Dr Endrit Kromidha, Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and associate of WE LEAD, has been successful in his application for a Creative Spark Higher Education Enterprise Programme Grant funded by the British Council.
The initiative is intended to create opportunities and to help cities develop in creative ways, starting from Astana in Kazakhstan. In the longer term the project will help to reduce unemployment by strengthening creative industries, planning to expand also in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The project will deliver a blended classroom and online training course which will cover key areas relevant for the creative industries. The training will help to develop key skills needed for creative entrepreneurs and will include:
- Identifying and developing opportunities
- Intellectual property rights
- Marketing
- Team project management
- Financial management
- Attracting investors
- Freelancing
- Working with larger firms
A unique component of the course will be the use of a crowdfunding simulation platform where creative entrepreneurs can learn how to raise finances and collaborate with the crowds to refine their projects ideas. Tracking and monitoring the professional development of creative entrepreneurs from the classroom to the implementation of their business ideas will be a key research area for the three university partners.