From Educators to Entrepreneurial Facilitators - Creating an Ecosystem for Knowledge Transfer

FEEF project addressed the critical need for innovative teaching methodologies that bridge the gap between academia and the business sector. Traditional education systems often emphasize academic content without adequately preparing students for the practical demands of the workforce. By introducing facilitation techniques, entrepreneurial competences and the understanding of the role of mentoring, our goal was to equip educators with the skills necessary to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in students. This approach aimed to enhance students' career readiness and employability by providing them with practical skills and guidance directly relevant to the business world. Additionally, the project sought to strengthen collaboration and networking between educational institutions and industry partners. By engaging business stakeholders, policymakers, and educators in a shared effort, we aimed to develop and disseminate best practices that align academic training with industry needs and skills that are more valued. This collaboration was intended to create a sustainable framework for ongoing dialogue and innovation, ensuring that educational programs remain relevant and impactful in preparing students for successful careers.

- Developing innovative teaching methodologies to equip educators with facilitation techniques, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and soft skills among students. - Enhancing educator skills to improve their ability to guide and mentor students using integrated soft and digital skills and innovative pedagogical approaches. - Improving student career readiness by enhancing their entrepreneurial skills and career guidance, thus increasing their employability. - Strengthening academia-industry collaboration by fostering networking opportunities and engaging industry partners, policymakers, and educational institutions to share best practices. - Ensuring sustainability and dissemination of project results by keeping resources like the MOOC, toolkit, and methodology available beyond EU funding through our website. - Building a community of practice among educators to facilitate ongoing dialogue, networking, and experience exchange, while encouraging feedback for continuous improvement. - Enhancing entrepreneurial education, improving teaching practices, and better preparing students for their careers through the FEEF project.

The FEEF project was organized in the following WPs that were coordinated by the different partners and produced the following outputs/results: WP1: Project management (led by NOVA) Overall coordination of the project, in terms of communication among partners, deliverables, deadlines, quality assurance and budgeting. WP2: Communication (led by NOVA) Creating the FEEF original visual identity, some materials like roll-up and ppt presentation templates, the website (www.feef.unl.pt) and the communication strategy of the project (social media, news, etc). WP3: Best practice identification (led by UCLL) Development of the methodology that would reflect FEEF goals and objectives. This document was translated in 4 different languages (PT, ES, IT, BE) and downloaded 248 times. An additional document was produced, a compilation of the Best Practices that summarized all the research undertaken. WP4: Online training itinerary (led by UC) Development of the online training platform (MOOC) to deliver the contents created in the context of the FEEF project. The MOOC was structured in one introduction/teaser video and 4 modules, where, Module 1 has 2 videos, Module 2 has 6 videos, Module 3 has 10 videos and Module 4 has 11 videos in a total of 30 videos with about 114 minutes of total content. The MOOC counts with over 1400 registrations that can explore the course for free. All videos have been subtitled in 4 different languages (PT, ES, IT, BE) and were downloaded from our platform more than 70 times. WP5: Blended teaching itinerary (led by CISE) Development of the toolkit that served as a practical guide for educators to implement the FEEF methodology in their pilot experiences. The document was translated in 4 different languages (PT, ES, IT, BE) and downloaded 253 times. Organization of the staff training that trained 40 educators and staff from 4 different countries to implement the pilots in their universities using FEEF methodology. WP6: Pilot experiences (led by UNIPD) Coordination, design and support in the implementation of 44 pilot experiences successfully and compilation of the overall results in a report where all results were analysed. WP7: Dissemination (led by NOVA) Communication and dissemination of the results developed in the project through the communication channels (website, news, etc) and the organization of 4 multiplier events in different countries to promote the project among external stakeholders. With more than 4500 followers in different social media platforms (Linked in, Facebook and Instagram).