3 . The Methodological Tool
The designed methodology adopted in this project was tailored to unlocking the entrepreneurial talent of ethical purchasing groups ( EPGs ) operating in Croatia , France , Italy , and was determined through extensive research into empowering pedagogical approaches , ethical purchasing groups , the social enterprise start up process , and entrepreneurial skills . It was important to adopt a methodology that could provide a consistent standard of delivery across the three countries where it was being implemented , and also remained relevant to the diversity amongst those contexts . This is evident within the project ’ s designed and developed toolkit comprising the following tools which are available in the Project Handbook :
g . Mentor Guide ( to guide the participants through the social start up process ) h . Self Assessment Tool ( Business Diary for participants to monitor their progress on the social start up programme ) i . Evaluation Tool ( to measure the learning and impact of the participants ) j . Mentor Training Guide ( for training the mentors )
We now present and describe the methodological process that was adopted to realise the project ’ s aims and objectives . Essentially , the methodological process involved six consecutive stages as follows :
Stage
Aims
1 . Design : To design the process of implementing the social start ups project and meeting its aims and objectives .
2 . Training : To train the mentors in the mentor-led social start up training process so that they can experiment and implement this process with members of the identified EPGs in their countries of Croatia , France and Italy .
3 . Experimentation /
Implementation : a . To apply the mentor-led social start up training process with members of the identified EPGs in their countries of Croatia , France and Italy . b . To provide peer mentoring to the trained mentors as they progressed through the training process .
4 . Evaluation : a . To capture the mentors ’ critical reflections and evaluation of the social start up process they are implementing . b . To evaluate the trainees ’ learning through the specifically designed pre and post tests
5 . Revision : To revise the curriculum and toolkit components based on the results of the evaluation stage .
6 . Publication : To publish and disseminate the project ’ s handbook , methodological tool , curriculum , and toolkit in English , Croatian , French and Italian . On the Social Start Up project , these six stages were enacted through a sequential process as shown in the following diagram , where the length for completing each stage is also outlined :
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