It’s My Future was a 3-year project (01/10/2015 and 31/07/2018) funded by the European Commission, under the Erasmus+ Programme, Key Action 2: Strategic Partnerships.Through a consortium composed by 9 organisations across Europe, the project aimed to create a blended learning entrepreneurship education package for middle grades allowing students to learn about entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship and develop their entrepreneurial competences, building self-confidence that leads to fewer drop outs, better education choices and a stronger awareness of one’s talents and skills. This is an age level where students often make a “major education move” in terms of where they go next in their schooling career and they are very creative and open to positive role models, which can often be a turning point in children’s lives. The project built upon on knowledge, expertise and existing good practices from eight education providers of entrepreneurship education across Europe and a Swedish company specialized on pedagogical consulting and digitalization of educational to create a deeper, more impactful and flexible modular approach. Therefore, the partners developed an eLearning module and an extra activity “Meeting with an Entrepreneur” to complement the traditional curriculum already in use. The two add-ons translated and adapted in seven languages provide an innovative model of implementation that combines online elements with traditional methods allowing the students to enhance the learning experience and extend it outside of the classroom. The newly developed entrepreneurship education package was piloted in seven countries and reached more than 7,500 students, 400 teachers and 200 volunteers/entrepreneurs. Through the participation in the programme, students cultivated a deep understanding of entrepreneurship (over 81% of the students mentioned that the eLearning inspired them to see entrepreneurship positively) and improved their entrepreneurial skills (over 80% students refer to an improvement of their team work, decision making, communication and digital skills). Teachers developed their entrepreneurial knowledge and skills through 22 training sessions, over 100 opportunities for networking and collaboration with peers, support from JA organisations and access to high quality tools and methods (95% of the teachers classifying the eLearning as a high-level quality digital tool for entrepreneurship education). Volunteers improved their skills and awareness on the role they should play in education, creating a closer connection between the world of work and education and making students perceive education as meaningful (98% of volunteers mention that the programme enabled them to support the learning journey of the students and that they would recommend the experience to their colleagues).The project shows high levels of sustainability and its results high potential to scale within and outside of the project consortium and to expand to different target groups.

Social Entrepreneurship Student Companies in the Baltic Sea Region -project combines entrepreneurship education, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team work as well as social entrepreneurship. Our project's is about supporting young people in acquiring needed skills in the rapidly changing and global working life. Entrepreneurship is the tool for young people to make themselves more employable as well as active members of the society. Through entrepreneurship education and practical hands-on learning programmes, we believe that young people will develop the basic skills and key competences needed in the working life. In our project, students will set up their own Student Companies (SC) and that own company is the platform for their learning. Based on research, this kind of learning model increases the ownership and engagement of students. This project focuses mainly on combining entrepreneurial skills with socially and environmentally minded thinking pattern. For fostering partinership and cooperation instead of only competing with each other we will develop and implement peer assessment and feedback for students' ideas and performance. While young people create the student companies, teachers will work closely together in developing material to support young people's entrepreneurial learning. In the project teachers and JA Staff will develop a peer assessment methodology, create a material bank that will be available for all teachers teaching the Company Programme. We will also together create a concept for Entrepreneurship Diploma that can be then used a certificate in schools in the future. At the end of the project a Teachers Guide will be published for the future use of teachers inside the project countries but also all over Europe in the countries where Company Programme is used.This is a three-year project that will each year have 60 young people (secondary level students) and 15 teachers participating in entrepreneurship education and events related to that. Trade fairs will involve three times more young people who learn international selling. We believe that this project helps young people and teachers to create international networks that will definitely help them in the future working life. The skills that they will obtain are all life skills that can be used in any job and also outside in everyday life.As the result of this project Europe will have more open-minded young people who know how to work together with people from different cultures. They will have excellent cooperation skills and a practical experience about international entrepreneurship. Young people and teachers will develop their mindset in thinking about the social, cultural and social aspects of entrepreneurship.

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECTVET schools has fulfilled most of its goals if students learn necessary skills and knowhow of particular profession, graduate on time and become employed after graduation. This task is not easy as alarming number of early leavers from VET education and decreasing number of employment rate of recent graduates show.Our aim was to find new pedagogical methods to tackle these challenges. We focused on develop of intrinsic motivation of students by collaborative knowledge creation culture, supporting atmosphere and constant feedback. This was done by studying larger multidisciplinary modules and with teachers who have a mindset of supporting coach. Finally learning framework for all this was a company – which students established, branded and run with coaching of well-branded companies and retailers, and use of advanced eLearning platform. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT STUDENTS 1) Learn vocational and life-learning skills and STUDY PART OF VET DEGREE by a. establishing 6 companies as a mixed group (business & artisan students together) b. branding companies with coaching of well-branded company c. running the company as a mixed group and selling products in 3 countries and online webstore 2) Will be coached and supported in emotionally safe, helpful and permissive international learning environment 3) Support skilled and motivated students to make their dreams come true and learn VET degree in learning-by-doing way COMPANIES 4) Retailers support Young Talents and benefit from co-operation 5) Well-branded companies support students to create new successful brands TEACHERS 6) Learn new groundbreaking pedagogical model and mindset to work as supporting coach SCHOOLS 7) Participating students graduate on time and become employed with brilliant vocational and life-long learning skills. New alternative way of studying curriculum will be constructed (learning wise&economically competitive). VET EDUCATION IN GENERAL 8) Improve the brand of VET education in Europe RESULTS AND IMPACTS RESULTS 1. YOUNG TALENTS ENGAGING LEARNING MODEL TO LEARN LARGE PART OF VET DEGREE BY BEING INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEUR WAS CREATED 1.1. SIX INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES WITH STRONG BRAND WAS ESTABLISHED 1.2. LEARNING MATERIAL TO LEARN VOCATIONAL SKILLS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP WAS PUBLISHED 1.3 RETAILERS GOT NEW PRODUCTS TO THEIR STORE 1.4. SCHOOLS GOT NEW DIGITAL PEDAGOGICAL TOOLS FOR THEIR USE IMPACTS: STUDENTS 48 students studied part of VET degree with multidisciplinary entrepreneurship studies and - Learning skills developed as they had to find themselves solutions to their company challenges - Super learned life learning skills including digital skills (incl. making of videos) - Are able to establish, brand and run a company in intl market - Have a real chance to become a fulltime or part-time entrepreneur after graduation with their company - Co-operation with retailers increased and possibility to get a job there improved - Were able to learn 24/7 TEACHERS got skills to change teaching from distributor of knowledge to supporting coach. WELL-BRANDED COMPANIES, RETAILERS AND JA FINLAND were able to participate in constructing content of VET studies. Can use Young Talents brand in company’s sustainable responsibility PR. Got new fresh ideas and new products to their company. SCHOOLS Change in pedagogical structure in VET schools makes it possible to re-allocate economical resources. Utilization of eLearning increased significantly. COORDINATORS’ Projects can be run more smoothly with user friendlier eKampus VET in general was polished by success stories of pedagogical model. RESULT 2. YOUNG TALENTS COACH ACADEMY MODEL FOR TEACHERS TO LEARN HOW TO WORK AS SUPPORTING COACH IMPACTS: STUDENTS are now better able to learn in emotionally safe, helpful and permissive learning environment. TEACHERS’ mindset changed from distributor of knowledge to supporting coach working with collaborative method WELL-BRANDED COMPANIES AND RETAILERS were able to participate collaboratively in developing VET education (in the learning process of students (and teachers)) SCHOOLS Teachers new competence makes it possible to re-allocate economical resources in new pedagogical focuses in VET schools LONGER TERM BENEFITS - Schools have opportunity to learn the improved learning and economically competitive features of the Young Talents Learning Model and the Young Talent Coach Academy model. For this reason, they may broaden the Young Talents Learning model to other studies in their school and coach new teachers with Young Talents Coach Academy model. Model was put in use also in other schools through good dissemination.See: - THE STORIES OF YOUNG TALENTS - INTRODUCTION TO YOUNG TALENTS LEARNING MODEL https://youtu.be/8Cn0nrAkNt0- YOUNG TALENTS COACH ACADEMY - New Learning Model https://youtu.be/QmcV1IRrixY- www.youngtalents.pro