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 As the globalisation of the world’s economies continues in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving economic environment, the challenges facing young people in Central and Eastern Europe have never been greater. If they are to meet these challenges, the need for them to be enterprising and acquire flexible, transferable skills is ever more important, both for the young people themselves and the wider communities in which they live. There is clearly a need to provide young people with a range of alternative career options and the skills and support to take advantage of these choices. The self-employment option is important for young people now and is set to be of even greater importance in the future. However, starting up a new business can be very daunting for a young person with limited life experience and resources. This can be particularly difficult and challenging if they live in a country or region where there is little or no existing ‘enterprise culture’ or support. It is therefore important to establish sustainable enterprise programmes that encourage young people to develop an entrepreneurial approach, while providing them with the support they need to explore the option of self-employment and set up viable businesses. To help meet this need, Wandsworth Youth Enterprise, with funding from the Community Fund in the United Kingdom, worked as lead partner with the Budapest Youth Enterprise Centre to assist the Secondary School of Economics, Infomatics and Technology in Cegled, Hungary, the Neumann János Vocational School of Economics and Secondary Grammar School in Eger, Hungary, and the Business Support Centre in Kranj, Slovenia, to set up, develop and establish the first network of youth enterprise incubator centres in Central Europe. Project Objectives
The Origin of the Project The founding principles underpinning the project were developed by Wandsworth Youth Enterprise (WYE). WYE was established in the United Kingdom in 1988 in response to growing problems of unemployment, social exclusion and lack of opportunity for young people in South West London. It was here that the concept of a totally integrated youth enterprise programme was developed, offering solutions to the socio-economic barriers preventing young people integrating with local or regional labour markets through self-employment. The programme consists of a wide range of services, from dedicated one to one counselling (using a specific methodology), business skills workshops and training courses, to office services and subsidised business premises, available for up to two years. This comprehensive ‘all in one’ package of support for the young entrepreneur has been shown to increase dramatically the chances of their businesses surviving during the critical first two years of trading. First Youth Enterprise Incubator Centre in Central and Eastern Europe In 1996, European funding was secured to develop a pilot programme at the Business Polytechnic School in Budapest, based on WYE’s successful model. From its humble beginnings, with four business units and a parttime specialist support team, the Budapest Youth Enterprise Centre has developed and grown to become the thriving youth enterprise centre it is today. The Centre currently has 21 business units and employs a team of staff, including a permanent counsellor and trainer, supporting the needs of over 200 young Hungarian business men and women through all stages of the programme. First Central European Network of Youth Enterprise Centres Established Once the Budapest Youth Enterprise Centre (BYEC) was firmly established, the need for a European network of centres following the same model within a variety of different settings was identified, as a result of market research and feedback from dissemination activities and from the prospective partners in this project. Following on from this, the new partners joined the project and a further four youth enterprise centres were set up with hands-on training and technical support provided from both London and Budapest. These new centres, two in Hungary in Eger and Cegled and two in Slovenia in Kranj and Jesenice are well on their way to becoming established centres of best practice in their regions.
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