Introduction to the WIN on-line project

Introduction to the project

Women constitute 52% of the total European population, but only 34.4% of the EU self-employed and 30% of start-up entrepreneurs are women. At the same time, for a large majority of years and countries for which data are available, women record a higher unemployment rate than men. The problem is much bigger for women over 40 years old, as it is even harder for them to find a job and enter (or re-enter) to the labor market.

For women job seekers over 40 years old, getting a job is a challenge. By being unemployed for a long time, someone may face additional negative assumptions. Putting together gender, age and prolonged unemployment is something, which makes women over 40 years old a disadvantaged group of citizens.

Taking the above into consideration, the WIN on-line project aims to help women over 40 years old to create their own e-businesses based on their special needs, priorities and capabilities. The training program contains useful information and tips of what an e-business is, how to create an e-company, legislation, IT skills needed, marketing strategies, competences and skills needed to succeed in such business.

The main objectives of the project are to:

• Enhance digital and entrepreneurial skills among women over 40 years old
• Create an innovative e-learning platform, which will implement women entrepreneurship, focusing to the existing needs.
• Mentor women with innovative ideas to create their success story.
• Disseminate success stories to encourage the empowerment of women over 40 years old across Europe.
• Inspire women to consider careers in e-entrepreneurship Better understanding of women expectations & needs in learning environments, concerning new technology and e-entrepreneurship.
• Improve the knowledge & usage of pedagogical tools, new technology in educating women over 40 years old with low digital and entrepreneurial skills.
• Exchange good practice among partners.
• Create the basic theoretical foundations for the implementation of education of digital and entrepreneurial skills to low-skilled and/or low-qualified women over 40 years old.
• Get to know low-skilled and/or low-qualified women over 40 years old, as a diverse group of adult learners for whom education is being prepared according to their needs and for them.

The project’s impact and potential long-term benefits include:

• The tools to be developed will remain part of the work culture and will become a new way of implementing strategic measures to strengthen women’s online entrepreneurship;
• Training methodologies and tools are available on the website and in the community of training providers, women’s organizations, and entrepreneurship organizations;
• In the network of this project, organizations can share their best practices, tools, methods, problems, and results.

The partners of WIN on-line

YSAO
YSAO (Ylä-Savo Vocational College) is part of Ylä-Savo Municipal Federation of Education. The Federation, composed of nine municipalities, is the main provider of vocational upper secondary education and vocational adult education and the sole provider of vocational apprenticeship in the region. Our educational institution is an active player on selected fields and its main task is to train competent professionals for the needs of working life. The total number of students in vocational upper secondary education, adult education and vocational apprenticeship is 1,900 students per year. We have over 200 professionals in education, development and service delivery.
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APID TORINO
Apid is an employers’ association based in Turin, Italy. It was born in 1989 thanks to the women entrepreneurs joining API Turin, a local Association of Small and Medium Industries, which offers services and assistance to local enterprises. Apid is a non-profit and gender-based association, active in promoting a new entrepreneurial culture, in developing strategies to support women entrepreneurs, equal opportunities, work – life balance, inclusion, diversity and CSR. The principal aim of the institution is to help female entrepreneurship in socio-economic development through the exploitation and the strengthening of professional skills and of networking of female entrepreneurs.
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p-consulting.gr
p-consulting.gr is an IT, Training and Consulting company, located in Patras (Greece). The main objectives of the company is the provision of:

• quality IT and consulting services in business terms to companies and enterprises in all sectors of economy;
• training services which address the needs of various target groups (young people, teachers in primary and secondary schools, people from vulnerable groups, elders, unemployed people, entrepreneurs, etc.);
• IT services, focusing in web development and creation of online educational platforms;
• management and development of project services, mostly oriented to improve the quality of people, especially people who from social vulnerable groups.

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Eurosuccess Consulting
Eurosuccess Consulting (Cyprus), through a dynamic team of young scientists provides a comprehensive package of services addressing the needs of modern Cyprus enterprises especially on matters like innovation and technology. Eurosuccess identified, from the initial steps of its operations, the need for creating links between the Cyprus economy and the wider European market and put great emphasis on the exploitation of the potentials created by the accession of Cyprus in the European Union. Today Eurosuccess offers a variety of services to the Public, as well as the Private sector of Cyprus. It has also started actively participating in international schemes, through a well-established network of partners abroad, based on the intense past experience of its founder.
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LESTU
LESTU is short for Lithuanian Education and Science Trade Union. A modern, dynamic and politically independent organization created to effectively protect the social, economic and professional interests of its members and other educational staff at all levels – national, regional and institutional – and to influence education policy-making to address the needs of citizens of the Republic of Lithuania. We believe that everyone feels safe, not only by being a member, but by being a member of the collective that defends them, and by building a community whose voice is heard by both employers and government, because they will see that we are solidarity and united, to achieve their intended goals than acting alone.
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PATRAS WOMEN UNION
Patra’s Women Union is a humanitarian organization focusing on the enforcement of women and vulnerable social groups, founded in 1991. Patra’s Women Union is now the largest organization in Western Greece, having more than five thousand active members and donations that reach up to more than 300.000 euros. Knowing that those in need are a lot more than those who care enough to help, E.GY.PA  struggles to make the world a better place & grows bigger every day, by helping more women to live a better life.
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ERROTU
Located in the Basque Country (Spain), ERROTU is a SME working around specialised architecture and ageing society, particularly in design for dementia. It has two working lines: on one hand, Consultancy and Training, and on the other hand, Managing and Developing Projects and Planning. Both working lines are oriented to improve the life quality of people, especially elderly, through the built environment.
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The purpose of this manual

The purpose of this Manual is to increase the capacity and knowledge of mentors who will in turn support mentees (new or current entrepreneurs as well as professionals) in the development of their business ideas. The Manual will serve as a guide through the mentoring process of the WIN on-line methodology, which will be used during the mentoring schemes of the project.

In specific, this Manual aspires to be a tool of personal and professional development, as it introduces the basic definitions of entrepreneurship and e-entrepreneurship, core aspects and benefits of mentoring, as well as the role of both mentors and mentees. Mentors will be able to incorporate the materials included in the Manual within their mentoring schemes, which include the basic terminologies, mentoring scenarios, good examples and case studies of turning an idea into e-business, and other useful tools and platforms that can be used.

The modules of the Manual are enriched with international and national best practices, success stories, and references.

Moreover, the project partners anticipate that this Manual will become an integral part of their own training schemes and procedures following the conclusion of the project, and thus adding value to their organizations and members. To cover the educational needs and purpose of its development, the Manual is divided into the following modules, described in the next section.

The modules in a nutshell