South-East European Research Centre (SEERC)

The project will build on the work carried out by Eliemental, which enjoyed success with helping the excluded, vulnerable and disadvantaged into employment, further training or into setting up their own enterprise.  It is premised on the belief that there are both social and cultural barriers that stand in the way of people from certain groups and communities becoming entrepreneurs and setting up their own businesses.  The project will work across the fields of entrepreneurship, psychology, sociology and educational studies, all of which allow participants to better identify opportunities to use their skills and knowledge for business purposes.  As part of Eliemental, researchers looked at the relationship between soft skills shortfalls and various groups’ vulnerability to social exclusion. Elie 2.0 will work on developing hard skills, such as providing better access to market research and basic bookkeeping.  The project will involve training community-based entrepreneur coaches, as well as working with local businesses, with the course participants working together with these companies to solve real problems in the communities involved and helping to develop the local economy.  The project will build on the work done in Eliemental, with community access hubs – places where the people involved in the programme feel comfortable and where they are happy to meet – continuing to form an important part of the work