OBJECTIVES: The project’s principal objective is for 25 young people who have recently graduated and are either working or unemployed to attend a training programme and work placements in Social Economy companies in Italy (13 participants) and Belgium (12 participants), to improve their individual skills and competences, in order to:

• Assist their occupational insertion.
• Assist the acquisition of life-long skills and competences.
• Extend the contribution performed by professional training in the business innovation process, in order to increase business competitiveness, as well as the new job opportunities.
• Promote the development of new skills and competences linked to the information society.
• Promote the linguistic skills necessary for assisting mobility in the job market.
• Supply the necessary training to so that the competences of our Social Economy companies compare with those of other European Countries.

DESCRIPTION:

A. INITIAL PHASE - Initial one-week training plan, with the following content:

• Language training.
• Business basics. The Company Project. Management and Strategic Planning. Analysis of the competitive environment.
• Culture of the host country: Belgium/Italy. History and Current Affairs. Organisation: Politics and Administration. Geography / Economy / Demography / Culture.
• Business training: management and decision-making; strategies and setting of objectives; tax and labour laws; administration and finances; production; quality and occupational risk prevention; marketing and sales. This programme links, in term of contents, to the drafting of business plans, from the project to the idea.
• Social Economy: social Economy and collective self-employment; values in the Social Economy. Democratic and company organisation in Social Economy companies; people in the Social Economy companies; the Andalusian Social Economy.

B. EUROPEAN PHASE.- Plan of 14-week professional placements in companies in Belgium and Italy, alternated with language training activities in the language of the destination country, as well as visits to Social Economy companies in that country. For the correct execution of the aforementioned activities and personal tutoring of the different actions, the participants will have internet access, as well as periodic monitoring meetings with the host member’s representative.

C. ANDALUSIA PHASE.- Complementary training for the students and placements in Social Economy companies in Andalusia for a period of three months. Consultancy and technical support for the creation of business projects. The programme for this stage is therefore as follows:

• An initial training plan concerning the following matters:
  • Detection and analysis of project opportunities.
  • New Information and Communication Technologies, Business Management, Technological Innovation and Social Economy.
  • Constitution of social economy companies:
  • Business plans.
• Three-month, paid professional placements in Social Economy companies of Andalusia.
• Social Economy company project. As a final outcome of the work plan and in alternation with the operation of the professional placements, each student will undertake a project to create a Social Economy company, with the support of a technical expert from a consultancy company specialising in business development.
• Monitoring and Support. Once the project's full work plan is complete, there will be a monitoring programme of the occupational insertion of each student.

PARTICIPATING ENTITIES: The Andalusian School of Social Economy (FEAES) Centro Diffusione Imprenditoriale della Toscana, (Italy), Think Tank Europeen Pour la Solidarite, (Belgium).

FINANCING: LEONARDO DA VINCI MOBILITY PROGRAMME AND THE Department of Social Economy and Entrepreneurs of the Autonomous Government of Andalusia (measure: ACTIONS FOR COOPERATION)

COMPLETION DATE: December 2007.

URL: www.cepes-andalucia.es/mariazambrano