The general purpose of this project is to improve the managerial, financial and business competence of young entrepreneurs by the open-access training modules. Equipped young entrepreneurs with core competencies will ensure the development of business life and of course their nations in EU standards. Within the existing entrepreneurship training, entrepreneurs are introduced to the business plan concept. This training consists of only 30 hours. During training, entrepreneurs, who are already stranger to concepts, don't get enough information to manage a successful enterprise. Theoretical training doesn't provide enough information and experience in order to prepare their feasibility plans. They should be trained not only in a class in a given period but also every time they need it. Thus, by this project, an e-learning platform is constituted. Beside this need, entrepreneurs aren't trained about foreign trade and marketing (including e-commerce and social media). These are big deficiencies. These arguments are indispensable in toady's globalising world. Each entrepreneur should consider interacting with global world and social networks in order to enlarge his/her businesses. Therefore, entrepreneurship training should contain modules of foreign trade and marketing including e-commerce applications and social media marketing. In order to achieve this goal, it was constituted a “Small Business Development Centre” including applied methods. It was generated training curriculum, materials, documents, and media in order to use it in business life effectively. So, the professional qualifications of the youngsters will be developed and the differences will be reduced. The target group of the project is young entrepreneurs who want to make an investment. Through the outputs of this project, youngsters can improve their professional qualities themselves via ICT tool and training materials. - There are 4 partner countries and 6 partners. Applicant and 2 partners are from Turkey, UCLL is from Belgium, DRPDNM is from Slovenia and OECON Group is from Greece. - 4 intellectual outputs were obtained. - 4 transnational project meetings were conducted in each partner country to overview project activities. - 4 main multiplier events were conducted in order to disseminate project results. Expected results of the proposal are briefly listed below: 1. Current Situation and Need Analysis Study: ‘Current situation’ and the ‘needs of the young entrepreneurs’ were analyzed. For this analysis, a literature review for each country was performed. Also, survey-based research was applied, and accordingly, a questionnaire with 28 questions was prepared. 300 respondents participated in the survey. Belgium: 42 pcs (14%), Greece: 41 pcs (13.7%), Slovenia: 38 pcs (12.7%), Turkey: 151 pcs (50.3%), Other EU Countries: 28 pcs (9.3%). Besides, Focus Group meetings with 53 participants were handled as follows: Belgium: 1 meeting, Greece: 1 meeting, Slovenia: 1 meeting, Turkey: 2 meetings. 2. Training Program: Training methodology and related modules for entrepreneurs were prepared in accordance with their needs. Training materials were developed. 11 modules as training curriculum including handbook, interactive material, theoretical manual are generated in order to use in business life effectively. 3. NGO-young entrepreneurs relation: It was improved thanks to developing vocational training modules for current and potential youngsters. 4. E-learning Portal: The flexible learning process in line with entrepreneurs' needs and objectives was formed, and so the use of digital training was promoted. Thanks to this e-learning platform, entrepreneurs can make self-training and get professional knowledge without limitation of space and time. So, they can improve their competitive advantages. 5. A Policy Report: It was prepared for the policymakers by providing professional and methodological tools. It was conducted in order to recommend and guide near future policies and strategic activities, to ensure and to continue the dissemination and speed up the multiplier effect. 6. 4 Multiplier Events: Dissemination of project outputs to the stakeholders and the target groups was conducted. 7. Open Access to materials, documents and media are provided that are useful for learning and training. 8. A sustainable network for the continuous training of entrepreneurs was generated. 9. A best practice for young entrepreneurs at national and international levels was developed by implementing a new innovative project 10. Cooperation and Partnerships: By this project, continuous relations between the partners at the local, national and European level has been ensured. They have an impact on the internationalization of young entrepreneurship.

The overall objective of this project is to develop export-oriented entrepreneurship skills of VET learners via open access training modules. Entrepreneurial candidate VET learners who are equipped with export skills will be much more preferred in business life, and these learners will contribute to the economic development of the country. Therefore, this project will integrate vocational education with the real sector. In order to move to export-oriented VET and to improve the export of the countries, the capacity of VET learners should be built. In order to achieve this goal, the specific objectives of the project are -to conduct the current situation and needs assessment analysis of VET learners, -to prepare a training curriculum including training of trainers about export (training materials for trainers and learners), and -to develop digital applications (web and mobile application) for learners for easy access to information. -to prepare a policy report as a strategic road map for policymakers to encourage the use of these outcomes in vocational education.Target groups of the project are VET learners and trainers. Since all the outputs will be prepared for utilization and benefiting of VET learners, they are among target groups. Furthermore, they will be able to enhance their entrepreneurship skills through benefitting from these intellectual outputs. Because they will gain very crucial information about export in addition to their sectorial know-how. Hence, they will establish their own businesses, and improve it thanks to gained export knowledge. Additionally, VET trainers are among target groups because the training curriculum will include training of trainers in order to provide a good training process. Training materials for trainers will be developed.With the advancement of technology and the expansion of digitalization, trade channels also vary from traditional ways to e-commerce. This change is much faster with the development of mobile and cloud technologies. In this context, it can be much easier for companies to reach international markets from regional ones. However, the competition conditions are becoming more and more difficult. Because many companies from many countries have the ability to reach international markets with new technology possibilities. Within the scope of the project, necessary information and technology infrastructure for different trade channels, different cultures, different economies, and different companies in different regions, will be discussed together with international partners. It is possible for companies to survive under competitive conditions and to make sustainable trade only if they play the game according to the rules. The needs for trained human resource for micro export will be analyzed in different countries and the analysis will be produced to address all target groups.1.The current situation and needs assessment analysis for VET learners will be conducted. National reports will be involved. (Intellectual Output 1)2.The curriculum about export for VET learners and trainers (training materials) will be prepared. (Intellectual Output 2)3.Digital applications (web and mobile application) for learners will be developed for easy access to information. It will be necessary for facilitating the process of documents needed in the export process and creating a flexible learning process for continuous development. (Intellectual Output 3)4.By developing these intellectual outputs Open Access to Materials, Curriculum and Applications will be ensured.5.By organizing 6 Multiplier Events in each partner country, it will be ensured that the project will reach the target groups.6.A report will be prepared using professional and methodological instruments for policy makers to encourage the use of these outcomes in vocational education. (Intellectual Output 4)There are 9 partners (applicant and 8 partners) from 5 different countries. The partners are different types of institutions such as VET school, university, education center, SMEs, chamber, NGO, Institute for business education. Therefore, it can be said that the partnership is established to form a complementary consortium which means each partner will contribute to the project in terms of its experience, knowledge, the field of work, and background. Except applicant and Partner 7, other partners have experience in Strategic Partnership projects. There will be 5 transnational project meetings (TPM) in each partner country during the 24-month project duration. Each partner’s staff will participate in these meetings. The delegation of each partner will be constituted of 2 staffs who will be responsible for the related intellectual outputs at that time.

Project “NEXT STEP teaching and learning: Preparing immigrants and refugees for higher education through gamification” was developed as an answer to the growing needs and challenges concerning the integration of immigrants, refugees and other socially excluded groups like the Roma into the education and employment of the countries they live in. In this regard, and based on previous valuable experiences of the consortium, we worked to design and develop an educational two-dimensional (2-D) serious video Game in the spirit of gamification, receiving continuous feedback from our target groups both before and after its development. Gamification is the application of game elements and principles (e.g. collecting points for answering questions correctly, healthy competition) in non-game contexts, in order to stimulate learning and user engagement through a digitally based approach.The Game, which was the main output of the project (IO2 - design and development), was published online, freely available and accessible to anybody interested to use it and/or disseminate it. It is an innovative educational tool that stimulates learning through a fun and relaxed way, while also enhancing the literacy and ICT skills of the participants. This way, it prepares them for the transition into higher education and their overall integration in the community they reside, by introducing academic vocabulary, related terminology and other practical information about how register and participate in HEIs, etc.Through the NEXT STEP Game, persons especially from vulnerable groups have the chance to learn about various academic aspects related to each partner country (there are 6 different Game versions tailor made and translated for Belgium/Flanders, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey), with many types of exercises that will also contribute to words’ and phrases’ comprehension, while stimulating strategic thinking. Also, the Game is of scalable difficulty and those who engage are rewarded with “unlocking” more information, words and terms as they progress, adjusted to each country’s context. It can be used complementarily to modern language developing and communicative skills in education, for example within a classroom, as well as individually though a person’s mobile phone, with its impact thus being multifaceted.NEXT STEP began with IO1 – research and preparation during which 101 members of our target groups and 62 educators were called to provide their insights through questionnaires and interviews on where to focus during the Game’s development, and ended with IO3 – piloting and testing during which 80 members of our target groups and 39 educators were called to play the Game and provide structured feedback for its improvement through questionnaires. Although the participation in IO3 was less than in IO1 due to the covid-19 outbreak and the consequent restrictions that reduced physical interaction, we surpassed our total indicator and more than 320 persons in total participated directly or indirectly during the project’s implementation, not taking into account how many have entered to play the Game without our knowledge – and how many more will do so in the future. In this regard, as a supplement to the project’s dissemination materials and in order to maximize our target groups’ involvement, we have also developed and published a technical Game manual with instructions which was published and disseminated in Arabic and Romany languages as well.Last but not least, the fact that the NEXT STEP Game is open and free for everybody to join through the project’s official website, as well as to replicate it, allows it to be widely utilized and to be transferred into other contexts and environments with ease, further enhancing its sustainability potential.