The EYES project
Since 2014, Eurasia net has been active in promoting Social and Solidarity Economy to young people through various international projects. At Eurasia net, we consider social entrepreneurship as an economic and social alternative for a new generation of entrepreneurs.
EYES: Eurasia for Youth & Social Enterpreneurship
In 2015, Eurasia net coordinated an Erasmus + cooperation project for innovation, exchanging good practices and capacity building in the field of youth and social entrepreneurship. The project was part of a cooperative dynamic between several structures : France, India, Greece, Romania, China and Vietnam.
For more info: check out the trailer.
These two years of collaboration have resulted in several productions to help people discover the world of social entrepreneurship and inspire young people who would like to start their own project:
KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN
The goals of this action
Keep Your Eyes Open is a large project supported by the Erasmus+ program of the European Commission which gives continuity to the EYES project for the promotion of social entrepreneurship among young people.
This program enables our international partners to meet around the same goal: exchange good practices and develop skills in the field of social entrepreneurship.
The EYES project “Eurasia for Youth Entrepreneurship and Social business”, launched in 2015 and intended to support young people in their social entrepreneurship projects, has been successful. Thus, Eurasia net intentionally pursued it. Its aim was to promote and develop good practices in the field of social entrepreneurship to facilitate the employability of young people. The EYES website was launched with the aim of promoting those tools.
Since 2018 we have been working on enriching the EYES social entrepreneurship good practice guide of the EYES entrepreneurs network and strengthening our international partnerships.
Keep Your Eyes Open intends to promote the transfer of good practices of social entrepreneurship but also the good practices and experiences of youth organizations to support, accompany young project holders in the field of social entrepreneurship.
It is also about improving the local impact of the projects of the partner organizations through the development of partnerships and local events. The project aspires to raise awareness among a novice public and to diffuse the guide to experts also through the enrichment and communication of the EYES guide online.
Few projects in 2018 & 2019
Training in Marseille
In December 2018, Eurasia net hosted 8 participants from Romania (D’Avent), Croatia (EHSB), Vietnam (Open M) and the Philippines (Virlanie), to carry out the first phase of the project: training. During one week, our partners were able to participate in different workshops and visits. It was also the opportunity to create a moment of encounter between the volunteers of the Open Up Your Eyes program and the partner organizations present. This training was an opportunity for Eurasia net to highlight the objectives and specificities of the Keep Your Eyes Open project and to think together about the expected results of the project, the creation of videos to enrich the EYES website in particular.
Job Shadowing
Two members of the Eurasia net team had the chance to join the Virlanie Foundation in the Philippines and the social enterprise Open M in Vietnam for 10 days to exchange on different professional practices. The projects implemented in each of the organizations and to discover different social entrepreneurship practices in these two countries and finally, to create new partnerships. The partners of the Consortium were also able to make exchanges between Romania, the Philippines, Vietnam and Croatia. In March 2019, we welcomed to Eurasianet a representative from the Virlanie Foundation (Philippines) and a representative from Open M (Vietnam).
Closing seminar
The closing seminar took place in Manila, Philippines and gathered all the partner organizations of the project. One of the highlights of the seminar was “Get Lit!: Engaging the Youth in Social Entrepreneurship”, a day of workshops dedicated to social entrepreneurship and youth. The objective was to apply “learning by doing”, to foster youth employment through social entrepreneurship, to reveal their creativity and leadership qualities. “Get Lit” was an opportunity to build an international network of young social entrepreneurs between Europe and Asia. The seminar was also an opportunity for participants from partner organizations to discover and visit organizations such as Gawad Kallinga.
New tools
Following these different meetings, the EYES website has been updated! New partners have been integrated to the site, videos made by the volunteers of the Open Up Your EYES program presenting the projects on which they have been involved abroad have been published, our graphic designer has made some nice little videos presenting the site, and above all… Virlanie has made a very nice video to illustrate the “How to launch my project” guide, breaking down all the steps for setting up a social entrepreneurship project. This video is a very good tool for young project leaders but also for incubators.
A bit of advertising for EYES!
Events to promote the project and its results were held in each partner country; in the Philippines, Croatia, Romania and Vietnam. In Marseille, Eurasia net organized an event in partnership with the Apprentis d’Auteuil, Intermade and Le Cloître on October 23, 2019. This event included a conference around social entrepreneurship and professional integration of young people and the presentation of projects of young project holders covered by Intermade, Lève les yeux and La Réserve des Arts. We also had the chance to listen to Anne Charpi on her project Voisins Malins, which is very successful in France.
OPEN UP YOUR EYES: the volunteering program
The EYES volunteer program is the “international volunteering” part of the EYES project. Like the other youth mobility programs of Eurasia net, the EYES volunteer program, via the International Civic Service scheme, offers each year, to a dozen young people (18-25 years old), to commit themselves between 6 and 12 months in France and then abroad, in partner NGOs working in the field of the Social and Solidarity Economy.
The Open Up your EYES project supports young people in social entrepreneurship by offering them a voluntary commitment, both local and international, in order to discover the social and solidarity economy and to get involved in it. The project allows for the transfer of good practices abroad and the reinforcement of the skills of young people and structures so that the projects simultaneously reinforce economic, social and environmental impacts.
OPEN UP YOUR EYES 2018 - 2019
In 2019, 9 volunteers joined the Open Up Your EYES program. In October and November, they had the chance to participate in a panel of trainings, together with the Eurasia Twin volunteers, for more cohesion and sharing. Between the civic and citizen training, the first aid training certificate, the video training delivered by Les Têtes de l’Art, the risk and emotion management training, our volunteers were able to leave, ready for their missions. They also profited from the support of Eurasia net’s future project, supported by the European Social Fund. At the same time, they were able to discover the ecosystem of the Social and Solidarity Economy in Marseille through the SSE Month organized by CRESS PACA.
The volunteers had several objectives:
- To interview a social entrepreneur to understand his background and to get people to know his activities
- Participate in the event “Rencontre EYES un regard ouvert sur l’entrepreneuriat social” organized by Eurasia net in cooperation with Apprentis d’Auteuil and Intermade.
- Contribute to the Disco Soup project of the Share House Hello Marseille “Ramène ta sardine” for the collection, cooking and distribution of meals for the homeless
- Report on their local involvement in the Open Up Your EYES program
- Communicate and testify about the SSE month in Marseille by telling about different events and meetings they had with social entrepreneurship professionals.
The volunteers joined their host structure in December 2019 for 6 to 10 months. Like last year, the volunteers had the mission to make a video presenting the entrepreneurship projects they are invested in abroad. Marine went to Mitraniketan in India, Antoine, Maxime, Lou Anne and Mathias to Open M in Vietnam, Clément to OMU University in Turkey, Esther to Virlanie in the Philippines and finally Louise and Estelle to Plastic Flamingo also in the Philippines.
Volunteers talk about their local involvement!
OPEN UP YOUR EYES 2018 - 2019
The volunteers carried out a local phase in Marseille where they were able to participate in the SSE month and thus discover the SSE ecosystem in Marseille by meeting different actors invested in this field. The volunteers went to meet young entrepreneurs to interview them and understand their socio-economic model. At the same time, they prepared their international departure thanks to the training modules delivered by Eurasia net. They were also trained in video creation by our partner Les Têtes de l’Art to produce, once abroad, the videos that will animate the EYES entrepreneurs website.
The 13 volunteers of the Open Up Your EYES program carried out their international mission in a total of 7 structures invested in the field of social entrepreneurship in Europe and Asia: Virlanie in the Philippines, Open M in Vietnam, Mitraniketan in India, Friends International in Cambodia, The Center for Studies on Social Innovation and Social Economy in Lithuania, EHSB in Croatia and COB in Greece.
Video made by Laura at Friends International in Cambodia
Video made by Elias and Alexis at Open M in Vietnam
Video made by Tristan at Mitraniketan in India
Video made by Cecile and Thibault at Change Makers On in Lithuania
Video made by Marine at Virlanie in the Philippines
Video made by Bruna and Olympe at Europe House Slavonski Brod in Croatia
OPEN UP YOUR EYES 2017 - 2018
Year 2017:
The Open Up Your EYES team started their project with a 3-month local engagement in Marseille within two structures in Marseille: Eurasia net and La Fabulerie.
Oriane and Jérémy supported and developed the Eyes program by responding to calls for projects from foundations. They also updated the EYES project website and promoted local social enterprises in order to increase their visibility by developing partnerships with Eurasia net. Nina, Ophélia and Thomas during their local involvement work in collaboration with La Fabulerie. This structure supports business development projects by relying on different facilitators such as design, digital and artistic creation. The team can design and/or animate a digital mediation workshop, train you on emerging uses (digital writing, interactivity, virtual reality, digital scenography…) and put your scientific, heritage and/or informational content into digital experience.
International commitment
Oriane and Jérémy completed their international phase in Manila, Philippines, with the association Virlanie. Nina, Ophélia and Thomas went to Ho-Chi-Minh, Vietnam, in the structure OpenM, a social enterprise that trains actors of the social and solidarity economy through non-formal education, to help them develop their activity.
