The learning activities fall into the category 'Blended mobility for higher education students'. Participants of the blended learning activities will be able to achieve up to 15 ECTS. The module will have three stages:
- Basic module (5 ECTS, online) consisting of online lectures and web-based materials. Principal learning objective: understanding the theory and scope of social entrepreneurship, knowledege of core concepts and methods.
- Cooperative module (5 ECTS, online) during which students cooperate online in international teams, document local good practice and develop new ideas in a collaborative project. Principal learning objective: train virtual team work, apply social entrepreneurship knowledge to a real live local context
- International module (5 ECTS) during which students travel to an unknown context and cooperate in one of the ‘local social entrepreneurship labs’. Principal learning objective: apply social entrepreneurship knowledge to an unknown context, develop social busines ideas in a European team, develop European awareness and consciousness. The international module will be organised subsequently in Bucharest (2016), Tartu (2017) and Arnhem (2018).
While anybody can attend the online modules participation in the international module will need to be limited. Participants will be selected based on their performance in the online section of the course, their proficiency in English as a working language, and personal motivation.
Profile
The German university name – Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Umwelt (University for Economy and Environment) bears the main institutional mission: to enhance constructive relations of economy and environment for sustainable development. The degree programs have been greatly enhanced by the strong core competencies in business, economics and environmental studies prevalent at the university.
The purpose of this strategic partnership is to extend the university’s profile to the social dimension in order to fully complete the sustainability triangle. Social entrepreneurship education is supposed to become a cross-faculty platform for new forms of synergy and cooperation, combined with an international dimension.
Role
The specific tasks of Nürtingen-Geislingen University are to:
- conduct the overall project and financial management
- provide the technical environment for the blended learning format
- conceptualise the sequence of learning activities in the blended learning format
- qualify teaching staff in the fields of e-learning and blended learning
- participate actively with staff and students from different faculties in the learning activities
Contact
This strategic partnership is part of the activities of the Centre for University Didactics. The e-learning coordinaton untit has the overall responsibility for this project.
Nürtingen-Geislingen University is also a partner in the ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership 'Landscape Education for Democracy'.
Profile
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU), or Kiel University in short, is an institution with over 20000 students. It is a university of interconnecting and interactive academic cultures. Its members consistently apply inter-disciplinary approaches to address major, cross-cutting social topics such as climate change, health and human development. This has attracted a substantial rise in third-party funding, while also leading to numerous publications on the relevant areas of research. One of the four pillars of the university is societal, environmental and cultural change. This pillar brings together several faculties to address cross-cutting challenges such as sustainability.
Role
Kiel University contributes to this strategic partnership with its experience in social entrepreneurship online education. A relevant element of this is the ChangeMaker MOOC that has been developed by the Kiel School of Sustainability.
Kiel University will further participate actively with staff and students in the learning activities and contribute to the development of a case study framework to be applied in social entrepreneurship education.
Contact Person
Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Institute of Business Administration - Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management
Profile
Heldenrat is a Hamburg-based NGO with various years of experience in providing advice to social entrepreneurs and social innovatorsin Germany. True to our mission of building bridges between sectors, we adapt proven concepts and tools from business and entrepreneurship to the specific contexts of social sector organisations and assist these organisations in professionalising their work.
In particular, we have developed an integrated social and economic impact measurement and learning tool for social enterprisesand social businesses. Through our experience, we have a good overview of the social entrepreneurship sector in Germany and links to all relevant actors in the field.
Role
Heldenrat will primarily be in involved in the monitoring and external evaluation of this project. Their members will actively take part in project meetings and learning activities.
Contact Person
Dr. Linda Kleemann
Profile
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) is the oldest Romanian higher education institution in the fields of Economics, Business Administration and Public Administration. ASE was established in 1913, as a legal entity, a nonprofit organization, of national public interest. Developing strong links with the business environment and with society as a whole is one of the major aims of the university in the context of increasing competition, globalisation, demographic decline, and sustainable development.
Entrepreneurship is not only taught in classes, but now it is also a desired activity on behalf of the academia themselves and among young people. Entrepreneurship is taught as a distinct subject in the curricula as well as is embedded in different proportions in the content of the most subjects taught in the University (e.g. Microeconomics, Industrial Economics, Strategic Management, Diagnostic and assessment in business, Leadership etc).
ASE has already started to establish courses on Social Entrepreneurship and will bring its expertise into this partnership.
Role
- Project management output 1
- Hosting the 2016 Intensive Programme in Bucharest
- Coordination of project dissemination
- Active participation with staff and students in the blended learning activities
Local team
Prof. Dr. Monica Dudian
Prof. Dr. Carmen Păunescu
Dr. Carmen Acantrinei
Profile
Odaia Creativă / The Creative Room is a non-governmental organisation based in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in June 2010, it uses a mix of research, visual tools and new media to increase understanding of urban and regional development processes in Central and Eastern Europe for local communities and national/local authorities. The organization has four main members and an extensive web of contributors. The main donors and sponsors over the years have been : the French Embassy in Romania | the Architects’ League of Romania | the Architects’ Union of Romania | the ECDL Foundation | the Administration of the Cultural Fund inRomania | The European Commission through the Youth in Action Programme | The Foundation for Civil Society Developmentthrough Raiffeisen Bank and CEE Trust for Civil Society| the Asia-Europe Foundation | UN-Habitat.
Role
Odaia Creativă will contribute with its expertise to the development of the learning materials and case studies. The NGO will further co-organise the first intensive programme in cooperation with ASE Bucharest scheduled for May 2016.
Contact
Oana Pop
Profile
The mission of the Estonian University of Life Sciences is to guarantee sustainable use of natural resources and enhance ruraldevelopment. The Estonian University of Life Sciences is the only university in Estonia whose priorities in academic and researchactivities provide the sustainable development of natural resources necessary for the existence of Human Society as well as thepreservation of heritage and habitat. The Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU) undertakes internationally acknowledged science research, carries out innovativeactivities, provides science based academic education and promotes life-long learning.
Role
- Active contribution to outputs 1 and 2
- Hosting the 2017 Intensive Programme in Tartu, Estonia
- Coordination of curriculum analysis
- Active participation with staff and students in the blended learning activities
Local Team
Dr. Simon Bell
Dr. Roger Evans
Profile
The Estonian Social Enterprise Network (ESEN) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation, founded in April 2012 by social enterprises in Estonia. Currently, ESEN has 36 members and a number of member candidates. The preparation process of ESEN started already in April 2011 as a grass-root level civic initiative, including defining social entrepreneurship in Estonian context with relevant stakeholders, specifying the needs for networking and cooperation, and inviting other social enterprises along. ESEN's aim is to increase the number, capacity and impact of social enterprises in Estonia. Also, it aims at improving awareness of social entrepreneurship as a positively recognized and important sphere of activity in the society.
ESEN performs as:
- a member organisation: by informing and inspiring members, creating and mediating cooperation, training and consultation opportunities, advising on the analysis of social impact;
- an advocacy organisation: by representing members' common interests, collaborating in creation and development of financial and non-financial support arrangements;
- a developer and spokesperson of the field: by supporting educational activities and research, participating in international cooperation, informing general public about social entrepreneurship
Role
ESEN will contribute with its expertise to the development of the learning materials and case studies. The NGO will further co-organise the second intensive programme in cooperation with EMU Tartu scheduled for 2017.
Contact
Riinu Lepa
Profile
VHL University of Applied Sciences (VHL) is an institution of higher education and development of expertise in the field of lifesciences. The cluster water, land and nature comprise the following disciplines: landscape architecture, management of outdoorspace, plan implementation, nature conservation, urban forestry, water management and agriculture and coastal studies. The departments of Landscape Architecture, Land and Water Management, Forestry and Nature Management work in close cooperation with professional practice, local authorities and NGO’s in their field of work.
In the strategic plan of VHL sustainability is one of the major goals of the organisation. For the cluster this is translated in sustainable area and project development. The responsibility for sustainable development is gradually transferred to local stakeholders, private organisations, NGO’s and residents. This calls for competences for local entrepreneurship in the fields of landscape architecture, landscape management, nature conservation, urban and regionaldevelopment and water management.
Role
- Active contribution outputs 1 and 2
- Active participation with staff and students in the learning activities
- Hosting the third intensive programme scheduled for 2018 in Arnhem
Local team
Judith Jobse
Jeroen de Vries
The creation of these resources has been (partially) funded by the ERASMUS+ grant program of the European Union under grant no. 2015-1-DE01-KA203-002161. Neither the European Commission nor the project's national funding agency DAAD are responsible for the content or liable for any losses or damage resulting of the use of these resources.
News Local Change
Social entrepreneurship aims for the exploitation of opportunities for social change rather than for maximum profit in the traditional sense. Social enterprises attempt to target unfulfilled social needs with (more or less) marked-based approaches, aiming for sustainable solutions (Volkman et al., 2013).
Since the 1990’s the approach has been gaining increased attention in practice, policy and academia. The global economic crisis in 2008 finally revealed that society is strongly in need of alternative models as the limits of public influence have become evident. Likewise, growth models are needed, that are ‘fairer, greener and anchored in local communities. A model that values social cohesion as a genuine source of collective wealth’ (Strasbourg Declaration, 2014).
The objective of this strategic partnership is to develop a study module on social entrepreneurship with a scope of up to 15 ECTS. The format of delivery will be flexible (both online and blended learning modes) in order to address different target groups.
In terms of content, the project will adapt and complement existing learning resources, both national and European, and provide new materials derived from the partners’ local contexts. In addition, experiences made during development and pilot implementation will feed into a guidance report for teaching staff.
The project is addressed to an interdisciplinary target group of educators, students and young professionals in the fields of economics, business administration, geography, agriculture, regional development, urban/landscape planning.
The following activities will be a carried out:
(1) Development of online course materials on social entrepreneurship theory, methods, tools and case studies as open educational resources
(2) Implementation of blended learning activities on the subject of social entrepreneurship in combination with local workshops organised alternately by three of the consortium partners
(3) Preparation of a guidance report for teachers interested in integrating social entrepreneurship into their courses. The project follows the methodical approach of a pedagogical action research cycle: the course will be repeated three times and accompanied by profound observation and evaluation and continuous improvement, finally leading to a stable and sustainable model.
Output 1 - Online course materials 'Social Entrepreneurship for Local Change'
The online course on social entrepreneurship will use self-study materials for building acommon theoretical foundation. The material will be designed in such a way that differentpreconditions regarding the learners' prior knowledge will be taken into account (adaptive structures). The material will embrace theories, methods, tools, case studies and terminology. All of this will be embedded into a blended learning concept consisting of self-study phases,virtual classroom sessions with peers/experts and virtual team work with international fellowstudents.
Output 2 - Guidance report for university teachers: How to integrate social entrepreneurship into higher education?
This guidance report is addressed to academic teaching staff and intends to support teachersin integrating social entrepreneurship into higher education teaching and learning. Inaddition, the use of ICT-tools will be presented in order to enhance the use of e-learning andopen online courses in this field. The report will take the findings from the course evaluationsinto account. It will be made available as open educational resource.