Clowning Entrepreneurs are Smarter

Migrants in working age from Afghanistan, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria and Syria, vulnerable Spanish and German located in Granada and Berlin or Düsseldorf has absorbed more than 5,000 migrants in the last year from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. In September 2014, the city set up a "round table [on] refugees and asylum seekers." This round table assembled all institutions in the city that can contribute to meet this challenge. All agencies, all offices of city administrations are represented there. All health organizations, the churches, but also the business communities, sports associations, and this round table helps to make the situation very transparent. They meet every month, and so everybody always knows how many people have come in the last two months, how many do we expect in the month to come and what has to be done. The aim of the international cooperation ws to strengthen the social focus of the participants and to promote the partnership between German, Spanish and Turkish background businesses. The baby boomer generation in Germany and Spain retire, and a tremendous shortage is forthcoming. We were involved in this process and contribute to the challenge that can only be met if everybody works together.

Social and labour inclusion of immigrants and vulnerable people living in Germany, Turkey and Spain through upskilling them to be entrepreneurs and linking new ways of learning as clown techniques as a singular way of learning. The project aims has strengthened young migrant and vulnerable people from Germany, Turkey and Spain by working together with them by developing sustainable future perspectives. For this purpose, they developed their skills during various workshops and excursions. People from Germany, Turkey, Afghanistan and Syria connected, exchanged and learned from each other and from the projects thanks to our Collaborations with local Immigrants Centers. The project created a platform to work together, to mobilize and build sustainable connections. This exchange led to significant contribution to international understanding. The participants overcome prejudices and their own limits, built new bridges and found common areas of interest. One focus was to inform participants about be "green" and "artistic" professions in particular, and partners brought special expertise in it. The green and artistic sector offered great opportunities for business creation, which was our goal.

After the initial partner meetings on the management and conception and content of the project, the partners invited social entrepreneurs to exchange with migrants and vulnerable German and Spanish people. This was followed by a one-week intensive workshop on the topic of start-ups. Learning from good examples from migrants was be a key in our project. The project brought together different actors of youth work and entrepreneurship to develop new perspectives and forms of cooperation for entrepreneurship and thus enabled the participants to have a new perspective on the labour market. The Activity "CREATIVITY" allowed us to prepare the Training Materials and to Plan Workshops and perform them with other participants during the week in Spain. These 5 training days improved the opportunity for participants to learn and play and to connect with their own innate creativity. After this process of training the international participants had the opportunity to transfer this knowledge to their local immigrant and social organization back in Germany and Turkey. We prepared also Website with Online Courses to help to the continuous collaboration and support work for participants.

Participants from Germany and Turkey, trainers, get materials and skill to be able to perform local workshops with local immigrants and trainers about Entrepreneurship, Idea Generation, Opportunity Analysis, Market Research, Business Model. We set up our Local Agency, space used for coaching in social, sustainable and entrepreneurial aspects. Participants are taught how to develop their own idea or project, e.g. for a start-up or a communal social project to shape the future positively. When choosing their career path participants were advised to use topics like environment, nature and sustainability. The participants will meet experts, discuss challenges and experience examples of good practices. Beneficiaries discovered new ways of using clown techniques and get knowledge, skills and self-confidence to face their future. Thanks to clowning we provided a new communicating language to overcome cultural gaps of the participants and knowledge about the opportunities and risks of entrepreneurial actions for many vulnerable people, regardless of their social or geographical background. All partners brought experience in the context of training, clown techniques to facilitate leadership and further education of young migrant people.