Cultural BEES: “Creating cultural heritage businesses through hybrid learning models & hands-on curricula across borders”

The general objective of the “Cultural BEES” project is to develop and implement a training program and digital toolkit that support the promotion of entrepreneurship skills in the Cultural and Creative Industry among youth. Inspired by the Junior Achievement training model “Inspire-Prepare-Succeed”, the project is aimed at providing the target groups, 15–18-year-old students and 18-30-year-old young people, with the necessary skills, knowledge, and tools to succeed in their careers within the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) sector. The program is designed to support the target groups in developing their ideas, projects, and businesses in the CCI sector and to provide them with the means and skills to ensure that their projects are sustainable, inclusive, and innovative. This will be achieved through a combination of face-to-face training sessions, self-paced online learning, and virtual communities. Within the project, it is planned to carry out large-scale piloting of the developed methodology, including the training of 1000 students at secondary and tertiary level education, in 3 European countries (Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Italy). The Cultural BEES consortium is composed of 11 partners, (i.e., the JA Europe and three JAs in partner countries, two universities, one social enterprise, one strategic design hub, one association of municipalities, and two SMEs) and one associated partner (i.e. UNESCO Cyprus), from 6 EU countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Slovenia, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria), selected based on their complementary skills and the different areas of expertise that are necessary for the successful implementation. The Consortium has structured its activities into 6 work packages (WP), scheduled to run for 36 months: Project management and coordination, Skills mapping, Training design and development, Testing, and implementation in Schools and Universities, Best Practices and Policy Recommendations, and Communication and Dissemination.

The Cultural BEES project aims to achieve the following objectives:
– To educate and empower the next generation of cultural heritage entrepreneurs.
– To improve learning and development with an emphasis on digital skills.
– To create new employment opportunities.
– To promote cultural heritage assets and artworks through open access.
– To support and boost innovation in the CCI sector.
– Leveraging a proven and functional co-development model of innovation and entrepreneurship in view of attracting more private investments on a local and EU level.

Consortium of partners:
– JA Europe, Belgium
– JA Cyprus, Cyprus
– InnoEUsphere, Cyprus
– Danmar Computers, Poland
– Matera Hub, Italy
– University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia
– JA Italy, Italy
– Isola Catania, Italy
– Anci Lombardia, Italy
– JA Bulgaria, Bulgaria
– Varna University of Economics, Bulgaria

Associated partner:
– Unesco Cyprus National Commission