1. Introduction to the Social Start Ups Project
Social Start Ups is a project funded by the European Union, under the Erasmus + KA2 Programme. Led by Tamat; an Italian NGO, the project partners are the Futures Entrepreneurship Centre at Plymouth University( UK), Parco Tecnologico 3-A( Italy), Municipality of Brtonigla( Croatia), Amsed NGO( France), and the Norwich Business School at the University of East Anglia( UK).
The goal of the project was to develop, test and validate a learning methodology for adult learners by experimenting the Ethical Purchasing Groups( EPGs) model as a real laboratory for the acquisition of key competences. To do this, the Social Start Ups project adopted a „ learning by doing ‟ approach, which included the direct involvement of adult participants in the Ethical Purchasing Groups start-up and management activities. The project also aimed to define, through a participatory approach, a sustainable model of EPGs that met the needs of both producers and consumers.
Amsed( in France), Verteneglio Municipality( in Croatia) and Tamat( in Italy), implemented the designed methodology created by DrHaya Al-Dajani and her colleagues at the Futures Entrepreneurship Centre of Plymouth University. During this experimentation phase, these organisations worked with EPGs in their localities to develop social enterprise models associated with the EPGs ‟ priorities. The experimentation phase was completed in September 2016, and the toolkit was finalised based on the outcomes of the application during the experimentation phase. Please go to http:// www. tamat. org / index. php / en / our-projects / european-projects / item / 31-social-startups. html to download the Social Start Ups Project Handbook which is available in Croatian, English, French, and Italian, and where you can find the complete toolkit.
Introduction to this Project Handbook
This Handbook presents the Social Starts Ups project as it was designed, implemented, and evaluated by the participating mentors and trainees in Croatia, France and Italy. In the ensuing pages you will learn about the project partners and the mentors delivering the social starts ups training programme, the methodological tool, the designed curriculum, the outcomes of the mentor training and the experimentation phase of the Social Start Ups project, and the components of the toolkit; the mentor guide, the self assessment tool, the pre and post tests, and the mentor training guide.
By following this Handbook, you will be gain an in-depth insight into the Social Start Up project rationale and execution, and you will also able to replicate the Social Stars Ups project beyond the contexts in which it was experimented. Whilst we recommend that you adopt and adapt the Social Start Up project in its entirety, each tool within the Toolkit can be used independently.
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