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Cheer
Cultural heritage entrepreneurs

Programme
Erasmus+
Project number
2018-1-DE02-KA204-005102
Key Action
Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practice
Action Type
Strategic Partnerships for adult education
Topics
Entrepreneurial learning - entrepreneurship education | Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage | Inclusion - equity
Duration
Start date 01-10-2018
End date 30-11-2020
EU Grant
EUR 269.765,00

About the project

The CHEER project tackles unemployment and social exclusion of long-term unemployed adults by using social entrepreneurship through local cultural heritage as a driver for change. It focuses on people from poor economic and social backgrounds who have fewer chances to access further education, employment and entrepreneurship, and works with adult trainers, business consultants, incubators and social business associations as key intermediaries. By helping participants turn the cultural heritage of their region into viable social business ideas, CHEER aims to support local capacity building, strengthen social inclusion, and generate positive impact for local communities as indirect beneficiaries.

Objectives

The project’s main objective is to enable long-term unemployed adults to develop social enterprises based on local cultural heritage, improving their employability, autonomy and social participation. To achieve this, CHEER seeks to: identify and valorise the competences of unemployed adults through structured interviews and competence profiles; equip adult trainers with a practical guide and methodology to support participants in exploring cultural heritage for social entrepreneurship; create a training pathway that develops basic entrepreneurial skills, supports the generation and testing of heritage-based business ideas, and familiarises participants with the local framework for social enterprises; and build an online learning community where aspiring social entrepreneurs can access resources, information and networking opportunities. Ultimately, the project aims to combat long-term unemployment, alienation, discrimination and poverty, and to use cultural heritage as a lever for economic and social growth in local areas.

Activities

To reach these objectives, CHEER develops and tests a complete methodological package. First, a competence identification tool is created, combining an interview grid, guidance for interviewers and a template for the competence profile, allowing trainers to map participants’ strengths and learning needs. On this basis, a trainer’s guide is produced to support adult trainers in working with long-term unemployed people and in using cultural heritage as a basis for social entrepreneurship; this guide is tested and validated by trainers in each partner country, including a capacity-building workshop for those leading the pilot training.

The core of the intervention is a four-week training programme that blends online learning, workshops and coaching sessions. Participants are introduced to basic entrepreneurial culture and skills, explore how to identify business ideas in local cultural heritage, learn how to research their local market, understand the regulatory and financial framework for social enterprises, and work on sustainability and networking with other social enterprises and community actors. Group workshops, case studies and discussions are complemented by individual or small-group coaching, where learners receive tailored guidance to progress their own business ideas.

All content is hosted on an online learning platform offering additional resources such as webinars, videos, an information space and a social networking space. At least 60 disadvantaged adults (10 per country) participate in the training, formulate business ideas and start working on their transformation into social enterprises. The project also organises webinars in English to present the main outputs (competence methodology, training programme, platform) and national webinars on the specific challenges of social entrepreneurship in each country. National information spaces collect documents and links on social entrepreneurship and local cultural heritage, making the project’s tools and knowledge accessible and supporting the creation of an ongoing online community of aspiring heritage-based social entrepreneurs.

Project partners

  • Zentrum für interkulturelle Bildung und Arbeit - 🇩🇪 Germany
  • Compass - Beratung, Begleitung und Training gemeinnützige GmbH - 🇦🇹 Austria
  • Aintek Symvouloi Epicheiriseon Efarmoges Ypsilis Technologias Ekpaidefsi Anonymi Etaireia - 🇬🇷 Greece 
  • Asociatia Millenium Center Arad - 🇷🇴 Romania 
  • Laografiki Etaireia Varnava - 🇬🇷 Greece 
  • Radosas Idejas - 🇱🇻 Latvia 
  • Sozopol Foundation - 🇧🇬 Bulgaria

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or German National Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.