Welcome to the Hub!

https://www.facebook.com/Welcome-to-the-HUB-Youth-Exchange-Monteoru-2019393596717892536/

0

"Welcome to the HUB - entrepreneurship and business opportunities in small urban areas" was a youth exchange held in Sarata Monteoru,Romania between 7-16 may 2019 with 43 participants from 8 countries: Spain,Italy,Latvia,Lithuania,Greece,Czech Republic,Macedonia.

The context was one when the youth unemployment in small urban areas is growing,youngsters don't have enough competences to acces the labour market or initiate a private business. The aim of exchange was increase employability of european youngsters of 18-25 years old by developing key competences needed to access labour market The objectives of the project are: 1. offering for 43 participants from 8 European countries for 10 days a common space and activities to increase the awareness of the importance of entrepreneurial education in starting business in small urban environments 2. developing for 35 young people and 8 group leaders from 8 countries of entrepreneurial skills and increasing the potential for their application in the next 10 months for starting business in small urban environments 3. stimulating the interest for entrepreneurial initiatives of young participants by developing a "business hub" and creating, promoting and disseminating 7 business plans applicable in small urban environments 4. promoting in 8 small urban communities through young people creative tools in entrepreneurial education and increasing the attraction of young unemployed people in business initiatives by March 1, 2020 Forseen activities were for preparation,introduction and getting to know eachother,trust and team building,presentation of participants and organizations,introduction of Erasmus + programme and youthpass certificate,study visits in Buzau region,intercultural evenings and evenings thematic or at youngsters disposal.There were 2 intro workshops based on preparatory phase,4 thematic workshops for presentations and understand of key competences,1 Business Hub workshop in 7 phases to create 7 business plans. Besides there were transversal activities for visibility,management and monitorizing.

The methodology was based on nonformal education and will consist in games ,presentations,theater,role plays and simulations,video creation,workshops,visits Thanks to our project partners: EYCB – Czechia, YOUTHphoria- Greece, Apkabink – Lithuania, Youth Council Prilep – Republic of North Macedonia, Green Meridian – Latvia, Europa2020 – Spain and As. Gentle Giant-Italy. Our gratitude goes to our excellent host, CASA CU TEI MONTEORU, to all stakeholders involved and all volunteers that helped us to mangae again a good project.

Fabiola Chiriacescu-project coordinator

1

In our youth exchange, ,,Welcome to the HUB” , we experienced in every day different activites. We learnt how to try to know people from other countries and their economy problems, we learnt how we can search the problem inside the fact and the possibility to manage it. Also, we learnt how to negociate for some plots and after this, we could build a shop center. But the main problem, is about unemployment, because if we did’t have people who can work for our business, we couldn’t thrive in what we set in our company. If we don’t have suffice resurce to pay them, we will be in a declining prosperity. So, the first activity it was about unemployment from many countries (Macedonia, Italy, Latvia, Greece, Lithuania, Spain, Romania, Czech Republic) because we had to know the stage we are. We saw a percentage difference between them and of course we saw where is major problem.

First of all we need to establish what means unemployment. Probably, all of you know the meaning of this topic, you know about the fact that people are searching for a job because they can’t work anymore where they were hired. But inside of this fact are so many problems, about economy of the country and people’s expectations. Here is about what’s happened in that country and what deserve to be in a efficient way.

Causes of unemployment are debated in all the world and probably we’ll never solve them. We can talk about tehnology development, about a lot of machine which can work for us and than we don’t need people to work for us. But actually, this is not good for people because they all need to work to achieve money. Also we can talk about volunteering which is searched by companies and also students so they can replace staff by providing them with unemployment, which would be lower than their salary.

In the first activity, about unemployment, we saw a lot of percent. For Macedonia, the rate for unemployment is 17.8%, for Italy 10.2%, for Latvia 2

6,4%, for Greece 18.1%, for Lithuania 3,9%, for Spain 13,8%, for Romania 4% and for Czech Republic is 2.1%, so the biggest rate from these 8 countries is from Greece and the smallest is from Czech Republic. So we can say that there are quite big differences.

These differences are caused by many factors, namely education, the people who lead the country and the people who are form there. But unfortunately, unemployment can’t be controlled by those who work. This is controlled by those who run the company, depending on how efficient it is, how much the population and those who work there can serve.

So, there it was about a comparison because we need to be awere about the fact where is massive unemployment in the black community, it is called a social problem and we need to solve it.

3

The modelling workshop was very fun and creative for our future entrepreneurs. The youngsters had to create characters with unlimited materials and to create their stories.

For whatever you propose in this life, it takes a few abilities. You have the opportunity to meet Harry. He started by building his own values. He wanted to be optimistic, to be responsible and true leadership. So.. he could climb the stairs of success and every day when he goes to work, he goes with love, saying it is a perfect day to become better.

“You need to take your chanches and not hold back!” – this is the motto Jeniffer lives by. She believes that there is no such thing as luck. There are only right and wrong choices. Each of us has our own moments where we have our little “starmoment” – it’s a time when your actions depend the most of the outcome. Jeniffer has had many “star-moments” which has made her not only an excellent entrepreneur but also a very happy and fulfilled human being. She is friendly and very social. These characteristics help her to get further and reach her desired goals.

4

This is Bob. Before this he was a french fries cooker at McDonalds. But now he is the world’s most famous and richest entrepreneur. And you wanna know what got him there? Hard work and being interested in all business fields.

He is not only stylish and lives a healthy livestyle but he is also a stock hodler for Nike, McDonalds, Happy Socks and many more succesfull businesses. His secret is his intelligence and strategic planning. Bob always thinks two steps in front of him which has helped him to nothing but grow as an entrepreneur.

Despite her innocent looks Heidi is not a person to be mess with. She is a person with so much experience and knowledge that you couldn’t even imagine. And that is why she decided to become and entrepreneur.

She hasn’t looked back since. Finishing law-school gave her the needed information to be expert in documents and contracts. Heidi is like a fox – friendly, helpful, and kind. But underneath all that hides a one heck of a person. When it’s needed she is a great leader and an amazing advice giver. But she will always put herself in the first place.

This entrepreneur has a big, big baggage with him.

And inside it are all the characteristics which lead Dilan to unreached surfaces for an entrepreneur like him. Dilan started off his youth years as a surfer but later realized that he wanted to be something more than just a surfer – he wanted to make surfboards.

He opened a small hut with his friend. These were the first steps for Dilan as an entrepreneur. On his journey to success he learned and developed the needed traits to get where 5

he is now. He is not only a confident leader but he is also a risk taker and respected in surfer community. Dilan is wise and hardworking too. He is just in the beginning of his carrer but already reaching top surfaces.

Joe has always been passionate about everything he does. Ever since he was a little child his dream was to be an entrepreneur. He has been working hard for this dream and never given up on it. His drive force was the passion he put in his work. The work ethic this person had was unbelievable. Joe always found a way how to flex and bend situations to be in favor of him. Of course that not only passionate work ethic made him one of the best entrepreneurs. It was also his talking and manners which played a big role. He knew how to make himself rememberable and with positive vibe. You could say that Joe is now living his dream live – being an entrepreneur.

Tyler is an entrepreneur in a small company about romanian traditional clothing. He loves his company very much and he dreamt to be an entrepreneur for a clothing line since he was a kid.

6

We had to create art in the nature, the topic being, of course, business. We used nature for the materials, being very careful to not hurt it. The exhibition was very powerful, considering the fact that every team had to tell the story behind the piece of art.

While deciding what to make for this workshop our team taught about how this project makes us feel and the first emotion that came to mind was happiness. So we decided to make a smiley face.

This project brought together people from 8 countries and we wanted to include that by adding the representing letters. We tried to make the face similar to the organisers as a way of thanking them for helping us understand entrepreneurship.

It’s Christmas night.

Romania, Greece, Italy, Spain, North Macedonia and Latvia are sitting around the table, enjoying this special moment all together.

Even if they have different cultures and different traditions, it’s wonderful to see how much they are connected. They look like a family.

They are talking about entrepreneurship, goals, strategies, plans and actions.

The leaves on the table represent the knowledge they are sharing.

Hey Europe, the door is open, do you wanna join?

Welcome to the Hub.

7

Here the most important thing is balance. Everything needs balance – nature, our nutrition, even birds need balance to sit on one leg. That is why we build this pyramid-based construction. It is to show that everything can and will work if you will just find the right amount of all the ingredients needed. This also goes for entrepreneurship. You won’t be a great entrepreneur if you will be just smart and antisocial or completely selfish and not thinking about others.

You need to use a little bit of all characheristics needed for a great entrepenuer and you will find the right balance which works for you and will lead you to success. Like this pyramid.

Nature and love always have the same path and lead to peace of mind. We have tried to achieve a balance between the two by finally realizing that both must be protected so that we can feed ourselves from what they offer us. The energies and emotions nature sends to us must be protected and then bloom in love for everything that surrounds us.

Under every successful idea there is a stable foundation. And this is what our team is trying to show you here. You can do incredible things and reach unimaginable heights if you are going to be basing off a stable starting point and keeping it as the most precious ingredient. The same is in nature. Every great plant, tree and forest has a small but noble beginning – the seed. The start is small in goal might seem impossible but with the right love and work, the plant will to create new fruits and seeds. So use your seed usefully and work hard for your desired goals.

8

As long as you work for your idea, it’s more than easy to become successful. The same happened with our business. At the start, the company was weak, and it was about to falter. Everyone worked hard to keep it strong and to defeat all the obstacles and it wasn’t for nothing. In present the company is very powerful and the team is as strong as a rock.

In the intercultural nights each country had to present some traditions, food and dances. Each country came with the specific food, reaching the delicious sweets.

ROMANIA - ,,Sweet Romania” For Romania, the intercultural evening was sweet, bringing the specific "ROM" chocolates and, of course, homemade cozonac.

ITALY For the intercultural evening, Italy chose to bring specific brushes, and other foods including delicious sweets.

9

LITHUANIA Lithuania had specific food, but the main attraction was the sweets that ended often.

SPAIN Besides the fact that Spain had a delicious meal, including a fish dish, the team entertained us with their costumes and traditional dance!

GREECE Greece has chosen on the intercultural night to amaze us with delicious delights and the dances of this wonderful country! The olives were the main attraction.

LATVIA Latvia had two types of chocolate based sweets. One’s name was Stormbird and the other was Red poppy. They are produced by company named Laima which is one of the oldest and biggest factories in Latvia.

10

MACEDONIA Macedonia chose to surprise us with food quite similar to that in Romania and an interesting video about the country!

CZECH REPUBLIC Czech Republic brought many things to the table. Some sweets, salami and cheeses.

Amongst that their famous Kofola, which is basically the Czech version of Coca Cola.

We spent more than one day to discuss and discover the 8 key competences defined by European Comission and we stressed attention on the ones that we develop in a youth exchange and are useful in our business career. After we created in workshop 1 the model of an entrepreneur and discover all competences, there were three separate workshops to understand them and their importance Workshop 2: For next four competences we had to work in groups and to create short play about good and bad experiences with every competence.

It was fun and we learnt a lot COMMUNICATION IN THE MOTHER TONGUE Communication is the skill to understand and express ideas, facts and feelings. During our project we were very active with our own language. For instance, we talk with the other colleagues, write things down. Sometimes also the foreign participants asked something about words or expressions in your language, and of 11

course some dirty words!!

COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES Communication is the skill to understand and express ideas, facts and feelings with people who think, talk and act differently. During our project we were active and talk with each other, heard people talk and therefore learnt new words and expressions in another language. An international project is for many people a wonderful occasion to practice or learn other languages. We spoke in all workshops in English, do presentations, act, play and create business plan in English.

MATHEMATICAL COMPETENCE AND BASIC COMPETENCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY During our preparation and the exchange itself, we were busy with this skill. We made research and work with statistics, number and diagrams. To create business plans we prepared budgets and calculated financial resources.

DIGITAL COMPETENCE Digital competences have to do with when you learn to handle the computer, how to make a presentation, or how to work with new programs. Think for example of filming and editing or using graphics programs for photos and text. Here we can also think about things like learning how to improve our understanding of how a computer or a smart phone work or how to change the settings.

12

Workshop 3 dealed with other two key competences: LEARNING TO LEARN Everybody learns every moment of the day. One can learn in various ways, like by talking to others, or by listening, by searching for information or by attending a workshop.

To be awared about our learning styles we passed a test by Honey-Mumford and first we discovered if we are activist, reflector, pragmatic or theorist and then we grouped to explain to the others what every style means.

If you want to pass the test follow this link http://www.mycit.ie/contentfiles/Careers/4.%20HoneyandMumfordLearningSt ylesQuestionnaire.pdf

SOCIAL AND CIVIC COMPETENCES How do you behave with others? Can you cooperate? Do you ever do some-thing for someone else or for people in the neighbourhood? These are all things that have to do with this competence. If you imagine social competences in an exchange project, then you can think of how you handle people, both in the preparation as well as when you are abroad. Do you follow rules or agreements? Do you respect people or could you improve on that? Can you deal with criticism if people make comments about you? Can you express your opinion or criticism in a good way to others? Do you say nice things to people, sometimes give compliments or thank people enough for what they do for you? Are you the one who decides what happens or are you infl uenced by the opinion of others? Are you reserved and passive, are you lazy 13

and leave the work to others? Do people have you ask you for help or do you offer help to those who need it even without being asked? What do you do to make this project a fun and unforgettable experience for yourself and for others? What is your contribution to a good environment in the project?

We answered to this questions during the EGGSERCISE where in groups we created shelter for our eggs proving that we care about the others and we are good team-workers.

Workshop 4 was maybe the most important as we focused on entrepreneurial abilities and attitudes so during “Island game” and “Plot case” we challenged our sense of initiative, negociation skills, time management, leadership, marketing and management skills.

SENSE OF INITIATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Everyone has ideas and thinks about the things that can be done in an exchange project. But are all these idea being executed? Some people burst with ideas but wait too long, or don't know what to decide.....and in the end, nothing happens. Others have fewer ideas but they take action and start working. They are motivated to reach a result and to succeed. Are YOU able to put ideas into practice?

Do you have the perseverance and the creativity to carry them out, even if things seem difficult or impossible or if time is against you?

To turn ideas into success, you need to know what you have to do, who you need to do it and how it has to be organized. All this has to do with entrepreneurship and initiative. It is putting ideas into action, realizing your dreams and wishes and not waiting ‘til others do it for you (or not). Many businesses grow because they 14

have people with initiative and entrepreneurship working there.

Also in “Island game” we train how to behave with different cultures, how to be tolerant and how to respect the other. And moreover we learnt to act and to draw so we can be artists too.

CULTURAL AWARENESS AND EXPRESSION Do you know what is typical for your culture? The competence ‘cultural awareness and expression' has to do with the way we appreciate our own and other cultures, in your town, in your region, your country, Europe, and the whole world. It also has to do with how we can express our emotions, experiences and feelings in a creative way through media or art forms. If you think about it, you will come up with some ways to develop this competence.

15

Czech Team Today, 14th May, we went to Nehoiu for several meetings with local entrepreneurs and local active people. I personally found very interesting to talk to a person that decided to quit his current job and move to be an insurance agent. I found it brave and am happy that such person succeeded with his decision. Other group was talking to an owner of a local Italian family restaurant, as there is quite a strong Italian community in this region. They were told many positive aspects of starting a business as well as the negative ones. Finally, last group unfortunately did not get a chance to talk to anyone as the owner of the restaurant was not present. Yet, such experience can show how upredictable a life of an active person is. Later on, we've been also brought to see the landscape of this incredible region. And that's what I call a productive and educational day!

MY DAY IN NEHOIU – Reports from Italian team

I have been in Nehoiu with all my Erasmus friends and It has been a really nice day. it all started having a Meeting together with the Major of the city that explained us the main characteristics of that place and the principle businesses. Thanks to Angela, one of the Rumenian girls, we have been around and we visited one of the shop of Nehoiu. The Principal activity of the day was the presentation of our business plans in the School. Every group showed his business idea and together with younger students we had an interesting discussion about how our ideas could work or not. The best has been the feeling showed by all the Erasmus guys in front of the students.

------ o ------

16

What to say about my day in nehoiu? nehoiu is one of the most economically developed towns in romania ... we spent our day passing from the city center to their lake, their churches and then we explained our business proposals in schools, we can say with much success ... a day full of incredible emotions ... unfortunately I have no photos to show you but I can only summarize everything in the last words of the "Toscana" boss ": if you love what you do, everything is possible.

------ o -----Our day in Nehoiu was pretty intresting. We had the chance to meet and share opinions with one of the most important insurance broker of Nehoiu. He explained to us all his experiences and at the final gave us a lot of useful advices. He also wanted to pay our pizza and beers, showing (as always) how much Romanians are careful and kind to others. Unfortunately I have no pictures, but all those moments are printed on my heart. Thanks a lot!

------ o ------

We have been in Nehoiu and Medina was the perfect romanian angel. She took us for a walk around the village and then, we crossed the bridge, and she brought us to the place where the wood is worked. The owner, very kind person, explained us part of the process and how the business work in the essential parts. He was so kind that he offers us a lot of pizza at the main restaurant of the village. The food was a surprise causa very good. The only pity was that i had Andrej next to me and i had to see him eating the pizza with the ketchup! I'm totally in love with Romania.

------ o ------

That day in Nehoiu was really cool, a part from the rain! We started the day with a visit and a meeting in the town hall with the major that explained us some interesting facts and the historical issues about the city. Than we move to visit a small business that was in the old house of a famous writer, it was producing clothes from a big industry. The owner explained us everything about the process to make clothes, from the first material to the final result and also about the salary, how the business works, the partners and the export and import step. There were around 12 people in the place that they were working divided in different sectors, mostly women, and they were very happy and satisfied to see us there. At the end they prepared some gifts from us.

17

After that we were host in the high school of the city where we presented the final products of our businesses to the students of that school. Was nice to see them interested about the topic and the different ideas. Was also fulfilling see the Erasmus group very happy to explain them all our works.

After we left, we reach one Lake in the way to come back that was a really nice place, with an amazing view in the surrounding area of nature. Was a very nice day!

Thanks a lot.

18

Explorers Our story and main idea “Explorers”– travel tourist agency, which is focus on small urban area. For start we choose ,,Banat” (Southern part of Romania). This area includes villages as : Gârnic, Eibenthal, Bigăr, Saint Helena, Ravensca. This region villagers can be proud for their old traditional culture, calm lifestyle, delicious food which includes famous cow cheese and mouthwatering truffles, fresh and amazing smell roseship jam. It would be a crime to forget about hand-made colourfull clothes. We provide this turism just seasonally so it means spring, summer, autumn and not winter.

If you searching for unforgettable life experience our agency is exactly what you trying to find, we promise you will literally dive into past.

Lifestyle of villagers is very relaxing, calm, old fashion and full of hard working for their living. If you will choose us, we guarantee, that after all this experience you will be able to understand how Banat people work on their fields, take care of their small, but cozy houses, cook an amazing traditional dishes. You will become a part of village. So…”Dive into past”…

Future clients: Any kind or age of people, who are searching for something unique and specific. Just to escape from a normal, boring and fast life of these century.

POSTER

LOGO 19

Slogan

Facebook page

Management plan: The main aim of this organization is number of social workers, which works with local families, organize them, provide them customers/travelers, put the contact between customers and families, secure products for local shops.

Marketing plan: The team of social workers promote services via this direct contact with local villagers. Workers helping to provide for customers the best vacation and give them what they maybe not expact‌

20

Resources: Human resources consisted from big community of volunteers from RO, CZ, LT, LV, GR and E. These people also participate in this idea. And of course the villagers and local people from Banat area.

Financial resources are about money from our partners organizations and also government. Also some individuals gave us some starter money like a financial gift.

Material resources are mostly provide by local people from villages [transport, tools for fields, special clothing, regional food, facilities]

Risks: weather, no customers, locals don’t want to participate Added value: The main aim is to present local Banat lifestyle, provide financial help to villagers for education of children, medical care etc‌

21

PIZZA ANIMA VIVENS Pizza is undeniably a big business, that lasts for a long period of time and it seems that’s never ending. There is no doubt that most of the population enjoys a good slice of pizza and that is why we want to start this kind of business. We chose Czech Republic since there is not enough competition which is very beneficial for us. Our pizza will bring a smile to any face at any age. What will bring a lot of costumers is the price since it is very inexpensive for a good quality product.

1- We came up with a name “ pizza anima vivens” that means “pizza is life” in latin 2- It is scientifically proven that the colour of red sends signals to the brain so that people would feel hungry. Such fast food companies as KFC or Mc’ Donald uses it to attract costumers 3- The slogan “forever hungry” is a catchy phrase that people can relate to.

Our main idea is to open a pizza fast food place.

It takes place in the field of gastronomy.

We offer fresh ingredients for all of our pizzas which are made in a traditional Italian style.

We also provide home delivery.

Our future customers are all pizza lovers, we believe people of all ages and genders love pizza. We expect the busy hours to be in the evenings and weekends.

22

STRENGHTS

WEAKNESSES

-tourist season -use of well-known product -youngsters -basic, not difficult product

-tourist season -many old people -small place

OPORTUNITIES

THREATHS

-bigger place -expand the company

-competition, well-known pizza places

Enjoy your steps!

Once upon a time there was a guy named James, he felt like a really old man.

One day while complaining about his life, he met Bob, Bob an amazing guy who changed James’s life. Bob was a bit nerdish who lived in a small village called Sarata Monteoru . One quiet evening Bob was bored and he was searching some random games on Play Store .

Instead of finding a game, Bob discovered this amazing app called “Enjoy your steps”. Bob was a bullied guy and made fun of because he was too skinny. But after downloading this app which helps you do more steps in your everyday life, and the ability to talk to people on this app who inspired him, he become more active and healthy. Bob fulfilled his dream, step by step, hard work in the gym and a healthy rich diet, Bob was getting stronger and stronger.

After one year he become the best bodybuilder in Sarata Monteoru also in the whole world.

Bob’s success inspired him to promote and share this app with the community while helping them take care of their bodies, and exercising together.

After meeting Bob, James changed, he was so inspired and loved to do sports, and most importantly he feels young, strong and healthy again.

23

24

25

TIM(P) WASHER

26

27

28

TZIGAN Business Idea Clothing shop that sells its own designs. The type of clothing which it designs are general clothing items (such as hoodies and t shirts) with inspirations from gypsy cultures.

Name: Tzigan Target audience: Young people of both sexes. There will be some gender-neutral clothing and some clothing designed for men and some for women.

Where: Hebden Bridge, UK – a small, quirky, hippy town which lacks affordable and fashionable clothing for young people Slogan: Young, Free… Tzigan Logo:

The logo uses part of the romani gypsy flag, which we then split in half and added our company name, Tzigan.

Story Young people of Hebden Bridge live in a quirky, hippy town, yet they have nowhere to buy unique and affordable clothing which fit with their young aesthetic. Most of the shops in the town are too expensive or have clothes for middle aged women. Tzigan offers young people our unique designs at a reasonable price to show off their individualistic spirits.

Marketing 4Ps: Product – We design and sell clothing for young people of all genders. The designs take some inspiration from gypsy culture and combine these with current fashions which young people like to wear.

Pricing – The prices will be decided for each item depending on the type of clothing, detailing, etc. However, we want to be affordable for young people so prices will be kept fairly low, whilst allowing us to pay workers a fair price.

Promotion – As a local shop, we will try to get our name out within the smaller community of Hebden Bridge and the surrounding towns rather than in a wide area. We will print posters and flyers to stick up and hand out in the local area. As our target audience is young people, 29

we will need to build a social media presence. We will start with Facebook (where people are able to share our page and posts and encourage others to follow) and Instagram (where we can post pictures of our products). We will build a website so that people can easily find out who we are, what we sell and where we are. With expansion, we could possibly begin selling online in the future.

Placement – We will open our own shop to sell our own designs. The shop will be in Hebden Bridge, a town which has a unique, quirky hippy style. Our clothes will sell here as they suit the personalities of the people living there. If the shop is successful, we will look into the possibility of expanding and opening more shops in similarly unique locations.

SWOT analysis: Strengths – We will be low cost without forfeiting quality. There are no other shops for clothing for young people at affordable prices in the town, and the nearest ones are a half hour drive away. Therefore, we will have little competition within the town.

Weaknesses – As it is aimed at younger people and has its own unique style, it will only draw a certain crowd of people and will exclude others. It is in a small urban area so not as many people will walk by the shop as in larger areas.

Opportunities – The shop has the possibility to capture the youth market in Hebden Bridge as there are no other shops of its kind in the town. We also have the possibility to grow and expand into other locations if the business does well.

Threats – Nowadays, online shopping is extremely popular due to its convenience, and therefore takes business away from smaller, physical shops. To combat this, we will try to build an interesting shop which draws attention and attracts people inside.

Management team We will all share the work within the shop, but we will each have a specific area to take care of. The roles are as follows: Liv: Marketing. Angela: Operations. Ernest: CEO. Do: Human Resources. Corrado: Finance.

Financial and resources plan We will finance our venture with personal savings and a bank loan. We will source our raw materials from low-cost but sustainable suppliers, and we will use small, local companies to produce our designs.

How will our initiative help society?

Our idea provides a much-needed resource for young individualistic people in Hebden Bridge. Our clothes will provide them with a way to demonstrate their unique personalities.

30

As there is already a strong community spirit in the town, we will get involved with community events and projects and give back to the community which supports us.

Website

Flyer

Instagram

31

Confessions

-

,,In the past I’ve had heard about many Erasmus+ projects and have always wanted to participate in as many as possible because not only do you get to learn something new and develop yourself but you also get to meet new people and even make friendships which might last a lifetime.

In the first I was a bit skeptical about this project but in the first days my mind was quickly change to the positive side. Everything was really well thought out and people there were just amazing. I had never met so many likable and kind people in my life.

I have nothing bad to say about the accommodation in Sarata Monteoru. The room was really good and beds were so comfortable. And let’s not get to the bathroom. It was nothing but perfect. When it came to feeding, I can say that it felt close to home so there are also no complaints there. Okay, maybe just one – sometimes the portions felt too small, but that wasn’t something unfixable. The motel in itself was really cozy and I must say, better than I expected. So overall accommodation was very, very good and I had nothing to complain about. Like there was even a forest next to the motel. What could be better?

Workshops were nothing than pure fun and enjoyable work time. I hadn’t had such fun in a long time while still learning something new and developing myself. The tasks that we were give was nothing I had seen before but, since I like exploring the unknown, I had no fear to dive right in.

32

Coffee breaks and free time was really well thought of and I personally appreciated that this was taken in consideration. Not going to lie, there were some moments when you felt like doing nothing and just tired. After these breaks I felt like a new person ready to work and tackle our tasks.

The last two days we spent in Buzau hotel which, I must say, I felt pretty disappointed because our room wasn’t the best. I would say that I am a person who is not afraid of changes but this change was quite unpleasant and I really started to miss Sarata Monteoru. Our room had sort of Soviet time vibe which I am not against but it felt quite old and worn out.

Heading to the ending I would like to talk about people. I have only one word to descried some of them – unforgettable. I had never met so admirable and truly amazing people. I can say that I even wanted to adapt some personality trades from them. And all of their English language levels really, really good. There was no problem in communication and understanding each other.

In the end I want to say that this has been one of the best if not THE BEST projects I have been to. Hats off to Tolea Erasmus and Bogdan Chiriacescu for making this project real and for changing the way I look on life and maybe even the life itself.

Thank you a million times!!!’’

Ernests – Latvia

,,This was my first ERASMUS project and I had a wonderful time. I didn’t know how everything would go but it turned out amazing. I liked the exercises and workshops we did at the beginning but I enjoyed the business hubs more. Working on our own business idea was interesting, fun and slightly challenging. I had a great team and we managed to do everything well. For me talking only in English for 10 days was good experience 33

because I enjoy it but daily I don’t have many opportunities to do it. In the project it didn’t matter how good your English was because nobody judged.

Everyone, who I met in the ERASMUS, was amazing and friendly. I will miss them a lot. “Welcome to the hub” for me was a fabulous trip and definitely a great first experience.’’

Maija – Latvia

,,The whole project was perfect experience, both inside and outside the classroom. We've learnt many things about the topic and some life things that you cannot learn in school. The groups from each country were unique on their own and we all managed to connect and create a bond despite the differences. The location was perfect, the room service and the food in the restaurant were good as well. All in all, it was a beautiful experience. We can storytell to others about it, but only us who lived it can really feel the beauty of it.’’

Luka – Macedonia

34

‘This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.’

35