The project is embedded in a macroeconomic context of increasing inequality between different EU countries and regions.
Many of Southern Europe’s regions suffer from high youth unemployment rates, including university graduates, and serious public funding constraints. In this context, HEI is increasingly being judged by the ways in which they respond to the social and economic needs of society, their actions to enhance graduate employability, their contributions to national economic growth and local development and the ways in which they stimulate the birth of new enterprises and innovation in existing firms. According to European research evidence, HEI can respond to these challenges by promoting students entrepreneurial mind-set and transversal key skills such as foreign language skills in order to increase their student’s employability and to contribute to economic growth. Southern Europe’s HEI needs innovative low-cost methodologies and educational models to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in terms of skills acquisition and development that can be easily adapted, replicated and scaled according to their particular needs and context.
OBJECTIVES
Increase students skills
Increase entrepreneurial education offer
Better fit between employers' needs and students' skills
Increase successful business creation
BLUES project seeks to contribute to higher effectiveness, relevance and quality of students skills and HEI education through the study and analysis of international good practices regarding entrepreneurship education and their common key success factors; through the conception, design, validation and dissemination of a pioneer model of a international blended-learning entrepreneurship education methodology that takes advantage of the benefits of face-to-face and digital education to increase the effectiveness and quality of learning outcomes; and through the conception, design, production and dissemination of high-quality digital and face-to-face educational resources and tools.
The active engagement of both high education and entrepreneurship institutions together with business representatives in BLUES project has ensured that the methodology and results respond to employers and entrepreneurs needs with regards to the skills that they expect from their future employees or peers.
Our TEAM
BLUES consortium comprises five European Union High Education Institutions (Lappeenranta University of Technology, the University of Cantabria, University of Ljubljana, University NOVA of Lisbon and the University of Perugia), one Scientific and Technology Park (Madan Park of Science), one International Entrepreneurship Center (Santander International Entrepreneurship Center), one Business Association (CEOE-CEPYME) and two Chambers of Commerce (Chamber of Commerce of Terni and Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia) from five different EU countries (Finland, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Slovenia). The four HEIs from Southern Europe has partnered-up with a business association of their regions, actively involved in the project, in particular in the conception and design of the entrepreneurship education methodology as well as the delivery of a pilot course of the methodology in the four HEI from Southern Europe.
Also, during the implementation of BLUES project, we had the collaboration of seven independent experts in different fields, internationally renowned, that were part of BLUES’ EAB (European Advisory Board), reviewing and validating the quality of the materials designed by the BLUES project.
Intellectual Outputs
Access all BLUES Programme Materials