Kaunas University of Applied Sciences ended October on an international note – for the first time in Lithuania, partners of the Erasmus+ project “Developing Social Entrepreneurial Skills in Higher Education” had a physical meeting, coordinated by the specialists of the Faculty of Business. The main goal of the project is to develop social entrepreneurial skills in higher education and to develop the competences of academic staff.

On 25 October Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, together with guests from Latvia, Cyprus, Finland and Belgium meet at the Business Centre of the Faculty of Business to discuss the competency gaps related to social entrepreneurship at four participating institutions: the Thomas More University of Applied Sciences (Belgium), the Saimaa University of Applied Sciences (Finland), the Rezekne Academy of Technologies (Latvia), and the Nicosia University (Cyprus). The project partners include representatives from other countries too, that can be called experts in social business, and also those whose business model is considered to be less developed.

Due to the national and global situation of COVID-19, this is the first time that the project partners are meeting in a physical setting to discuss relevant administrative issues, plan further activities and review the results of existing activities.

According to Irma Servaitė, Senior Specialist of the Project Department of Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, during the early years of the project implementation, country analysis was carried out using various analytics methods. The aim is to identify existing gaps in social entrepreneurship competences in different countries and compare them with the current situation. “The results will help to develop a model for introducing social entrepreneurship competences in higher education. The discussion on the finalization of this model is the main topic of the meeting “, points out the Senior Specialist of the Project Department.

As part of the project’s further development, a training programme for educators is expected to be developed later this year. It will help develop the social entrepreneurship skills and competences of future professionals in different fields. The first training courses developed under the project are planned to be delivered in Belgium.

As a reminder, the “Developing Social Entrepreneurial Skills in Higher Education” project is designed to promote the social business model, which is considered one of the most effective ways to tackle the social crisis. It is an Erasmus+ funded strategic partnership project in higher education, which will be carried out by Kaunas University of Applied Sciences in the Faculty of Business together with other higher education institutions until November next year. This project is in line with the vision of the social economy for the 21^st century as formulated by “Europe 2030” and the strategic objectives of Kaunas University of Applied Sciences.