Seminar Social Entrepreneurship for Local Change Spring 2016

An international online seminar offered by a European partnership of universities and NGOs

Join us now! (image provided pixabay)

For whom is the course?

• Are you a business or economics student who cares about social and environmental problems?
• Are you an agronomy student who wants to make agriculture more beneficial for society and the environment?
• Are you a planner, designer or artist who wants to learn how to start a business that helps solve social problems in your everyday environment?
• Or are you already a professional?
• Are you curious about other people and their knowledge and want to learn from other Europeans?
• Do you believe in your capability to create something new?

• In short, would you like to become a social entrepreneur? Then join us this semester, because everyone can become an entrepreneur!

What is it about?

A social entrepreneur applies business tools for solving social and/or environmental problems. Success in social entrepreneurship is primarily measured by degree of social impact, not only monetary profit.

Social entrepreneurs are essential for solving Europe’s economic, social, and environmental challenges. According to the Strasbourg Declaration of 2014, “Europe’s economic and social model needs to reinvent itself. We need growth that is fairer, greener and anchored in local communities. A model that values social cohesion as a genuine source of collective wealth.”

It is urgent that students and practitioners from different disciplines across Europe learn from each other to develop entrepreneurial skills and social awareness for a sustainable, local impact.

Social Entrepreneurship for Local Change is a programme offered by a 5-University Consortium in cooperation with relevant NGOs. The goal is to empower future social entrepreneurs through an interdisciplinary, problem-based learning environment that enhances the innovative competencies needed for addressing social, cultural and environmental challenges in Europe. The programme is funded by the ERASMUS* Programme in the period 2015 - 2018.

Social Entrepreneurship for Local Change includes twelve live sessions on the internet available to the wider global community, as well as interdisciplinary and international group work with students from Romania, Estonia, the Netherlands, and other European countries. The online course is open to anybody interested in the subject.

The programme also offers students the possibility to receive a grant to attend a 10-day workshop in Romania, hosted by the Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

Course Content

schematic overview of plenary session, thematic sequence and student activities

The online module consists of twelve 90-minute sessions of lectures, reading materials, collaborative group work and other diverse active and passive learning tools.

The thematic elements of the course are designed to give students core knowledge for developing their own start-ups:

• Identifying challenges and setting goals
• Designing ideas
• Designing your business model
• Revising and evaluating your model

Course Schedule

• Online lectures will take place from 29.03. – 21.06.2016, with weekly sessions on Tuesdays from 15 45 – 17 15 pm CET.
• See the full seminar schedule for speakers and topics.

Assignments

• Active participants will complete three assignments both individually and in their international team.
• Please read more details in the detailed assignment description.

Conditions for participation and credits

Participation in this course is open to all study programs and free of charge. Academic recognition for successful completion will be as follows with a maximum of 10 ECTS:

• up to 5 ECTS for the online seminar (active participation)
• up to 5 ECTS for the Bucharest workshop

Preconditions for attending the Bucharest Workshop

Successful participation in the online part is a requirement for participating in the Bucharest workshop. However, participation in the workshop is limited. Each participating university can offer seven grants, covering travel and subsistence, and a limited number may participate on a self-paid basis. Students attending the online course but not the workshop will be offered an alternative assignment in order to complete the maximum of 10 ECTS if needed.

Participant numbers

There is no set limit regarding the number of participants in the online course. Any interested student, graduate or young professional is invited to attend. All participants who successfully complete the assignment will be issued a certificate on behalf of the five academic institutions involved. Passive, listen-only participation in the online course is also possible, but no certificate will be issued for this participation mode.

Registration conditions and deadlines

Registration Online Seminar

Participation in the online seminar is free and open to students at any institution as well as the general public.

Participation is possible in active or passive mode.

-->Go to Seminar Registration

Active participation includes:

• registration before 15th of March 2016
• regular attendance of the online class (or working with the seminar recordings in due time)
• completion of the seminar coursework and group assignments
• academic recognition of up to 5 ECTS

Passive participation includes:

• visitation of online seminar sessions either in real time or through video recordings;
• no academic recognition granted
• passive participants can register any time

Registration Bucharest Workshop

Participation in the Bucharest Workshop requires personal application. Only students enrolled at the partner universities are eligible.

Applications must include:

• A letter of intent explaining your motivation for participation in the workshop
• CV and current transcript of records
• English language certificate (if available)

• the Bucharest workshop registration deadline is the 1st of March 2016

-->Go to Workshop Online Application

Key dates

Online course

• 29.03. – 21.06.2016, weekly sessions from 15 45 – 17 15 pm CET
• Parallel group work in international teams

Bucharest workshop

• 12.-22.05.2016 at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Further information

• Project website
• Find us on Facebook

ERASMUS+ Programme

The LED - Landscape Education for Democracy Project 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 are responsible for the content or liable for any losses or damage resulting of the use of these resources.