Global programme: Lifelong Learning Programme 2007 - 2013
Specific programme: Erasmus - Multilateral projects - Erasmus Co-operation between Universities and Enterprises
Call: DG EAC/41/09
Project number: 510216-LLP-1-2010-1-NL-ERASMUS-ECUE
Duration: 39 Months (10/1/2010 - 12/31/2013)
Website: http://www.eadtu.eu/cbvi.html
Summary
With learners outside traditional cohorts increasing and universities just awakening to the LLL charter, the need to act on adult learners & workers is apparent. By years of experience, ODL institutions can flexibly act on the adult population, simultaneously a population with higher chances to succeed in entrepreneurial activities, as identified by the Kauffman Foundation. Cross Border Virtual Incubator (CBVI) flexibly reaches out to workers & learners to promote entrepreneurship and enterprise creation. It has the objective to demonstrate a social and learner-centric entrepreneurship environment for the acceleration of new starters and cross border knowledge exchange.
CBVI will effectuate far reaching pilots on (networked) business planning and successive field-oriented coaching of new entrepreneurs by universities, multipliers and SMEs. It takes full advantage of Web2.0 technologies and utilises multi-level (open) services to exploit the social & technological connectivity of individuals. The platform provides a larger social springboard on each new case. The environment has already been the springboard for the launch of 5 multilingual (pedagogically-rich) virtual Masterclasses in entrepreneurship and consecutive business planning trails inside the Good Practice of Cross Border Virtual Entrepreneurship (CBVE).
CBVI performs regional SWOTs of (pre)incubation approaches, education-based and research-based, to establish flexible technology opportunities for connecting starters and stakeholders. It organises open services to host tenants and professionals. It pilots materials, tools and guidance with virtual business planning. It executes methodologically different demonstrations of field coaching for (pre)incubation, and draws lessons from the entrepreneurship-centred environment, the business planning exercises, and the (pre)incubation pilots, to enable more regional and cross-border knowledge transfer, and a higher regional impact
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Description
On the strategic level, CBVI aims to systematically improve discussion and cooperation between higher education institutions (both education and research-based) and regional stakeholders in order to optimise the opportunities for entrepreneurship and the design of the associated entrepreneurship ecosystem. It aims to provide for more transparency of practices to help stimulate improvements and accelerate knowledge transfer on these practices, taking into consideration that these partners are often located in so called science regions, innovative regions, collaborative regions or development regions. On the tactical level, CBVI aims to support business planning & tenant incubation, utilising social and professional media & networking as a contributor to entrepreneurial success. CBVI subscribes to the need for (networked) business development and joint innovation, with purposive inflows and outflows of professional knowledge in order to accelerate enterprise start-ups. To improve the skilling of individuals in enterprise start-up, it hosts multiple development pilots, which are regional, and are conducted with students, stakeholders, SMEs and multipliers. Both professional intermediaries and experienced entrepreneurs assist in the transfer of knowledge and consultancy to starters. By virtue of the large partner network, the sourcing of expertise is able to transcend one’s own region. On the operational level, CBVI intends to demonstrate that start-ups can utilise more contemporary open tools, technologies and services, in order to decrease the financial threshold of enterprise creation. Overall, CBVI is to sustain a social and learner-centric entrepreneurship environment, which is benign to (individual or multi-party) transfer of resources concerning market conditions, access to finance, technology, culture, legislation, showcases and practice models: a platform which is conducive to the training of non-traditional learners and the start-up of enterprises.
impact
The short term target groups, which are represented in the CBVI Consortium to enhance the impact:
(1) University staff and academic professionals, (2) Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), (3) Regional multipliers & accelerators, (4) Students & adult learners/workers.
(1) University staff and academic professionals: individuals with a background in BA, entrepreneurship and enterprise coaching.
(2) Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs): regional partners, young and experienced entrepreneurs to assist in coaching and mentoring of potential entrepreneurs.
(3) Regional multipliers and accelerators: market intermediaries, such as chambers of commerce, capital seed and investment organisations, business analysis organisations, accelerator organisations such as regional incubators, local government and semi-public bodies.
(4) Students & adult workers/learners:
(a) mainstream students, intra-curricular students, involved in business administration and entrepreneurship education;
(b) mainstream students from other disciplines than business administration or entrepreneurship education, but with a realistic entrepreneurial-drive;
(c) adult workers/learners from open and distance education, usually between 35-50 years old, and a high target population for entrepreneurial activities;
(d) extra-curricular individuals outside cohorts of ODL and mainstream universities, which represent young regional entrepreneurs that seek mentoring or unemployed seeking self-employment.
Objectives
LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES BEING PURSUED:
Promotion of creativity, competitiveness, employability and entrepreneurship.
CBVI promote business planning activities, experimentations aimed at coaching new entrepreneurs, leveraging on the strong points resulting from the use of a common innovative virtual environment. Creativity, competitiveness and development of an entrepreneurship spirit are promoted through the support of SMEs and other stakeholders.
Promoting the development of services, tools, materials and educational contents based on innovative ICTs.
CBVI promotes the spreading of innovative training and educational contents for a flexible learning of the entrepreneurial skills. The learning materials produced are at cutting-edge in the use of ICTs and include a MasterClass on entrepreneurial processes in five languages; this MasterClass was developed further to the success of the CBVE Project. Taking advantage from many years of experience in the development of distance education learning environments, the CBVI partnership can rely on widely tested training and technological models exploiting the full potentials of Web 2.0. services and tools.
Enhancing the contribution of Higher Education to economic and social innovation processes.
CBVI enhances the contribution of Higher Education to the innovation processes by supporting distance education institutions in including new common educational initiatives contributing to the development of key competences for promoting an economy based on innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
Contributing to the implementation of a Common European Area for Higher Education.
Among its main objectives, CBVI aims at enhancing cooperation and exchange relations among the institutions involved in the project and at promoting capacity building processes in distance education practices through the use of innovative educational principles/concepts. Systematic dialogue, collection and organisation of educational practices within distance education will contribute to the gradual improvement in terms of access and impact that these resources have on learners.
Enhancing the quality and level of cooperation among Higher Education Institutions and Businesses.
The consortium includes a large number of academic institutions, organisations of services of business analyses and capital investments, incubators, SMEs, chambers of commerce etc. Such a reach promotes cooperation among Higher Education Institutions and Businesses
UNINETTUNO Role
UNINETTUNO before provided infrastructure to host and deliver pilots in ODL & entrepreneurship, of which CBVE virtual business planning trials in conjunction with CBVE Masterclasses Entrepreneurship being delivered through its UTIU platform. UNINETTUNO is strong in learning content delivery and students behaviour monitoring. For student and staff usage, UNINETTUNO connects to the (networked) Virtual Incubator with the developed EN, ES, IT Masterclasses (WP4). In conjunction with Miskolc University and Timisoara “Politehnica” University, UNINETTUNO infuses entrepreneurship course services and tools, and co-contributes to the coherence of the (networked) virtual incubator (WP3). UNINETTUNO is strong in dissemination through multiple channels (WP7). UNINETTUNOS broadcasts the multilingual Masterclasses Entrepreneruship through the RAI NETTUNNO SAT1 satellite (free-on-air), a.o. to parts of Africa, America and Canada, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Mediterranean.
WP8: Exploitation of results: UTIU is strong in valorising project results. UTIU manages the drafting of the valorisation plan in conjunction with the input of the other partners. It keeps track of the progress and the input of new elements and strategies along the way.