08-02-2020
Between 03/02-07/02/2020, a coordination meeting was held in Gdansk for the project WEBEN – Portal of Entrepreneurial Education in New Key at the Dom Muzyka hotel, where all the organisations involved in the project were present. Representatives of the organisation Fundacja Instytut Rownowagi Spoleczno Ekonomicznej hosted this activity and took care of the program of the meeting as well as our stay there.
The most important part of the coordination meeting was a detailed overview of the project concerning the budget, upcoming activities, as well as the final and main product of the project – web portal WEBEN which will contain collections of blogs and vlogs with topics on entrepreneurship. Moreover, each participating organisation is expected to design an authentic T-shirt with a motivational message inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit. We also have more precisely determined the dates and the program of upcoming activities, the clearest is certainly for the next activity: training course – which we are organising in Belgrade in the period between 11/05-18/05/2020.
On the subject of the program of activities, we have come to a consensus with the organisations for a need to organise them in each participant country, in accordance with our expectations and their ideas. Emphasis was placed on learning about the business climate, the position of small enterprises, public support, regulatory frameworks, the impact of political and economic factors on new entrepreneurs, as well as what problems they face in each of these countries, and finally – what actions the participating organisations are going to take in eliminating adverse factors such as unemployment and funding opportunities.
In addition to discussing and agreeing on the project, the representatives of the host organisation prepared a visit for us to a non-governmental organisation Social Integration Center in Sopot, where we got acquainted with their area of work in the field of entrepreneurship and expanded our outlook on the economic and political reality in Poland. Their target groups are marginalised members of society such as drug addicts and mentally disabled persons, who are not able to find employment in the labour market. As a solution, the organisation provides six-month programs, in the form of psychotherapy, internships for future work in local firms, with the prospect of continuing the employment after the completion of the program. Consequently, it allows the participants to gain valuable skills and experience to continue towards becoming active members of the community. The follow-up statistics are encouraging as there are who have already successfully completed the program and are working full-time. It has been an informative experience which provided an insight into a positive practical example, and an inspiration to follow.
We also managed to visit various sights in Gdansk and get to know the city better through an organised tour with a guide. He introduced us to the old and colourful history and culture of this northern city on the Baltic Sea coast. We also visited an exhibition at the European Solidarity Center about the Polish democratic movement “Solidarity” which was set up during this period.
Project Partners:
• Asocijacija Tavo Europa (Lithuania);
• Uludag Universitesi (Turkey);
• Alijansa za Podršku Društvu (Serbia);
• Fundacja Instytut Rownowagi Spoleczno Ekonomicznej (Poland);
• Social Inclusion Association (Greece);
• Disha International Foundation Trust (India);
• Cong Ty Co Phan Phat Trien Viec Lamthanh Thieu Nien Vax a Hoi (Vietnam);
• Stichting Etica da Terra (Netherlands).