Innovation Academy-promoting and supporting entrepreneurial ideas of students in Gjergj Canco School
The Innovation Academy initiative, was intended to implement an integrated intervention to stimulate young people in utilizing their entrepreneurial skills by making available the physical infrastructure to start a business and the necessary assistance to be consolidated in the market. The main goal of the project is to develop, test and implement a supportive environment for young people with entrepreneurial ideas.
Local
Albania
Tirana Municipality
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Electrical Technical Vocational School "Gjergj Canco" Type of organisation: Other public institution First name of representative: Hedie Last name of representative: Gjoni Gender: Female Nationality: Albania Function: School Director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Bedri Karapici st. 20, Tirana, Albania Town: Tirana Postal code: 1015 Country: Albania Direct Tel:+355 67 408 5800 E-mail:Hedie.Gjoni@akpa.gov.al Website:https://gjergjcanco.edu.al/
Innovation Academy for Youth will provide the physical environment where students:
a) Will be encouraged for innovative entrepreneurial ideas. The incentive for innovative ideas will be contextualized during training and work in the premises of the "Innovation Academy", through informal education methods such as: brainstorming sessions, group work, creative thinking and through workshops with businesses or young entrepreneurs successful in the schools’ field of action. The Innovation Academy stands as a booster and facilitator when it comes to entrepreneurial skill as crucial for the future.
b) Will be trained for the materialization of these ideas for the establishment of startups in the ICT direction. For the implementation of these trainings, the school will engage in the designing of a new tailored training program.
c) Through this project, 3 workshops were held with representatives of business, social partners and young successful entrepreneurs focusing on supporting start-ups in order for high school students to receive comprehensive information on market requirements, current challenges of businesses, emerging new technologies, contemporary agendas in the establishment of startups in the field of electrotechnics and ICT, as well as opportunities for financing ideas from local and foreign social partners.
The "Innovation Academy for Youth" project aims, through the cooperation between all actors: students, teachers, business representatives and social partners, to develop competitions at the school level, which will be evaluated by experts panel with representatives from: school, business and social partners that support new ventures.
Through the project, the school aims to encourage the new innovative ideas, to foster a collaborative learning environment where students can be trained in an effective way and foster the development of networks especially with other entrepreneurs and businesses.
ENTREPRENUARSHIP
TECHNOLOGY
INCLUSIVENESS
INNOVATION
EMPLOYMENT
Electrical Technical School "Gjergj Canco" is part of the public VET providers system. Creating the prospect of youth self-employment is a strong deterrent against youth leaving the country. The objectives of the project implemented by the school aim the creation of:
a) Dedicated Innovation Academy within the school’ premises
The Innovation Academy, standing as an innovative, open, flexible and dedicated training program for the design and establishment of startups will combine spaces for theoretical and practical training for all and robust community about skills development and talent pipeline.
b) Synergies for inclusion and networking
In the light of strengthening of partnerships with employers and other social partners, the project envisaged further increasing of cooperation focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation. Through the involvement of business representatives, social partners and potential innovators, the school aims to act as intermediary, creating a bridge between students with entrepreneurial ideas and third parties interested in funding.
c) Building a skilled and resilient workforce
Innovation Academy aims the equipment of students with entrepreneurial ideas with all the skills and knowledge needed to bring their ideas to life. The main target groups of this project are students of the “Gjergj Canco’s” school, encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit of youngsters and integrating them into the labor market in an active form. Considering the eventualities caused by migration, especially to the “brain drain”, the Academy aims to ensure entrepreneurship education in a lifelong learning perspective.
The Campus aims into an integrated training center for business, social partners and donors needs while implementing capacity development activities.
Through the qualified teaching staff of the "Gjergj Canco" school, support will be provided for the synthesis of innovative ideas and their development in the best possible way.
The Innovation Academy is located in the premises of Gjergj Canco School aiming its rehabilitation and adaptation for its purposes ensuring also the equipment with the necessary technological tools for the functioning of the Academy. In the light of positive design, the initiative envisages:
a) Design for innovative learning experience
The focus of our initiative in terms of aesthetics is on youngster’s personal goals and aspirations, such as in this case: successful start-up ideas leading to a personal significance. With this in mind, the Innovation Academy in its concept refers to resources that people use to attain these goals.
For this purpose, the conceptualization of the Academy into an inspiring and dynamic space will excite and inspire young people toward reaching innovation and creativity. In this light, the Academy will not only stand as new dedicated space within school’s premises, but also a new environment to establish tradition of Startup and trigger social behavior of students by stimulating their inclusive participation in the learning experience. The activation of the Academy will accommodate the needs for skills development, talent acquisition and concrete preparation of the vocational education students towards the integration in the labour market.
b) Inclusive support of innovation through networking and partnerships
Considering innovation as the core element, the internal spaces of the Academy are conceptualized to ensure an inspiring learning environment, a feeling of inclusiveness, sense of proactivity and foster training provision. The academy will guide innovative ideas to market through trainings, hands-on learning, workshops with businesses and new entrepreneurs, as well as mentoring from experienced trainers from private sector and social partners. The active participation of businesses and partners has proven not only beneficiary in the learning process, but also incentive most innovative and beneficial ideas.
The Academy of Innovation project at the "Gjergj Canco" school aims to address a number of issues related to the integration and inclusivity of young people into the labor market and the promotion of creative thinking in the field of professions. In a holistic approach, it aims to promote inclusivity by integrating:
- An inclusive and proactive environment where young people coming from different backgrounds can develop and present their ideas for startups
- Young people who are not active in the labor market through entrepreneurship, by providing tailored training and support;
- A learning methodology that includes proactive role of partners, businesses, social partners and donors.
- Tailored training programs free of charge for all students of the school and we are aiming to widen the target group.
- Young people leaving the country and emigrating, specifically educated and qualified young people (brain drain) into new and sustainable employment pathways;
The Innovation Academy, fosters inclusivity also of vulnerable target groups, facilitating a learning experience of students with disabilities, as well as students out from special groups, such as Roma Egyptian and families with Economic Aid.
In this context, the Academy of Innovation aims to embrace and gravitate talented youngsters who eager innovation and entrepreneurship, not only in the school but increasing the pool of potential entrepreneurs coming from a wider range of contexts.
The way how the Innovation Academy involves the citizens benefiting from or affected by its services, is through main target group directly involved such as follow:
- Students of the "Gjergj Canco" school (15-21 years old) who have innovative entrepreneurial ideas including young people with a focus on girls from urban and rural areas of Tirana and other districts.
- The teaching staff, which raises the capacities for providing training on startups.
Indirectly involved targeted group:
- Who can offer their experience in the field of entrepreneurship through workshops and professional practice;
- Social Partners and donors, who provide support for the financing of innovative ideas;
- Public institutions, which can facilitate and support public professional education and entrepreneurial initiatives through new curricula, infrastructure investments as well as collaboration while facilitating Startups among the VET providers;
- The local community by increasing the employability of young people and employment opportunities from enterprises that can be implemented by students and supporting the Startup ecosystem.
The Academy will ensure active participation of young people and other interested parties equipping them with the necessary skills and comprehensive knowledge on entrepreneurship and innovation, which are in great need in the Labour Market.
During the implementation period of the Project, the right identification of the stakeholders and beneficiaries had a positive impact and ensured a collaborative intervention during the rehabilitation process of the facility, as well as during the organization of the workshops and StartUp Competition. The involvement of the teaching staff in the designing and improvement of the dedicated training program, as well as the social partners and businesses in the Competition.
Inspired by rapid changes and growing of Startup ecosystem in other European economies and the actual potential of VET students, the Gjergj Canco School established an internal structure to encourage innovative initiatives in the field of technology, AI, "Green" economy, etc.
For the design of the initiative, consultations with the NAES and MoFE was crucial in the inception phase of the project, which highlighted the emerging need to create and pilot for the first time an Innovation Academy.
Crucial was also the involvement of social partners and businesses. Their engagement was focused during the organization of workshops and round tables, as well as their representatives were part of the Evaluation Committee of the Startup Competition. Hereby, it will be of an added value to mention that in that framework, a numerous number of businesses and social partners were project’s partners, such as:
- Iceberg Communication Company
- Logical Company
- Barleti University
- Alb Academy
- Fusion Engineering Venture, a partnership focused specifically on the development of trainings on startups, technology, 3D modeling and robotics, etc.
- New Vision and Skills for Jobs (S4J) project in establishing the "Innovation Club", with a focus on creating different digital concepts that will be implemented in the school. Several meetings were held based on the defined program with topics such as: brainstorm, movie day, practice day, problem solving day and surprise day.
Furthermore, teaching staff and students were not only the beneficiaries, but also active actors in the project implementation, while designing the training program, organization of the workshops and students’ dedication on their Startup ideas and their presentation in the Startup Competition. At the national level the identification of potential peer collaborators in the Startup Ecosystem is another layer of stakeholder engagement and partnering in the future.
The Academy is projected to act as a booster of entrepreneurship and innovation as key future skills. Therefore, one of the key investments will be in the digitalization, and innovation. Considering that entrepreneurship appears as an interdisciplinary field, the academy will reflect main disciplines as follows:
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSSINESS MANAGEMENT
Business courses, that supports early-stage entrepreneurs through the stages of business conceptualization, design, organization, management, and identification of funding strategies
Dedicated space where learning experience is combined with practical knowledge, brainstorming and collaborative sessions.
INNOVATION AND GREEN TRANSITION:
Innovative entrepreneurial ideas, which goes alongside to the "Green" agenda and alternative renewable energy;
Innovation club which acted as brainstorming sessions and provided a supportive environment for youth with entrepreneurial ideas;
With the implementation of the entrepreneurship classroom, a powerful lever for economic growth is being promoted by incorporating the world of digitalization, entrepreneurship and innovation
NETWORKING
As regards to these new disciplines, the school will continue to cooperate with employers in the field, donors and social partners to develop further the training programs with the aim to provide a collaborative and up to date intervention. The aim is to create a network of collaboration, cooperation and alliances between educational centers, companies, institutions and organizations committed to entrepreneurship. These may collaborate as mentors, business angels, expert advisors in management, administration, commercialization, launching, digital marketing, new procedures and/or technologies, or any of the business areas in which they are specialized, as active members of the process of generating business ideas and testing them in the real market, being their “early adopters” in the launch, or collaborating in their dissemination
The Innovation Academy in the Gjergj Canco School, was established with the support of the Ministry of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship, in the light of the 1st call for Startups and Facilitator of Startups in Albania, providing grants for the activation and stimulation of entrepreneurships in Albania. In this light, the Academy dedicated for the encouragement of innovative startups, is as far the first imitative implemented by the public VET providers operating in Albania. The innovation we intend to bring through the establishment of the Innovation Academy consists of several elements, of which we can mention:
-Establishment of a pioneering structure, an academy, in vocational schools dedicated to new and innovative ideas, the engine of which will be the students themselves
-Encouraging design and creative thinking for students, integrated with the experience gained from actors operating the entrepreneurial ecosystem (Gjergj Canco School, has now not only established such model, but also through the competition organized in the light of project implementation, has ensured financial support for the winning idea brought by the students, which is creation of the “Search.al” App, which shows the map of electric car charging stations in Albania, an idea that will be financially supported by a Second Level Bank, to further develop);
-Consolidation of an efficient partnership between professional education, businesses and social partners, where the last two can also be potential investors;
-The project aims to ensure sustainability in a longer-term in order for all students who will be part of the school to have a dedicated space for designing and setting up startups;
-The Innovation Academy will serve as a model for vocational schools to replicate this practice,
-The Academy, through creative thinking, will serve in the function of the local community and will bring into practice contemporary agendas in the field of digitization, "green" skills, etc.
The Innovation Academy project, successfully piloted and based on the lessons learnt aims continuation and further development of the initiative. Having a long- term vision, the objectives of transfer of the Academy are:
- Established dedicated structure within the Academy. The Innovation Academy ensured the rehabilitation of one of the unused environments within the school, adaptation and transformation of the facility to create a modern and inspiring class that will impact and act as an idea and innovation generator in the longer term, and as facilitator of new entrepreneurs in the Albanian Startup ecosystem.
- Tailored training programs designed and human capacity developed. To successfully implement the initiative, it was necessary the designing and improvement of the training program with a special focus on Startups, the capacity building of the teaching staff, who provides the training offer. Furthermore, student participating in the Innovative Academy operation ensures skills development, which will not only help create new employment opportunities, but also human development that will guarantee knowledge transfer.
- Improved curricula and new training programme. VET providers, in particular some of vocational schools, already has integrated in their curricula some elements of entrepreneurships, that needed to be further updated and improved in accordance to the scope of the Innovation Academy.
The project of the Innovation Academy was initiated based on various approaches:
- The designing of the project, successful stories of our students in their own initiative of startups and innovate ideas presented on different competitions have been a trigger to rehabilitate and adapt one of the unused classes within the premises into a dedicated space that will generate and facilitate innovation and support entrepreneurship.
- Furthermore, the initiative was based on the Labor Market information provided by our mother institution, which is the National Agency for Employment and Skills. The project was evidence-based designed, giving the rapidly in demand entrepreneurial skills, it was about time to create an environment to orient and further develop these skills. Entrepreneurship will not only support their engagement in the Labour Market, but also give them the right opportunity to navigate in the local economy and not emigrate to sectors where their skills go misused.
- Moreover, the designing of the initiative, was based on the methodology of tracing used in a form of survey toward the VET graduates and also to the employers/businesses involved as partners in the training system. The Academy, standing as a startup facilitator, will not only support our school’s students, but envisages to accommodate and serve to other target groups that might come from different backgrounds.
- Moreover, the argumentation of the initiative is based also on the urgent need to create a multidimensional and innovative environment which will ensure an integrated and proactive approach of training. The Innovative Academy is projected to provide skills, encourage innovation through brainstorming, networking and actual practical work.
The role of the Innovation Academy relies in addressing global challenges related to socio-economic development and youth unemployment specifically:
- Economic growth: Through this initiative we aim to train new young entrepreneurs who will then improve the lives of individuals and communities, as well as the overall economy. Entrepreneurial skills are considered to be essential in creating welfare and economic sustainability
- Social change: The innovative goods and services that young entrepreneurs trained in the Academy offer, reduce dependence on outdated processes and technologies.
- Community development: Entrepreneurs foster a sense of community among people with common goals and interests, whether in a single neighborhood or across continents. Their products and services contribute to the communities’ social and economic well-being.
- Youth unemployment: through our initiative we aim to help foster innovation, promote economic development, and create jobs for youngsters.
- Referring to the demographic challenges that is influencing also Albania, the Innovation Academy will help to address the needs for upskilling, by developing flexible training programmes for youngsters and motivate their contribution in local context preventing brain drain.
- Upskilling: Empowering individuals with entrepreneurship education, an entrepreneurial mindset and behaviors, are tools to develop human capital.
The Innovation Academy has been an innovative project that was successfully implemented within the implementation period as indicated in the Grant Agreement, which was 6 months. The results archived due to this project exceeded the expectations, especially when referring to the partners direct involvement and interest.
Another factor of success were the students itself, who work with great dedication on their innovative ideas for the final event, Startup Competition. In this light, the public vocational School “Gjergj Canco” is committed to develop further the project idea of Innovation Academy.
On this regard, for the upcoming year the school envisaged to:
- Update continuously the training program in accordance to the current startup trends and future Labour Market need, with a special focus on the local context,
- Widen the students pool, by being as open as possible to invite students and youngsters from different backgrounds, schools, as well as local community.
- Diversify the soft infrastructure of the Innovation Academy;
- Adapt further the premises of the Academy to ensure inclusivity, especially when referring to people with disabilities,
- Strengthen current partnerships and build new ones aiming a better work-based contexts for the students while the teaching sessions,
- Make Startup Competition a tradition and aspiring to make this event a national one, by being a idea generator among talented Albanian youth.
Innovation Academy main focus is of an idea and skills generator, especially in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In the context of the European Competence Framework on sustainability, the academy, through its establishment and future objectives, not only in the infrastructure, but also in training programs will ensure the development of values of:
- Critical thinking, idea and innovation generator by giving the dedicated environment to youth who can be thinkers, innovators and talented;
- Sustainability by ensuring that the initiative will serve to a longer-term goal, by establishing structures and learning instruments;
- Policy approach by guaranteeing that the intervention affects, firstly, the system operating in the skills and employment field and needed adjustment of the instruments on this regard,
- Synergy and collaboration between different stakeholders operating in the field, focusing in strengthening partnership among public and private sector.
- Proactivity by being open and inviting towards all target groups and partners to generate and propose new ideas and activities that will help the Academy reach its aim.
