ActFem - Femei din mediul rural in Actiune

Our organizational development plan included capacity building to work with diverse groups, including vulnerable groups. Based on the need to increase income and improve employment in the labor market, identified by the Coordinator among rural women, we identified an opportunity at consortium level to develop a project that would address the following concrete needs: - on the one hand, the personal and professional development of this target group by overcoming their own barriers and limitations and initiating them into social entrepreneurship. - on the other hand, the development of our professional skills, the increase of our capacity to create new development programs and to increase our understanding of the concept of inclusion and diversity within our organizations. Thus, we have designed an educational approach based on previous experience and best practices on social entrepreneurship in Belgium. The chosen target group was geographically located in Arges county, based on the development perspectives of the Coordinator in the area. The funding request was based on the need for upskilling in managing Erasmus+ projects, internationalization, and capacity building within the consortium.

We aimed to achieve two objectives: 1. To enhance the capacity of our organisations to work with vulnerable women through close and continuous collaboration throughout the project, targeting both organisational management and trainer teams. 2. To improve the socio-economic inclusion and personal motivation of the target group through several approaches: centralising and disseminating information on social entrepreneurship best practices in Belgium, overcoming barriers and limitations through group and individual counselling/coaching programs, and providing social entrepreneurship skills training. Additionally, we focused on raising women's awareness of the applicability of social entrepreneurship in the rural economy, creating an intercultural exchange thanks to the consortium and the study visit, and training new skills—both entrepreneurial and digital—to ensure a problem-solving mindset. These objectives were aligned with identified needs, Erasmus+ priorities, and our organizations' experience, considering development opportunities for both entities and their teams. We sought to address the target group's needs with an educational approach that would also help our organizations grow, establish partnerships, & engage communities.

The project included five activities, all completed on time and successfully through continuous and sustained cooperation between the organisations: 1. Project Management (A1): Ensured the coordination of the project, covering both technical/operational and financial management aspects. 2. Development of the Guide of Good Practices in Social Entrepreneurship in Belgium (A2): A guide was developed based on the study of five social enterprises, forming the foundation for the project's information and educational programs. 3. Implementation of the Interactive Educational Programme of Vocational Counselling (A3): The program, developed in two stages, included group vocational counselling sessions for 30 women in a physical format and individual online coaching for 21 women who participated in the group sessions. 4. Collaborative Social Entrepreneurship Training Programme (A4): Organised for 15 women enrolled in the individual coaching sessions, with 9 graduating. 5. Dissemination and Multiplication Events (A5): Each partner organised activities targeting women, trainers, public authorities, and NGOs, along with online communication on their channels.

We achieved all planned results & created all planned outputs as listed in our proposal. ●Created a guide of good practices in social entrepreneurship in BE; ●Developed a vocational counselling program, piloted during the 20 group & 60 individual sessions; ●Developed a social entrepreneurship training, piloted during 10 days; ●Motivated 100 women for socio-economic inclusion through the guide’s presentation; ●Provided vocational group counselling for 30 women & 1:1 coaching for 21 women; ●Trained 15 women in social entrepreneurship, with 9 completing the program & creating 9 Business Models; ●Organized 3 workshops for 30 rural women; ●Developed & uploaded educational materials online - 6 months of open access; ●Increased educational & PM capacity, strengthened cooperation & adaptability of partners; ●Improved self-awareness, self-efficacy & coping skills among participants; ●Increased socio-economic inclusion & entrepreneurial motivation; ●Raised awareness of social entrepreneurship in the rural economy; ●Fostered intercultural exchange & identified entrepreneurial opportunities; ●Engaged 60 women,10 local trainers, 10 local entrepreneurs, representatives of 20 public institutions & & 50 local NGOs in social entrepreneurship.