as a devastating social and economic crisis over the months and years to come”, say specialists from the UNDP.
Youngsters, especially from rural areas, will become a vulnerable piece in the Post-COVID society.
Youngsters and youth leaders will be immersed in a social entrepreneurial path in which they will acquire a set of tools and skills provided by the Dragon Dreaming Methodology. They will pass through the 4 different phases of the Dragon Dreaming Methodology (Dreaming, Planning, Doing, Celebrating) with workshops, trainings, etc. in which they will develop their social projects. Mentors will support them through online sessions, so their projects are committed to society, eco-friendly, innovative, use the latest ICT tools and will have high moral values and increased visibility on all levels, etc. 20 projects will be developed. In addition, participants will familiarize themselves with democracy foundations and entrepreneurship/youth policies in their regions and will create democracy management tools that will be included in Dragon Dreaming, obtaining a new, revolutionary methodology. Participants will be able to connect with other cultures and acquire EU values. We will create an interactive brochure that will document the projects developed, democracy tools and other relevant best practices and tools to reach a sustainable entrepreneurship. To achieve the results and meet all the objectives and goals of the project, we will have a participative and flexible methodology so the entities involved feel comfortable and facilitate teamwork activities. It is divided into the following WPs and stages:
- Implementation of project activities
- Stage Dreaming
- Stage Planning
- Stage Doing
- Stage Celebrating