Aarhus Universitets segl

ESSENCE

Enhance Skills in StartUps for wastE iN Circular Economy


AU-ENVS project lead:            Professor Marianne Thomsen  
AU-BSS co-lead:           Professor René Rohrbeck
Financed by:            The Erasmus + Strategic Partnerships Program  
Duration:            sept. 2017 – sept. 2019  
Links:           ESSENCE  

The development of entrepreneurial skills and competences is one of the key policy objectives for the EU. Spreading entrepreneurial skills helps to develop entrepreneurial mentality and culture for the benefit of society as a whole. These entrepreneurial skills are increasingly learned directly in the field, therefore within incubators of companies or development agencies, places that can afford to have one or more coaches / trainers able to teach basic and specialized entrepreneurial skills. The project therefore aims to develop innovative teaching materials to reach the central element of the chain: the business coach. The direct training of trainers will have a greater impact on all future generations of entrepreneurs, as business coaches will help shape the entrepreneurial mindset of future European entrepreneurs. The effect of change must not be limited or limited; rather, it aims to bring about a change of important mentality, in a key theme such as that of the circular economy.

 

Main project activities are related to the production of four thematic intellectual outputs:

 

  • Smart map - trend in circular economy startups and innovative businesses around Europe
  • Mindmap of open access info sources, training and inspirational material on circular economy: waste
  • The circular entrepreneur pathfinder kit - essence training / teaching materials
  • The circular economy interactive policy library

 

AU will deliver case study material to be used in the development of training materials concerning Circular Economy for startup coaches/ Entrepreneurial trainers and further design and elaborate on the case study materials taking focus tools for business creation in the field of waste taking into account aspect of forecast and foresight methods and tools. Output product will target training the trainers within and outside the consortia in the area of green growth technologies which can help ensure a green transition.

 

Project partners:

Lead – Chamber of Commerce Italy-Denmark (Denmark)

Cooperation Bancaire pour L’Europe (Belgium)

FVB The Hive (Italy)

Funiber (Spain)

Lavrion Science Park (Greece)

Aarhus University (Denmark), Department of Environmental Science (AU-ENVS) and  Department of Business and Social Sciences  (AU-BSS).