PoMP – a new entrepreneurial project for young people at heart and in years

Since the European Commission adopted the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, not only knowledge but also competences have begun to enter the school system through the big door. In parallel with the Lisbon Agreement, recommendations were adopted for eight key competences for lifelong learning, including entrepreneurial competence. The latter experienced a rather cold reception in the school space, as it often required completely new knowledge, skills, and attitudes from teachers. European countries are aware of this, so they promote many programs that encourage the development of entrepreneurial competences in the school system for school-going youth as well as for teachers, mentors, and principals.

One such incentive is certainly the Norway Grants (NG), which encourages the development of human capital. Within the NG, the partners in the PoMP project – Fostering Entrepreneurship Skills in Schools – will mainly focus on the training of teachers, who will then be able to independently implement programs with young people with their newly acquired competences. And that’s not all! As part of the project, an online platform will be set up that will serve as a connecting network for entrepreneurship mentors, both participants in the project and those outside. We started the PoMP project in June 2022, and we are initiating the PoMP Academy for teacher training in the school year 2022-2023. The project will end with an exchange of good practices with our Norwegian partner, the NTNU University of Trondheim, represented by one of the most prominent European experts in entrepreneurship education, prof. Vegard Johansen.

The special feature of PoMP is that we will also include the principals of the participating schools in our activities. The long-term experience of previous entrepreneurial mentors shows that without the support of school management, there can be no development, let alone the flourishing of entrepreneurial programs in schools. Therefore, our first workshop will be dedicated to school leaders. In the third week of September, we will conduct a Think Tank workshop for school principals and assistants, where we will introduce them to some early steps that are more than necessary in the development of entrepreneurial projects through an experiential workshop.

In the two-day workshop, we will introduce the principals to the method of design thinking and guide them step by step through the challenge they will solve. Teamwork will end with group presentations of solutions.

The following organizations are members of our partnership: Science and Research Center Bistra – Ptuj (project leaders), Primorska Technology Park Nova Gorica, The Development Center of Novo mesto, SAŠA incubator, and Technology Park Ljubljana from Slovenia, and NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology from Trondheim. We have a lot of experience in the field of youth entrepreneurship, communication, research, and project management. We will harness our experience and competences in the development of an excellent program for teachers and young people, which will be able to live long after the end of the POMP project.

Maybe you are also interested in entering the world of entrepreneurship or would just like to inquire about the opportunities that this segment offers? Write us or give us a call, we will be happy to help you!

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