Introducing Good Practices on Entrepreneurship from Lapland
One essential part of DEBUTING project are the good practices collected from the project partners’ regions. In this article we will shortly present two of them: Lapland's Entrepreneural Education Strategy and Method Handbook and Business Ladies Project, both from Lapland, Finland. Special thanks to Esa Posio and Nafisa Yeasmin from University of Lapland for introducing these excellent good practices for the DEBUTING community!
Lapland’s Entrepreneural Education Strategy & Method Handbook
As pointed out by an Interreg Europe Policy Learning platform expert: “this initiative offers significant learning potential and can serve as a model for other European regions looking to enhance entrepreneurship education”. So what is this good practice all about?
The aim of the project was to strengthen methodological expertise in entrepreneurship education to better include entrepreneurship in early childhood education, pre-primary and basic education, second level, higher education and liberal adult education in Lapland. The project was implemented through a partnership, in cooperation of different educational institutions and the municipalities and business sectors of Lapland were also included in the strategy work.
The project team toured all the 21 municipalities of Lapland. Workshops were organized where all Lappish municipalities and representatives of entrepreneurs were consulted. Also teachers were involved.
The operating environment was analyzed also from a gender perspective. Gender equality was taken into consideration in every step of the project and in all strategy plans, aims and results. Selected vision, goals and the tasks of the methods section are gender neutral.
The project produced a 15-credit entrepreneurship education programme and a regional entrepreneurship strategy for Lapland, a Method Handbook and Lapland’s teacher mentor network. The strategy was sent to the municipalities of Lapland and a podcast series was published about the strategy. The project was funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) from the North Ostrobothnia ELY Center with a total budget of 300 000€.
The project was awarded with the 2023 Entrepreneurship Education Recognition and has been recognized as one of the best developers of entrepreneurship education in 2023 in Finland (Finland’s YES Agent 2023 -award).
The recognition was based of the innovative approach to unite the whole Lapland region in every educational level to work together. It also provides the key strategical steps for the municipalities to make decisions on entrepreneurship in their curricula.
Business ladies project
“This initiative provides valuable insights for policymakers by offering culturally sensitive, individualised support for immigrant women. Its adaptable approach, which includes mentorship, workshops, and business training, makes it a strong model for addressing both economic and social challenges within migrant communities, aligning with EU objectives on inclusion, gender equality, and economic growth”, commented the Interreg Europe Policy Learning platform expert on Business Ladies project.
Immigrant women face greater risk of exclusion from society (OECD, 2018). Entrepreneurship can improve the economic and social status of immigrant women and accelerate integration into the life of a new country. However, entrepreneurship in a foreign culture and in a foreign language can be really challenging. In Lapland, immigrant women are not sufficiently supported their integration.
Business Ladies project built a supported community for immigrant female entrepreneurs to strengthen business expertise and grow sustainable business in Finnish Lapland. Also existing business services were introduced to the community. The project has promoted the mutual cooperation and networking of immigrant women entrepreneurs with local women entrepreneurs and stakeholders.
The pilot program included such elements as creative workshops, benchmark visits, mentorship, pitching for funding and advice. The business and personal needs and goals of immigrant women were considered in every step of the project. The project increased measures for entrepreneurship among immigrant women and promoted sustainable development of their businesses. They were approached with a supportive attitude and a multicultural understanding and with the principles of equality. The project was carried otu with European Social Fund (ESF) funding of 389,609€.
The project successfully (proven eg. through received feedback) strengthened the business skills of altogether 89 immigrant women (aim 80) in Lapland, most of whom were entrepreneurs and some dreaming of having their own business. Also new companies were established during the project, empowered by the mentors and other entrepreneurs.
The project gained a lot of interest from media. There is also a book to be published based on the project.