EntreComp at work : the European entrepreneurship competence framework in action in the labour market : a selection of case studies.
Date: 2020-08-06
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: case study, entrepreneurship, job security, labour market, professional qualifications

EntreComp
at Work

The European Entrepreneurship 
Competence Framework in action in the 
labour market: a selection of case studies

 •

EUR 30228 EN 

This  publication  is  a  technical  report  by  the  Joint  Research  Centre 
(JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. It 
aims  to  provide  evidence-based  scientific  support  to  the  European 
policymaking process. The scientific output presented does not imply 
a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European 
Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is 
responsible for the use that might be made of this publication.

Manuscript completed in July 2019

Authors: Elin McCallum, Lisa McMullan, Rebecca Weicht and Stefano 
Kluzer.

Editor: Margherita Bacigalupo

Contact information

Yves Punie (European Commission, Joint Research Centre) 

Yves.Punie@ec.europa.eu

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JRC120486

EUR 30228 EN 

ISBN 978-92-76-19002-8 

ISSN 1831-9424 

doi:10.2760/673856 

Luxembourg:  Publications  Office  of  the  European  Union,  2020 
© European Union, 2020

How to cite this report: McCallum, E., McMullan, L., Weicht, R. and 
Kluzer, S. EntreComp at Work. The European Entrepreneurship Com-
petence  Framework  in  action  in  the  labour  market:  a  selection  of 
case studies. (M. Bacigalupo Ed.), EUR 30228 EN, Publications Office 
of 
ISBN 
978-92-76-19002-8, doi:10.2760/673856, JRC120486

Luxembourg, 

European 

Union, 

2020, 

the 

Title:  EntreComp  at  Work.  The  European  Entrepreneurship  Compe-
tence Framework in action in the labour market: a selection of case 
studies.

Abstract: EntreComp at Work provides insights into how EntreComp 
is being used by labour market intermediary organisations to sup-
port individuals in their journey towards sustainable employment. It 
shares a number of lessons derived from 10 case studies.

Elin McCallum
Lisa McMullan
Rebecca Weicht
Stefano Kluzer

EntreComp
at Work

The European Entrepreneurship 
Competence Framework in action in the 
labour market: a selection of case studies

Editor: 
Margherita Bacigalupo

TABLE OF CONTENTS

5 

6 

7 
9 

WELCOME

1. Reader’s guide

DigComp and EntreComp: European key competence frameworks
Methodological note

10 

2. Mapping EntreComp use in the labour market

13 
19 
23 
24 

EntreComp use by labour market intermediaries
how EntreComp is used
Key success and enabling factors
Common challenges

25 

Annex. EntreComp case studies

26 
33 
36 
43 
50 
60 
66 
70 
74 
81 

86 

87 

C1 NFLinEYE
C2 Espacio RES
C3 EU3Leader
C4 Guadalinfo
C5 Mygrants
C6 SFEDI
C7 Social Innovators KG
C8  Startup Support South Africa
C9 The Women’s Organisation
C10 Youth@Work 

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

WELCOME

These two reports, EntreComp at Work: The European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework in action 
in the labour market and The EntreComp Playbook with practical guidance for labour market intermedi-
aries are a new chapter in the success story of EntreComp. 
Their publication comes at a time when the European economy, labour market and workforce are faced 
with unprecedented challenges. It has never been clearer that we require resilience, initiative and col-
laboration skills to respond and EntreComp can offer inspiration and lessons to build entrepreneurial 
mindsets across the EU. 
The 10 case studies in the EntreComp at work report highlight the diversity of ways in which EntreComp 
can be used, including workforce development, design of training, support for start-ups, and design of 
personal development plans. 
The EntreComp Playbook is an innovative collection of practices, tools and examples of how to activate 
EntreComp in the workplace. The 9 principles of EntreComp set out in the playbook have the potential 
to become a new methodology for building entrepreneurial skills – and can be applied equally by an 
individual planning their career or at system level to support an entire workforce.
Our hope is that these new publications serve as a call to action for greater uptake of EntreComp and 
delivering on the goals of the European Skills Agenda. 
I wish to give special thanks to those organisations - Bantani Education together with Matera Hub, Es-
pacio RES, the EU3Leader Consortium, Consorcio Fernando de los Ríos and its programme Guadalinfo, 
Mygrants, the SFEDI Group with SFEDI Awards, SFEDI Solutions and the IOEE, Social Innovators KG, 
Startup Support South Africa, the Women’s Organisation and the Youth@Work Partnership - that gave 
such rich and inspiring information on their case studies. I also take the opportunity to welcome the 
diverse projects and commitment by the EntreComp community who have used EntreComp in the third 
sector, for social innovation and start-ups, and to support underrepresented and disadvantaged groups.  
Thanks also to the team in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre for their work in cre-
ating  this  report  as  well  as  their  ongoing  commitment  to  the  implementation  and  development  of 
EntreComp.

Alison Crabb
Head of Unit, Skills and Qualifications
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

5

1. READER’S GUIDE

Today’s  world  is  characterised  by  volatility,  uncertainty,  complexity  and  ambiguity. 
Technological  developments  are  redefining  the  nature  of  work,  transferring  tasks 
from humans to algorithms or robots. Demographic trends, globalisation and climate 
change  are  also  contributing  to  rapid  transformations  of  labour  markets.  To  cope 
and  thrive  in  a  world  where  technology  is  pervasive  and  evolving  rapidly,  where  a 
wide  range  of  problems  exist  and  where  many  of  the  challenges  faced  are  on  a 
global  scale,  both  individuals  and  collective  entities,  such  as  companies  or  public 
bodies, need to develop new competences that secure their resilience in the face of a 
fast-changing economy and society.

The skills forecast of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Train-
ing (Cedefop) (1) lists the top 10 skills requested in job vacancies (2018 data) as the 
following: being adaptive to change, working well in teams, being able to use office 
software,  assisting  customers,  using  a  computer,  solving  problems,  communicating 
well, being creative, being able to prioritise and managing projects. These are em-
bedded in the knowledge, skills and attitudes that the 2018 Recommendation on Key 
Competences for Lifelong Learning(2) has identified as critical for citizens not only to 
cope with fast-changing labour markets, but also to be active contributors to more 
resilient societies. In particular, the factors identified relate to digital and entrepre-
neurship competences. To support these two competences, the European Commission 
has published two reference frameworks: the Digital Competence Framework for Cit-
izens, also known as DigComp (3), and the Entrepreneurship Competence Framework, 
known as EntreComp (4).

EntreComp at Work focuses on how EntreComp is being used for the provision of ser-
vices that support individuals in progressing towards and participating in labour mar-
ket activities or entrepreneurial ventures. Presenting 10 case studies, this publication 
provides insights into actual uses of EntreComp to address the entrepreneurial skills 
challenge facing labour market intermediary (LMI) organisations that are working to 
support individuals in entering and progressing within the employability pathway, that 
is, to support their journey towards sustainable employment.

Some of the cases analysed deploy both EntreComp and DigComp. The reader can 
find an extensive analysis of the use of DigComp by LMIs in the twin guide to this pub-
lication, DigComp at Work.(5) The European Commission has also produced DigComp 
into Action (6) and EntreComp into Action (7) guides for use by stakeholders, which 
provide examples of the use of both frameworks across different sectors. Some of 
the cases included in this analysis have previously been documented in the EntreC-
omp into Action guide and, where this is the case, this is highlighted throughout this 
publication.

1  Cedefop, Eurofound (2018). Skills Forecast: Trends and challenges to 2030. Luxembourg: 
Publications Office. Cedefop reference series; No 108. https://europa.eu/!Vn87qN

2  Council Recommendation of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning (2018/C 
189/01) 

3  Vuorikari, R., Punie, Y., Carretero Gómez S., Van den Brande, G. (2016). DigComp 2.0: The Digital 
Competence Framework for Citizens. Update Phase 1: The Conceptual Reference Model. Luxem-
bourg Publication Office of the European Union. EUR 27948 EN; doi:10.2791/11517

4  Bacigalupo, M., Kampylis, P., Punie, Y., Van den Brande, G. (2016). EntreComp: The Entrepre-
neur-ship Competence Framework. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union; EUR 

27939 EN; doi:10.2791/593884 

5  Kluzer S., Centeno C. and O´Keeffe, W. (2020), DigComp at Work, Publications Office of the 
European Union, Luxembourg, EUR 30166 EN , doi:10.2760/887815, JRC120376

6  Kluzer S., Pujol Priego L. (2018). DigComp into Action - Get inspired, make it happen. S. 
Carretero, Y. Punie, R. Vuorikari, M. Cabrera, and O’Keeffe, W. (Eds.). JRC Science for Policy Report, 
Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union; EUR 29115 EN;  doi:10.2760/112945. 

7  McCallum E., Weicht R., McMullan L., Price A.,(2018) EntreComp into Action: get inspired, make 
it happen (M. Bacigalupo & W. O’Keeffe Eds.), . Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European 
Union;  EUR 29105 EN: doi:10.2760/574864,  

6

1.READER’S GUIDEDIGCOMP AND ENTRECOMP: EUROPEAN KEY COMPETENCE FRAMEWORKS

DigComp

DigComp defines what it takes to be digitally compe-
tent. It offers a tool to improve citizens’ digital compe-
tence. First published in 2013, DigComp has become a 
reference for the development and strategic planning 
of digital competence initiatives at both European and 
Member State levels.

The DigComp framework has five dimensions:

1.  competence areas identified as part of digital com-

petence (see FIGURE 1);

2.  competence descriptors and titles that are pertinent 

to each area (also in  FIGURE 1);

3.  proficiency levels for each competence;

4.  knowledge,  skills  and  attitudes  applicable  to  each 

competence;

5.  examples  of  use  showing  the  applicability  of  the 

competence to different purposes.

Managing

Evaluating
Information and 
data literacy

Interacting
Sharing
Engaging 
in citizenship
Collaborating
Netiquette
Managing 
digital identity
Communication
collaboration

and

P
r
o
ble
m s
olvin

g

Technical 
problems
Identifying
needs and
 responses
Creatively using 
digital 
technologies
Identifying 
digital
competence 
gaps

DigComp

Safety

t
n
e
t
n
n
tio
o
c
a
l
a
e
r
c

Digit

Developing 
Integrating
and
re-elaborating
Copyright 
and 
licences
Programming

Devices

Personal 
data 
and
privacy

Health 
and
well-
being

The
environment

F.1   DIGCOMP COMPETENCE AREAS AND COMPETENCES

7

1.READER’S GUIDE 
EntreComp

EntreComp  focuses  on  the  competences  that  make 
us  entrepreneurial  in  any  aspect  of  life.  Published  in 
2016, it is a comprehensive, flexible and multipurpose 
reference  framework  designed  to  support  and  inspire 
actions to improve the entrepreneurial capacity of Eu-
ropean citizens and organisations. EntreComp creates a 
shared understanding of the knowledge, skills and at-
titudes that define what it means to be entrepreneurial 
– acting upon opportunities and ideas and transforming
them into social, cultural or financial value for others.
EntreComp defines three competence areas: ‘ideas and
opportunities’,  ‘resources’  and  ‘into  action’.  Each  area
includes  five  competences,  which,  together,  are  the
building  blocks  of  entrepreneurship  as  a  competence
(see  FIGURE  2).  The  framework  develops  these  15
competences  along  an  eight-level  progression  mod-
el. In addition, it provides a comprehensive list of 442
learning outcomes, which offers inspiration and insight
for those designing interventions from different educa-
tional contexts and domains of application.

F.2   ENTRECOMP COMPETENCE AREAS AND COMPETENCES

8

1.READER’S GUIDEMETHODOLOGICAL NOTE

Together with DigComp at Work, EntreComp at Work is the final output of the study 
Mapping DigComp and EntreComp Use, which was funded by the European Com-
mission Joint Research Centre (JRC) and aimed to undertake a deep analysis of the 
uses of DigComp and EntreComp to inform policy responses around lifelong learning, 
guidance and employment support.

The  information  provided  herein  stems  from  fieldwork.  Data  to  identify  initiatives 
were collected through an open online call for information, an online questionnaire 
and email exchanges with networks of organisations interested in the application of 
the framework. An inventory of 29 initiatives that used EntreComp to provide entre-
preneurial  (up)skilling  services  from  across  the  employability  pathway  was  drawn 
up from the data collected. The selection of cases for in-depth analysis was based 
on their level of maturity, alongside the levels of activity and implementation of the 
framework. The selection also sought to ensure diversity in terms of the sector of 
origin  (public,  private  and  third  sectors),  the  relevance  of  the  initiative  across  the 
breadth of the employability pathway and the target population/beneficiaries of the 
services (i.e. unemployed people, employees, entrepreneurs(-to-be), volunteers, vul-
nerable  people  such  as  migrants,  older  people  and  low-skilled  workers,  and  those 
facing particular challenges such as young people and women).

When identifying uses of EntreComp in work settings a broad perspective was adopt-
ed  to  encompass  actors  working  towards  developing  the  entrepreneurial  skills  of 
those who are unemployed, job seekers, employees and entrepreneurs(-to-be). The 
sample of cases selected is not representative.

DigComp
at Work

The EU’s digital competence 
framework in action 
on the labour market: 
a selection of case studies

 •

EUR 30166 EN

F.3   DIGCOMP AT WORK COVER

9

1.READER’S GUIDE2. MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKET

Cases’ visual cues

The 10 cases are represented by an icon and a sequence number. 

The colour of the icon indicates which sector the cases stem from.

Cxx

Cxx

PUBLIC SECTOR

PRIVATE SECTOR

Cxx

THIRD SECTOR

The aim of EntreComp at Work is to present insights into the real-life implementations 
of EntreComp in employability settings. By presenting 10 illustrative case studies and 
including insights from a consultation with 25 organisations, this publication shares a 
number of lessons derived from practice.

EntreComp at Work has been developed to complement the EntreComp into Action 
guide with a focus on the use of EntreComp in the provision of services supporting 
individuals in participating in labour market activities.

The 10 EntreComp cases included in the analysis are listed in TABLE 1. The organi-
sations consulted, which represent a wide range of actors applying, or interested in 
applying, both DigComp and EntreComp frameworks are as follows: University College 
Leuven-Limburg (Belgium), Valnalon (Spain), Mindworks (Georgia), South East Europe-
an Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (Croatia), Virke (Norway), Cardiff Metropolitan 
University (United Kingdom), Materahub / Break in the Desk (Finland, France, Hungary, 
Italy,  Spain  and  the  United  Kingdom),  Simply  Do  Ideas  (United  Kingdom),  Talous  ja 
nuoret TAT (Finland), European Centre for Women and Technology (EU), Queensland 
innovation & entrepreneurial ecosystem (Australia), Kemmy Business School, Univer-
sity of Limerick (Ireland), State University of Applied Sciences in Elbag – PWSZ (Po-
land), Tomorrow’s Land, Regenerus (United Kingdom), Advice Skills Academy (United 
Kingdom), PIETE, Univations GmbH (Germany), Entrepreneur Academy (Belgium), Aso-
ciación Jóvenes Solidarios (Spain), 1st EPAL of Lerapetra (Greece), Silesian University 
in Opava (Czechia), Instituto Superiore Luigi Einaudi (Italy), Hireable (United States), 
AUPEX (Spain), All Digital (EU) and European Grants International Academy (Italy).

10

2.MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETT.1   ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER OF THE LEADING ORGANISATION -1/2

C1  

NFLinEYE
BELGIUM • ITALY

C2

Espacio RES
SPAIN

C3

EU3Leader 
AUSTRIA • CROATIA 
SPAIN • UK

C4

Guadalinfo 
SPAIN

C5

Mygrants
ITALY

Capturing Non-Formal Learning 
in the Erasmus for Young 
Entrepreneurs Programme - 
Bantani Education and Materahub 
have conceptualised the use of 
EntreComp and a digital social 
learning media tool to measure 
the lifelong learning impact of the 
EYE programme and to capture 
the non-formal learning journey 
of ‘new entrepreneurs’ who 
participate in the programme

Espacio RES is a foundation that 
was set up to create a sustainable 
start-up ecosystem in Seville, 
which uses EntreComp to develop, 
plan and organise its incubator 
programme for start-ups in social 
enterprise, technology, agriculture, 
clean energy and the creative 
fields

The Euclid Network’s EU3Leader 
Erasmus+ project has developed 
a professional skills framework 
to foster entrepreneurial 
competences among third-sector 
leaders

Guadalinfo is a regional 
consortium that is using DigComp 
and EntreComp to define its 
training programme, expanding 
the focus from digital competence 
development to citizen 
empowerment through support 
for developing social innovation 
and business ideas, contributing 
to their goal of employability for 
social inclusion

Mygrants, a start-up in Bologna, 
has developed an app providing 
information and formative 
assessment services to refugees 
on asylum, social challenges and 
entrepreneurship. The system is 
used to scout out hidden talents 
among trainees and match 
them with job opportunities. 
EntreComp was used to design 
entrepreneurship-related content 
and offline activities

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

 • Placement organisations
 • New entrepreneurs

 • Entrepreneurs
 • Aspiring entrepreneurs

 • Public administrations
 • Universities
 • Third-sector organisations
 • Business associations
 • Banking associations

 • Euclid Network – civil society 

Regional: 

organisations

regional government

 •
 • provincial councils
 • universities
 • schools / formal education
 • European networks (e.g. AllDig-
ital, the European Network of 
Living Labs (ENoLL))

 • businesses
 • NGOs and civil society organi-

sations

Local:

 town halls
community organisations

 •
 •
 • women’s associations
 • neighbourhood associations
 • schools
 • NGOs
 • businesses
 • users

   
   
 
  
  
C6 

SFEDI Awards
UK

C7

Social Innovators KG
AUSTRIA

C8

Startup Support 
South Africa  
SOUTH AFRICA

C9

The Women’s 
Organisation 
UK

T.1   ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER - 2/2

The SFEDI Group is a group of 
organisations with a central focus 
on the development of enterprise 
and entrepreneurship through UK 
government-recognised National 
Occupational Standards for 
Enterprise. The organisation has 
taken the strategic decision to 
embrace and embed EntreComp 
through its project development, 
new course design and ongoing 
review of existing qualifications.

Social Innovators KG runs 
an incubator programme for 
social enterprises in Graz, 
Austria. The 15 participants 
are unemployed individuals 
with a business idea who were 
placed in the programme by 
the Styrian public employment 
service (AMS). EntreComp serves 
the programme in developing 
holistic entrepreneurial skills for 
participants to address social 
problems when institutions cannot

Startup Support South Africa 
is an organisation supporting 
a range of entrepreneurship 
capacity-development initiatives. 
This short case study focuses on 
its work with a major bank, in 
which EntreComp was used as 
the basis for a completed pilot 
study and will be used in the 
planned roll-out of workforce 
redeployment training to support 
existing employees at risk of 
redundancy to develop their part-
time enterprises into a sustainable 
full-time income.

The WO is a women’s economic 
development agency providing a 
wide range of enterprise creation 
and growth incubation services for 
women. It is using EntreComp to 
review and develop its services for 
women entrepreneurs and start-
ups, and as an organisational 
development tool for team 
training and strategic direction..

C10

Youth@Work 
Partnership
TURKEY • ITALY • POLAND 
FRANCE • REPUBLIC OF 
NORTH MACEDONIA • SPAIN 
CYPRUS • HUNGARY • UK • 
MALTA • GREECE

This is a strategic cooperation 
between a number of Erasmus+ 
national agencies in Europe 
to support and develop the 
themes of entrepreneurship and 
employability across youth-work 
strategies and initiatives at 
national and EU levels. They are 
using EntreComp and DigComp 
as competence frameworks 
underpinning their strategic 
objectives and approach. They 
have so far provided tailored 
capacity-building training to 
national agency staff and followed 
this up by creating and training 
a pool of trainers to specialise in 
these topics and support the work 
of the Youth@Work Partnership 
at the EU level and of national 
agencies at the national level.

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

STAKEHOLDERS INVOLVED 

• Start-ups

• Universities
• Client company

• Public administrations
• Vocational education and train-

ing (VET) providers

• Third-sector organisations
• Educational organisations
• Companies
• Employment organisations
• Universities

• Public administrations
• VET providers
• Third-sector organisations
• Entrepreneurs/founders
• Small businesses
• Businesses Associations/net-

works

• Universities

• National ministries
• Regional administrations

Chambers of commerce Univer-
sities

• Social innovation centres
• Larger NGOs

ENTRECOMP USE BY LABOUR MARKET INTERMEDIARIES

LMIs  operate  in  the  labour  market  to  bridge  the  gap 
between  labour  supply  and  demand.  They  are  made 
up of a range of organisations from the public, private 
and voluntary sectors and include public employment 
services, welfare-to-work providers, private-sector em-
ployment agencies, training providers, careers support 
services  and  community-based  non-statutory  organi-
sations. They provide services to increase the employa-
bility of unemployed people and those seeking jobs, to 
support employees to upskill or progress in work, and 
to  support  those  striving  for  entrepreneurial  develop-
ment, either for themselves through self-employment 
or within an organisation.

In increasingly volatile, complex and  fragmented  em-
ployment settings, LMIs’ role and services offered are 
growing. FIGURE 4 provides an overview of the main 
services offered by LMIs along a generic ‘employability 
pathway’.

The journey to and through employment can be com-
plex for the individual, the employee, the employer and 
the LMI providing support. For example, while the steps 
may be followed in a linear way, individuals’ experienc-
es entering into and within the labour market rarely fol-
low a direct path. Given this, a challenge for LMI actors 
is to be flexible enough in their provision of employa-
bility services to meet the different needs of those that 
they work with.

start-up 
start-up 
pathway
pathway

certification of 
certification of 
competence
competence

labour market 
labour market 
skills analysis
skills analysis

assessment of 
assessment of 
skills
skills

client tracking 
client tracking 
and monitoring
and monitoring

liasing with 
liasing with 
employers for 
employers for 
job  placement/
job  placement/
experience
experience

design of 
design of 
of training/
of training/
development
development

delivery of 
delivery of 
training/
training/
development
development

outreach to 
outreach to 
the under/
the under/
unemployed
unemployed

workforce 
workforce 
development
development

personal 
personal 
development 
development 
planplan

job search/
job search/
support
support

career advice
career advice

Employee 
Employee 
support
support

F.4   THE EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY

13

2. MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETTABLE 2 presents an overview of the EntreComp LMI 
cases mapped against the employability pathway.

None of the 10 cases analysed in this study covers the 
full  pathway.  Furthermore,  none  of  the  cases  offers 
services in the ‘employee support’ step. Of the 14 ser-
vices, or steps, of the employability pathway, six stand 
out, as these were used most often:

• the design of training/development (in 9 of 10 cas-

es);

• the delivery of training/development (in 9 of 10 cas-

es);

• the assessment of skills (in 8 of 10 cases);

• personal development plans (in 8 of 10 cases);

• the start-up pathway (in 8 of 10 cases);

• the certification of competence (in 6 of 10 cases).

T.2   CASES MAPPED AGAINST EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY STEPS  - (✓) planned rather than actual activity
(Grey background denotes steps in which EntreComp is not used yet)

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY STEPS

C1  

C2

C3  

C4

C5

C6  

C7

C8  

C9

C10

Labour market skills analysis 

Outreach to the under-/unemployed 

Assessment of skills 

Personal development plan 

Design of training/development 

Delivery of training/development

Careers advice 

Client tracking and monitoring 

Liaising with employers for job 
placement/experience 

Job search/support 

Employee support 

Workforce development 

Start-up pathway

Certification of competence 

14

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

(✓)

✓

✓

(✓)

(✓)

✓

(✓)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2.MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETTABLE 3 maps the cases against lifelong learning (8) 
settings,  showing  a  prevalence  among  the  cases  of 
non-formal and adult learning services offered, which 
reflects how LMI actors typically operate outside formal 
education systems.

TABLE  4  (next  page)  provides  examples  of  how  En-
treComp  is  used  in  support  of  each  step  of  the  em-
ployability pathway. Not all cases are featured in this 
list and while, in various cases, actions may have been 
implemented across multiple steps in the employabili-
ty pathway, EntreComp is not always explicitly used in 
each step.

T.3   THE 10 CASES MAPPED AGAINST LIFELONG LEARNING SETTINGS

LIFELONG LEARNING SETTINGS 

C1  

C2

C3  

C4

C5

C6  

C7

C8  

C9

C10

School education

Higher education

VET

Youth work

✓

✓

✓

8  The classification of lifelong learning sectors is based on 
the lifelong learning sectors identified within the European 
Commission definitions and organisations structure, and the 
following European Parliament analysis: http://www.europarl.
europa.eu/thinktank/infographics/lifelonglearning/index.html

Work-based learning 

✓

✓

✓

Adult learning 

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Non-formal learning

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

15

2. MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETEMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY STEP

EXPLICIT USE OF ENTRECOMP

C1  

C2

C3  

C4

C5

C6  

C7

C8  

C9

C10

T.4   EXPLICIT USE OF ENTRECOMP IN EACH STEP OF THE EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY

1/2

Labour market skills 
analysis

Skills for third-sector leaders are analysed through the EntreComp prism

Labour market shortages are identified through links with business associations

Outreach to the under-/
unemployed

Not explicit: under- and unemployed participants for business start-up course are identified via 
public employment offices

EntreComp is used to design a reflection process to support the assessment of skills

EntreComp is used to assess the skills of aspiring/new entrepreneurs

EntreComp is mapped to the existing self-assessment tool to ensure alignment

✓

✓

Assessment of skills 

EntreComp is used to assess skills via self-assessment and a 360 feedback process

Continuous assessment of achievements via an online app

EntreComp is used to assess skills via self-assessment and a qualification-based assessment

Planned: development of self-assessment tool

Personal development plans aligned to EntreComp are captured via a learner commitment and the 
mandated tasks set in the LoopMe tool

✓

A specific model is mapped to EntreComp to ensure alignment with the framework competences

Personal development 
plan 

Personal development plans are mapped to EntreComp-inspired third-sector leader skills 
framework

Personal development plans are developed via an online app

Personal development plans are integrated into the qualification-based course

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Learning activities are designed/delivered and are fully aligned to EntreComp

✓

✓

✓

Design and delivery of 
training 

Training is mapped to EntreComp-inspired third-sector leader skills framework

✓

EntreComp is embedded into the learning outcomes and modules of the qualification-based course

16

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2.MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETEMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY STEP

EXPLICIT USE OF ENTRECOMP

C1  

C2

C3  

C4

C5

C6  

C7

C8  

C9

C10

T.4   EXPLICIT USE OF ENTRECOMP IN EACH STEP OF THE EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY

2/2

Personal development plans aligned to EntreComp are captured via a learner commitment and the 
mandated tasks set in the LoopMe tool

✓

An already developed model is compared with / mapped to EntreComp to ensure alignment with 
the EntreComp competences

Personal development plans are mapped to EntreComp-inspired third-sector leader skills 
framework

✓

✓

Careers advice

(It is considered that this 
step is closely related 
to the development of 
personal development 
plans. However, it is worth 
noting that no specific 
career guidance is linked 
to the cases analysed)

Liaising with employers 
for job placement/
experience

Personal development plans are developed via an online app

Personal development plans are integrated into the qualification-based course

Job placements / integration-focused internships are offered via an app and/or training

Job search/support

Not with EntreComp use

Employee support

Not with EntreComp use

Workforce development support is supplied to organisations as customers

Workforce development

EntreComp-related qualifications are used for workforce development

The workforce deployment programme (resulting from job cuts due to artificial intelligence) is 
explicitly aligned to EntreComp

Links to skills for start-up are explicitly made

✓

✓

Start-up pathway

The main area of personal development is aligned to EntreComp competences and start-up

Competences are informally recognised via completion of EntreComp-aligned tasks or training

✓

Certification of 
competence

YouthPass is used in training events (where EntreComp is explicitly mentioned as a focus of the 
training undertaken) 

Competences are formally recognised via a qualification from a government-recognised awarding 
body

Client tracking and 
monitoring

Limited research is conducted via surveys of pre- and post-release prisoners on their perceptions 
of the learning process and its actual/future benefits

17

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2. MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETTABLE 5 provides a more in-depth analysis of the four 
steps  within  the  employability  pathway  that  feature 
most frequently (analysis of competences, assessment 
of  skills,  design  of  training  and  recognition/.certifica-
tion). To these four steps, it is important to add an ad-
ditional step in this table, which is not covered within 
the  employability  pathway  –  to  mobilise  or  promote 
entrepreneurship using EntreComp (see the discussion 
in the ‘How EntreComp is used’ section below).

T.5   COMMON USES OF ENTRECOMP ACROSS THE 10 CASE STUDIES - (✓) planned rather than actual activity

CASE

MOBILISE/PRO-
MOTE ENTRE-
PRENEURSHIP

ANALYSIS OF 
COMPETENCES

ASSESSMENT OF 
SKILLS

DESIGN OF 
TRAINING

RECOGNITION/
CERTIFICATION

PUBLICLY 
AVAILABLE 
OUTPUTS

ENTRECOMP USAGE

C1  

C2

C3  

C4

C5

C6  

C7

C8  

C9

C10

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

18

Competence frame-
work for third-sector 
leaders and training 
programme

Course specifications

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓ 

✓

(✓)

(✓)

(✓)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

(✓)

(✓)

(✓)

2.MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETHOW ENTRECOMP IS USED

EntreComp was launched in 2016 and when data for the present study were collect-
ed (at the end of 2018) the use of the framework by early adopters was still in its 
infancy. In brief, EntreComp provides a structure for mapping existing entrepreneur-
ship training and services according to the 15 competences of the framework and 
provides a check-list for those involved in the development of new training or wider 
employability support initiatives, not only at the learning outcome level but also at the 
strategic level. The framework creates value by providing a robust, credible context 
and an innovative approach that underpin decisions or proposals to address EntreC-
omp-related competence development. In C9 The WO, EntreComp has provided the 
evidence base to support the writing of proposals and tenders for the provision of 
local enterprise services. 

Similarly, the framework is useful to support policy interventions. C10 Youth@Work, 
is the exception to the main group of case studies. In its strategic cooperation with 
Erasmus+ national agencies, it sees its role, namely driving the implementation of 
both the EntreComp and DigComp frameworks, as a clear objective of the coopera-
tion. EntreComp is used as a structure to provide evidence of the impact of such com-
petences in the areas of employability and entrepreneurship, which are under-repre-
sented in youth-work objectives.

What follows is a presentation of how EntreComp has been used by the 10 cases in 
the first 18 months after its public release.

EntreComp for the analysis of competence requirements

LMIs use EntreComp as a guiding tool to identify competences that can or should 
be developed to support the development of entrepreneurial skills and an entrepre-
neurial mindset. Different players have used the framework as a reference for generic 
skills analysis, but none has used EntreComp for occupational profiling (9). Similarly, 
EntreComp has provided a structure for mapping existing entrepreneurship training 

and services against  the 15 competences of the framework (C9 The WO), leading 
to training programmes being redesigned, rather than being turned into a baseline 
for benchmarking.

C3  EU3Leader,  has  defined  a  competence  profile  using  EntreComp  as  a  research 
tool to underpin the development process. C4 Guadalinfo, is planning to do so for its 
target audiences and C10 Youth@Work, is considering how to adapt the framework 
to youth workers. However, through the current and planned applications identified 
in these cases, EntreComp is being applied generically to a broad skills profile rather 
than to specific occupations.

Benchmarking is not highlighted in any of the current EntreComp cases, while it is an 
emerging theme in the use of DigComp (10).

The cases studied mainly address all of the competence areas. Given that all of the 
cases state that ‘EntreComp provides a common language’, it is not surprising that 
the majority of cases focus on all of the competence areas (C1 NFLinEYE; C2 Espacio 
RES;  C3  EU3Leader,  C6  SFEDI,  C8  Startup  Support  South  Africa  and  C10  Youth@
Work) and only one case tackles two out of the three EntreComp competence areas 
(C7 Social Innovators KG), namely ‘resources’ and ‘into action’. Within the ‘resourc-
es’ area, the project focuses on a specific set of competences: mobilising resources, 
self-awareness and self-efficacy, and motivation and perseverance.

Only  C7  Social  Innovators  KG  considered  additional  entrepreneurial  competences. 
These stem from the actors’ own experiences, rather than from an analytical com-
parison, which is reflected in, for example, its call for a sales skill to be included.

C2 Espacio RES is the only programme that also focused on building other key com-
petences. It initially set out to focus on all eight key competences defined by the Eu-
ropean Commission (11), but the project abandoned this approach because it was not 
feasible. Its work now focuses on entrepreneurial skills.

9  DigComp, which has been out for longer than EntreComp (since 2013), has already been used 
to define occupational profiles, as documented in Kluzer S., Centeno C. and O´Keeffe, W. (2020), 
DigComp at Work, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, EUR 30166 EN , 
doi:10.2760/887815, JRC120376

10  Kluzer S., Centeno C. and O´Keeffe, W. (2020), DigComp at Work, Publications Office of the 
European Union, Luxembourg, EUR 30166 EN , doi:10.2760/887815, JRC120376

11  Council Recommendation of 22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning (2018/C 
189/01)  

19

2. MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETA number of projects included a focus on digital competences as described in Dig-
Comp.  This  is  particularly  clear  in  C4  Guadalinfo,  in  which  DigComp  competences 
underpin its training programme, and in C10 Youth@Work, in which the dual focus on 
EntreComp and DigComp competences is reflected in the strategic objectives.

to ensure alignment prior to using them. C10 Youth@Work is in the planning stages of 
developing a bespoke assessment tool, for which the next step will be a ‘hackathon’ 
with young people, employers and experts from the worlds of assessment and youth 
work to begin the co-creation of an approach/tool to work alongside YouthPass (12).

EntreComp for assessment tests, recognition and certification of competences

As seen in TABLE 4, this area is not yet well developed for EntreComp, which is 
in stark contrast with the analysis of the results of the DigComp cases, presented in 
DigComp at Work. It is likely that this is a result of the different stages of maturity of 
each framework, and, importantly, the development path of DigComp may offer some 
indication of how EntreComp could progress in the future.

A  more  fine-grained  analysis  of  the  process,  from  assessment  to  recognition,  as 
demonstrated  in  the  implementation  of  EntreComp  offers  more  insight,  as  seen  in 
TABLE 6. While a number of cases highlight assessment and recognition as themes, 
deeper analysis shows that the approaches are usually more informal than with the 
implementation of DigComp, with fewer links to formal certification of competenc-
es. Indeed, only C6 SFEDI demonstrated formal certification, with most cases lying 
instead in the realm of social recognition of competences to explicitly demonstrate 
their value to the learning process and to the individual learner. This links to the ‘shift 
in mindset’ that C7 Social Innovators KG highlighted as an important result of using 
the  framework  –  namely  that,  through  explanation  and  use  of  EntreComp,  stake-
holders were supported in and began to understand the value of these competences 
within the learning process and ultimately to the learner.

The importance of assessment is evident in a number of cases, both existing and 
planned.  It  can  be  seen  most  explicitly  in  C1  NFLinEYE,  which  uses  LoopMe.io  –  a 
commercial tool – to provide a structured assessment process, with learning objec-
tives and learning outcomes mapped to EntreComp competences (but does not offer 
formal  certification).  Courses  and  assessments  in  C6  SFEDI  are  clearly  mapped  to 
EntreComp  competences  and  a  number  include  a  self-assessment  tool  aligned  to 
the framework. C8 Startup Support South Africa, has drawn on existing assessment 
tools from academia and analysed these in relation to the EntreComp competences 

It is apparent that certification is not yet widespread among the EntreComp cases 
and  can  be  seen  only  in  C2  Espacio  RES  (open  badges),  and  C6  SFEDI.  C6  is  the 
most prominent example, as it is a qualification-awarding body designing and deliv-
ering certified courses through a range of delivery providers. They have a series of 
qualifications that map to EntreComp and highlight the value of EntreComp for the 
recognition and certification process to delivery providers.

One aspect worth highlighting within the EntreComp cases is the concept of creating 
value for the competences being developed and assessed. This is a form of social 
recognition and can be seen in EntreComp in those situations where formal routes 
of assessment and certification do not exist. A number of cases are actively seek-
ing practice examples covering both assessment and certification, to inform planned 
developments (C4, Guadalinfo and C10 Youth@Work), linked to less experience and 
understanding of how to effectively assess and certify these competences. It can 
be related back to the mindset shift needed when working with EntreComp, to the 
earlier level of maturity of the framework itself and to the overall lower use of relat-
ed competences within lifelong learning than in DigComp (which may not be widely 
recognised in existing learning approaches).

EntreComp to design training programmes

The framework is very widely used as a foundation for the design and delivery of 
training on entrepreneurial skills, as illustrated in TABLE 7. This aspect features in all 
of the cases, varying from courses for the staff of policy organisations (C10 Youth@
Work) to training for entrepreneurs (C9 The WO and C2 Espacio RES). Direct EntreC-
omp specification was a common feature, defined as explicit use of the EntreComp 
competences within the design of training. In EntreComp, this does not align with the 

12  YouthPass is a recognition tool for non-formal and informal learning in youth projects

20

2.MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETT.6   COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT AND CERTIFICATION IN THE CASE STUDIES- (✓) planned rather than actual activity

LINK TO ENTRECOMP

CASE

SOCIAL 
VALUE/RECOG-
NITION

SELF-ASSESS-
MENT

FEEDBACK 
ASSESSMENT

FORMATIVE 
ASSESSMENT

SUMMATIVE 
ASSESSMENT

VALIDATION

INFORMAL 
CERTIFICATION 

FORMAL CER-
TIFICATION

COMMENT

C1  

C2

C3  

C4

C5

C6  

C7

C8  

C9

C10

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Embedded within the LoopMe tool

(✓)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

(✓)

(✓)

✓

✓

Participants receive course completion badge

None

(✓)

Seeking best practice for future plans on assessment

Continuous/formative assessment of learning 
achievements

✓

✓

✓

Used within formal qualification

Participants receive course completion certificate

✓

✓

Uses existing tools that align to EntreComp

Competences made explicit through training 

✓

(✓)

(✓)

(✓)

(✓)

Piloted basic use – planning assessment-based tool 
development

21

2. MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKET 
 
 
 
 
use of the progression model.

The degree of framework use and the integration of EntreComp in the structure 
and design of training actions varies, ranging from informal uses (C2 Espacio RES) 
to very formalised structures (C3 EU3Leader, C1 NFLinEYE and C6 SFEDI). While both 
C3,  EU3Leader,  and  C1  NFLinEYE  rely  heavily  on  EntreComp,  the  way  it  is  used  in 
these cases is quite different. C3 EU3Leader took a lot of inspiration from the frame-
work  for  its  own  competence  framework;  this  project  mirrored  the  approaches  for 
hints and descriptors and involved in-depth discussions regarding progression levels, 
with the final outcome being that the number of progression levels was simplified. C1 
NFLinEYE used the EntreComp framework as a foundation and did extensive mapping. 
It developed a training programme for aspiring and new entrepreneurs based on the 
framework to ensure that, over the course of an EYE mobility training course, every 
EntreComp competence is covered at least once.

There are specific examples of how the EntreComp visuals and framework have been 
adapted to create new materials and resources that have been used in learning en-
vironments with would-be entrepreneurs and their educators/advisers (C9 The WO).
Training programmes not only address end-users, but also, in a number of EntreComp 
cases, shape learning opportunities for team or staff development as part of an or-
ganisation’s learning and development activities (C9 The WO and C10 Youth@Work).

In common with DigComp cases, all EntreComp cases highlighted the clear structure 
of EntreComp as a significant benefit to its use within training design and delivery. 
The EntreComp cases stated that, like DigComp, the framework facilitated dialogue 
between  training  designers  and  different  contributors.  However,  while  there  was  a 
concern that DigComp may become out of date in the face of technological advances, 
questions over the longevity of EntreComp were not mentioned in any feedback. It 
is noteworthy that few cases made significant use of the EntreComp progression 
levels,In those that did use the progression model, C6 SFEDI highlighted its useful-
ness in aligning the use of the competences in training design to different levels of 
qualification.  C8  Startup  Support  South  Africa,  used  the  progression  model  in  two 
ways, both to determine the right content for the level of development and to map 
the life cycle of the training participant, namely from being supported by his/her em-
ployer to finding independent employment through business start-up.

22

T.7   ANALYSIS OF TRAINING DESIGN IN ENTRECOMP CASES

CASES

BASIS OF TRAINING DESIGN

C1  

C2

Direct EntreComp specification within the personal development plan 
and task-based training plan

Direct EntreComp specification as the basis for the informal guide for the 
informal competence-based training plan 

C3  

User needs analysis

C4

C5

Not yet developed – being planned with direct EntreComp specification

Direct EntreComp specification

C6  

Direct EntreComp specification

C7

Direct EntreComp specification

C8  

Direct EntreComp specification

C9

Direct EntreComp specification

C10

Direct EntreComp specification

2.MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETKEY SUCCESS AND ENABLING FACTORS

The key factors underpinning the successful adoption 
of EntreComp across the cases are represented in light 
blue. The key enablers of effective EntreComp imple-
mentations appear in pink.

Continued and sustained high-
level support and commitment 
to EntreComp from the EU level 
to maintain the gravitas of the 
framework as a robust and 
evidence-based tool endorsed 
by the European Commission.

The EntreComp holistic 
approach, which goes beyond 
the mere economic and profit-
making understanding of 
entrepreneurship that is common 
to many narrow approaches to 
entrepreneurship education.

The trustworthiness of 
EntreComp, stemming 
from research and 
consensus building and 
being endorsed by the 
European Commission.

The user-friendliness of 
EntreComp, as it is easy to put 
into practice, with higher levels 
used for raising awareness 
and learning outcomes used 
for designing interventions to 
run in the field.

The flexibility of 
EntreComp, as it is 
descriptive and non-
prescriptive and can 
be adapted to meet 
different needs and 
contexts of use.

A common language, 
which facilitates a 
shared understanding 
of what entrepreneurial 
competences are.

Champions at the individual 
or organisational level 
committing to mainstreaming 
the use of EntreComp into 
their approach, design and 
delivery.

An easy-to-understand 
visual that helps users 
understand EntreComp  
at a glance.

A mindset shift, namely 
towards understanding 
that entrepreneurship 
competences need to be 
mainstreamed along the 
employability pathway.

23

2. MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETCOMMON CHALLENGES

Turning EntreComp into action requires vision, motivation, perseverance and the ca-
pacity to take the initiative and to learn through experience. The key challenges that 
LMIs faced along their journey are summarised below.

Complexity

The framework provides an overview across the three areas and 15 competences that 
is straightforward and easy to communicate, but it becomes complex at its lower lev-
els of specificity. The language used within the learning outcomes, for instance, was 
at times considered too complex (C6 SFEDI, and C4 Guadalinfo). Some users also had 
questions about the number of progression levels and the granularity between each 
level. It is noteworthy that few cases worked across the progression levels; instead, 
most  focused  on  the  hints  and/or  descriptors.  Interestingly,  those  highlighting  the 
complexity of the framework were also mostly those that were using it more compre-
hensively (C6 SFEDI; C4 Guadalinfo; and C3 EU3Leader).

Need for adaptation

EntreComp  offers  a  way  of  understanding  entrepreneurship  competences  that  is 
broad  and  comprehensive  and  facilitates  the  use  of  a  common  language  across 
education,  training,  employability  initiatives,  career  guidance  and  the  employment 
world. While the mapping of competences and threads may be straightforward, LMIs 
find that using the learning outcome statements in a specific context is not so easy 
(C4 Guadalinfo). EntreComp learning outcomes are general enough to be applicable 
across sectors and to be understandable by all players in the lifelong learning path; 
however, they need to be adapted to become specific to a context (C3 EU3Leader).

Lack of awareness

A lack of awareness of EntreComp among wider stakeholders was a challenge for 
many organisations including C6 SFEDI, C9 The WO, C10 Youth@Work, and C8 Start-
up Support South Africa. These cases needed to raise awareness and build under-
standing in order to get buy-in to the use of the framework. 

Lack of ecosystem integration

A challenge, which can also be considered an opportunity, is the current lack of con-
nection  between  policy  and  industry.  The  framework  can  facilitate  a  mindset  shift 
between business and policy in that it allows both groups to speak the same language 
and gives them a starting point to support a holistic view of entrepreneurship.  C7 
Social Innovators KG, welcomed the framework, as it linked to their mission of shift-
ing mindsets towards viewing entrepreneurial skills as transversal skills and under-
standing that creating value does not have to refer only to economic value. This was 
echoed by C6 SFEDI, which found that, through the framework, this shift in thinking 
was  taking  place  in  the  organisation,  and  by  C4  Guadalinfo,  which  found  that  the 
framework supported its work on social innovation and living labs.

Co-working frameworks

Explicit use of both EntreComp and DigComp competences is present only in C4 Gua-
dalinfo, C9 The WO and C10 Youth@Work. C4 Guadalinfo, has an existing portfolio 
of  digital  training  courses  and  it  has  started  to  add  entrepreneurial  training  to  its 
programme.C9 The WO, uses both frameworks as part of its toolbox to support the 
design of new training programmes. C10 Youth@Work, is focusing mainly on EntreC-
omp because it is the most difficult for new colleagues to grasp, but in the training 
it has thus far designed it is presenting the competence frameworks side by side to 
allow the development of awareness of both frameworks and it is also developing 
practices for applying both frameworks to the design of new youth-work actions. Ex-
panding to a second framework can require additional effort or expertise. So far, no 
amalgamation of the two frameworks has been reported. Even in the cases in which 
both competence frameworks are applied, they are treated very separately. The pri-
mary message from these cases is that co-working with two competences is complex 
and further guidance is needed. However, it is clear that there is significant potential 
to co-work with these and other competences. Simply put, entrepreneurial learning 
always has the potential to be delivered through a methodology that uses DigComp 
competences, and all kinds of entrepreneurial activities may be enabled by or require 
digital competence (as mentioned in C5 Mygrants).

24

2.MAPPING ENTRECOMP USE IN THE LABOUR MARKETANNEX. ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES

C1  

NFLinEYE - Non-Formal Learning in the Erasmus  
for Young Entrepreneurs Programme

C2

Espacio RES 

C3  

EU3Leader

C4

Guadalinfo

C5

Mygrants

C6  

SFEDI

C7

Social Innovators KG 

C8  

Startup Support South Africa

C9

The Women’s Organisation

C10

Youth@Work - Strategic Partnership on Youth Employability  
and Entrepreneurship of Erasmus+ national agencies 

p. 27

p. 34

p. 37

p. 44

p. 51

p. 61

p. 67

p.71

p.75

p.82

F.5   COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN ENTRECOMP CASES INCLUDED IN THE STUDY

25

C1

NFLinEYE

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a European 
Commission cross-border exchange programme, 
which gives new or aspiring entrepreneurs the chance 
to learn from experienced entrepreneurs running 
small businesses in other participating countries.
The case reported herein relates to a pilot initiative 
capturing non-formal learning in the Erasmus for 
Young Entrepreneurs Programme (NFLinEYE) aimed 
at capturing the non-formal learning journey of new 
entrepreneurs who participate in the programme 
and at measuring the impact of the EYE programme, 
looking beyond the indicators, such as how many new 
businesses are created following the programme.
Bantani Education and Materahub, both third-sector 
organisations, came up with the idea of assigning 
a set entrepreneurial tasks to the EYE programme 
and capturing the non-formal learning of new 
entrepreneurs throughout their mobility experience.
The NFLinEYE pilot has been running since April 2018 
and had its first evaluation in 2019 (later than the 
data collection phase for the preparation of this case 
study).
The NFLinEYE pilot matches the tasks that 
participants can fulfil with EntreComp competences, 
but EntreComp is not directly visible to participants, 
who nevertheless reflect on their progress and the 
competence acquired through the process.
The NFLinEYE pilot shows how EntreComp can be used 
to appraise and assess skills in the labour market 
by helping entrepreneurs identify their strengths 
and weaknesses through targeted development 
programmes and reflection, as well as how to 
demonstrate progression through a learning journey.

Leading organisation

Bantani Education • Materahub

T.8   C1 - NFLINEYE AT A GLANCE

Sector

Third sector

Frameworks used

DigComp EntreComp

Start / end date

2018 – ongoing

Country

Belgium • UK

Geographical scope covered

EU and EYE countries

Target audience

Start-up entrepreneurs • entrepreneurs-to-be

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

EYE new entrepreneurs • EYE intermediary organisations • EYE European support office 

Online resources

For internal use only

EntreComp into Action

C37

Contributors

Materahub – Paolo Montemurro, Director (PAOLOMONTEMURRO@MATERAHUB.COM)

Bantani Education – Rebecca Weicht, Co-Founder (REBECCA.WEICHT@BANTANI.COM)

Innogate to Europe – Katharina Kühnelt, former Director of EU Projects

26

 •T.9   C1 - NFLINEYE EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

EYE is a cross-border exchange programme that gives new or aspiring entrepreneurs 
the chance to learn from experienced entrepreneurs running small businesses in oth-
er participating countries. EYE is financed by the European Union and operates across 
the participating countries with the help of local contact points that are competent 
in business support (e.g. chambers of commerce, start-up centres, incubators, etc.). 
Their  activities  are  coordinated  at  the  European  level  by  the  Support  Office  of  the 
Programme. All contractual aspects of the projects financed to implement the pro-
gramme are managed by the EASME. 

EYE  helps  provide  aspiring  entrepreneurs  with  the  skills  necessary  to  start  and/or 
successfully run a small business in Europe. The programme wants to facilitate the 
exchange of experience and information between new entrepreneurs and experienced 
host entrepreneurs in Europe.

New  entrepreneurs  are  hosted  by  an  experienced  entrepreneur  with  whom  they 
exchange  knowledge  and  business  ideas  and  collaborate  for  a  period  of  between 
one and six months. The European Union funds the exchanges up to 100%. The EU 
budget  also  co-finances  a  large  part  of  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  intermediary 
organisations,  which  are  indispensable  for  the  programme  to  work.  These  are  lo-
cal contact points that are responsible for promoting the programme, recruiting the 
right entrepreneurs, verifying applications (including business plans), organising the 
matching process between the two entrepreneurs and helping both the new and host 
entrepreneur throughout the exchange. They also facilitate a ‘Commitment to Quality’ 
agreement that all parties commit to consisting of a description of the work/learning 
project, objectives, tasks, responsibilities, deliverables, financial conditions and legal 
implications of the exchange.

The  NFLinEYE  pilot  aims  to  measure  the  lifelong  learning  impact  of  the  EYE  pro-
gramme and to capture the non-formal learning journey of new entrepreneurs who 
participate  in  the  programme.  It  was  conceptualised  by  two  third-sector  organisa-
tions, Bantani Education and Materahub, and is implemented by the two organisa-
tions with the support of the European support office for EYE, Eurochambres. It has 

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27

ANNEX. ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C1 NFLINEYET.10  THE 16 TASKS MAPPED AGAINST THE ENTRECOMP COMPETENCES

Taking initi-
ative

Planning and 
management

INTO ACTION

Coping with 
ambiguity, 
uncertainty 
and risk

Working with 
others

Learning 
through expe-
rience

Self-aware-
ness and 
self-efficacy

RESOURCES

Motivation and 
perseverance

Mobilising 
resources

Financial and 
economic 
literacy

Mobilising 
others

Spotting 
opportunitie

IDEAS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Creativity

Vision

Valuing ideas

Ethical and 
sustainable 
thinking

Meet a customer

Pitch your 
business

Network

Give and receive 
feedback

Learn about 
business plans

Create value

Turn ideas into 
reality

Negotiate

Experience 
conflict

Work with 
financials

Reflect on how 
your host entre-
preneur manag-
es suppliers

Understand 
a marketing 
strategy

Develop a mar-
keting campaign

Reflect on what 
you learnt about 
managing a 
team or em-
ployees

Reflect on cultral 
differences in 
business

Reflect on how 
you managed 
your time

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

X

X

X

x

x

x

x

x

X

x

x

x

x

x

x

X

x

x

x

x

x

x

X

X

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

X

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

X

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

X

 
been running since April 2018 and started with 16 new 
entrepreneurs, and 10 intermediary organisations from 
six countries are involved in the pilot.

This pilot supports the following stages of the employ-
ability/self-employment  pathway:  personal  develop-
ment, the design and delivery of training, the start-up 
pathway, the assessment of skills and the certification 
of competence.

Bantani  Education  is  a  Brussels-based  non-profit  or-
ganisation  that  develops  and  supports  creative  and 
entrepreneurial  learning  policy  and  practice.  Rebecca 
Weicht,  Bantani  co-founder,  participated  in  the  EYE 
scheme as a new entrepreneur in 2017. She was host-
ed at the Swedish educational technology start-up Me 
Analytics.

Materahub is a consortium that works at the interna-
tional  level  to  support  enterprises,  start-ups  and  as-
piring  entrepreneurs,  institutions  and  organisations 
through  European  projects.  For  years,  Materahub  has 
been  an  intermediary  organisation  of  the  EYE  pro-
gramme in the south of Italy. Paolo Montemurro is Ma-
terahub’s Project Area Director and is a member of the 
EYE working group on impact assessment.

Weicht and Montemurro, both entrepreneurs and pro-
ject managers with experience in EntreComp and in the 
EYE programme, came together to develop the idea of 
capturing the informal learning that new entrepreneurs 
experience by participating in EYE.

While  hosted  by  ed-tech  company  Me  Analytics  AB, 
Weicht became familiar with LoopMe, a social learning 
media tool that the company had developed. LoopMe 

F.6   A REFLECTION (LOOP) ON THE TASK ‘REFLECT ON CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN BUSINESS’

29

ANNEX. ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C1 NFLINEYEis  an  app  that  helps  foster  and  assess  entrepreneur-
ial  skills  and  competences.  It  stems  from  research  in 
entrepreneurship education by Chalmers University of 
Technology  in  Sweden.  It  allows  educators  and  train-
ers to set tasks that learners complete and then reflect 
upon.  The  app  guides  learning,  builds  entrepreneurial 
mindsets and helps monitor skills development.

Reflecting on her own exchange and how her learning 
journey  was  captured  and  measured,  Weicht  sought 
to bring the framework and the tool together, to con-
ceptualise  the  use  of  LoopMe  to  capture  and  foster 
entrepreneurial  skills  development  for  new  entrepre-
neurs of the EYE programme based on the EntreComp 
competences. The team designed a set of learning ac-
tivities (‘tasks’) for new entrepreneurs to foster those 
commercial and lifelong learning skills laid out in the 
EntreComp framework. Over the course of their place-
ment,  new  entrepreneurs  were  asked  to  complete  16 
tasks (see TABLE 8). Each time the new entrepreneur 
completed a task, they reflect upon it in the app. This 
reflection  (a  ‘loop’)  is  then  shared  immediately  with 
their  intermediary  organisation.  Some  tasks  are  set 
to be completed more than once, e.g. ‘Pitch your busi-
ness’. The reflections that new entrepreneurs share are 
prompted  by  questions.  For  example,  the  ‘pitch  your 
business’ task asks new entrepreneurs to pitch twice to 
different contacts and to reflect on the experience: how 
they felt the pitch went, what went well and what they 
could do differently next time. The collated reflections 
show the new entrepreneurs’ learning progress and are 
captured in a clear learning journey.

USE OF ENTRECOMP

T.11  THE ENTRECOMP COMPETENCES TRANSLATED INTO TAGS

The  16  tasks  are  broad  in  nature  and  are  mapped 

LOOPME TAGS

Spotted opportunity

Managed priorities better

More commercially aware

Increased customer understanding

Becoming more creative

Becoming more enterprising

Out of comfort zone

Better problem solving 

Becoming more resilient

Reflecting con feedback

Coping with uncertainty

Finding things difficult

Not what I expected

Feeling unmotivated

Disappointing results

Collaboration

Increased my social skills

Better netwworker

Better leader

I influences someone

Communicated more effectively

More socially/globally aware 

Considered other people

Considered  wider impact

30

LINK TO ENTRECOMP

Spotting opportunities

Financial and economic literacy

Valuing ideas

Creativity

Taking the initiative

Learning through experience

Self -awareness and self-efficacy

Coping with ambiguity, uncertainty and risk

Working with others

Planning and management

Mobilising others

Mobilising resources

Vision

Ethical and sustainable thinking

ANNEX. ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C1 NFLINEYEagainst the EntreComp competences. Throughout his or her learning journey, a new 
entrepreneur will foster all 15 EntreComp competences.

A task can be understood widely and could be:

 • any sort of contact or meeting (e.g. with stakeholders, a team meeting or customer 

meetings);

 • emotional events (e.g. ‘be surprised’);
 • major decisions;
 • helping others’ events;
 • discussions around content;
 • the application of knowledge in practice;
 • targeted value creation for others.
New entrepreneurs complete the assigned tasks one by one. They do not have to be 
completed in a specific order. Each loop (reflection) must meet three characteristics. 
First, it must contain free-flow text to which a file (e.g. a picture) can be added. This 
constitutes the main part of the loop and the reflection. There is no minimum number 
of characters. Second, each loop must contain an emoticon that the new entrepreneur 
chooses from a range that vary from unhappy to very happy; these effectively form 
a five-point Likert scale. Finally, each loop must contain one or more tags that the 
new entrepreneur chooses. As part of the pilot, there are 25 tags. For a task to be 
completed, each of the three dimensions needs to be present. 

The tags used in the pilot were defined by the lead organisations based on academic 
research. To send a loop, new entrepreneurs have to tag each reflection with one or 
several tags. This helps the intermediary organisations understand their new entre-
preneurs’ learning outcomes and emotions and show the new entrepreneurs’ learning 
journey.

Generally, tags can be aligned to learning outcomes (e.g. becoming more creative) or 
emotions (e.g. disappointing result). For this pilot, the tags were defined as a mixture 
of both learning outcomes and emotions.

All  tags  were  mapped  against  the  EntreComp  framework  but  were  translated  into 
more approachable language to allow non-native speakers of English to understand 

them  without  problems  (see  TABLE  11).  They  stem  from  research  at  Huddersfield 
University and were used in previous entrepreneurship education programmes and 
thus had already been tested in practice. The intermediary organisations involved in 
this pilot manage their new entrepreneurs’ learning progress via LoopMe. They read, 
approve and comment on loops where they deem this to be necessary. This might 
include sharing encouraging words, asking follow-up questions or simply ‘approving’ 
a loop, which signals to the entrepreneur that their contribution has been read.

Paolo Montemurro says:

With the EntreComp framework it has become easier to have a common reference 
tool  when  talking  about  skills  development,  creating  immediate  understanding 
among different contexts where entrepreneurship can be promoted and supported. 
The framework has also made it easier to build new or to adapt existing programs 
for skills development of young entrepreneurs. By launching the LoopMe pilot in 
EYE, using EntreComp as a common element, we had the chance to make the pilot 
something very relevant as we were using two of the most important initiatives 
promoted by EntreComp on entrepreneurship education and promotion.

Speaking the same language on entrepreneurial skills is also helpful to intermediary 
organisations. The home intermediary organisation can capture and monitor a new 
entrepreneur’s learning journey while on placement in a different country through the 
LoopMe app, as it allows easy and tailored support to be provided. Katharina Kühnelt, 
Director of European Projects at Innogate to Europe, an intermediary organisation in 
Spain that has been involved in the EYE scheme since 2014, says:

For us, several things were very interesting: learning happens when reflection hap-
pens and even more so, when this is linked to an emotion. It is interesting to see 
how this affects the learning path of the entrepreneurs.

The fact that the tasks do not have to be carried out in a specific order, allows the 
entrepreneurs to ‘dial in and dial out’ and train the competences as the opportuni-
ty occurs or specifically ask to train a certain competence (it is more realistic and 
allows for a personalised learning path).

31

ANNEX. ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C1 NFLINEYE • 33 % increased their consideration for others (EntreComp: ‘vision’ and ‘ethical and 

sustainable thinking’).

The  new  entrepreneurs  come  from  different  educational  backgrounds  in  which 
some EntreComp competences have been trained more than others –  this pilot 
gives us insight on how the entrepreneurs train the competences that they did not 
master before and provides us with information on what they enjoyed and what 
works and has the biggest impact on them.

Many of the EYE new entrepreneurs have not yet started their business when do-
ing this learning experience and start their business soon after the exchange, but 
not immediately after the exchange. The linking of this pilot to EntreComp is there-
fore important because it trains transversal competences which are important not 
only to create a business but are crucial throughout life and can help the aspiring 
entrepreneurs ‘getting to where they want to be’.

By capturing both numerical data (through the emoticons / Likert scale) and quali-
tative data (through the free-flow reflections), LoopMe is able to establish causali-
ty between tasks and learning outcomes (as shown through the tags). This enables 
intermediary  organisations  and  the  project  organisers  to  understand  exactly  which 
activities lead to which EntreComp-related learning outcomes. It also highlights which 
activities are the most effective in fostering certain entrepreneurial skills. These out-
comes will add a new dimension of impact assessment to the EYE scheme as a whole, 
as the progression of entrepreneurial skills development is captured for the first time.

At the project’s first interim evaluation, the following outcomes were observed among 
new entrepreneurs:

 • 75 % improved their collaboration skills (EntreComp: ‘working with others’);
 • 67 % had better problem solving (EntreComp: ‘taking the initiative’ and ‘learning 

through experience’);

 • 67 % were better leaders (EntreComp: ‘mobilising others’);
 • 67 % increased their customer understanding (EntreComp: ‘financial and economic 

literacy’ and ‘valuing ideas’);

 • 50 % were better networkers (EntreComp: ‘working with others’);
 • 50 % increased their commercial awareness (EntreComp: ‘vision’ and ‘ethical and 

sustainable thinking’);

32

C2

Espacio RES

Espacio RES is a foundation set up to create 
a sustainable start-up ecosystem in Seville, 
Spain. It offers people and start-ups with 
support to build successful and socially 
responsible projects and businesses. It is a 
hybrid between an incubator and a business 
accelerator. 
Espacio RES runs different structured 
programmes including an entrepreneurial 
learning camp for university students and a 
social incubator. 
EntreComp is the basis for these programmes. 
All incubator activities are developed to 
ensure that they foster each of the EntreComp 
competences in at least one activity over the 
course of a 1-year programme.

T.12  C2 - ESPACIO RES AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

Espacio RES

Sector

Third sector

Frameworks used

DigComp and EntreComp

Start / end date

2018 – ongoing

Country

Spain

Geographical scope covered

Local

Target audience

Students • Start-up entrepreneurs • Entrepreneurs-to-be

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

Entrepreneurs • Entrepreneurs-to-be

Online resources

For internal use only

EntreComp into Action

C36

Contributors

Espacio RES - Lilian Weikert, Founder (LILIAN@ESPACIORES.ORG)

33

 •T.13  C2- ESPACIO RES EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

Espacio RES provides labour market functions for the start-up pathway. It assesses 
a wide range of skills of its incoming entrepreneurs, including digital and entrepre-
neurial  skills  (employability  pathway  activity  3),  delivers  a  training  programme  for 
pre-start-up businesses (activities 6 and 12) and certifies attendance at the ‘Wanted’ 
workshop for students (activity 13).

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS 

Espacio  RES  is  a  foundation  set  up  to  create  a  sustainable  start-up  ecosystem  in 
Seville, Spain. It is a hybrid between an incubator and a business accelerator. It works 
with all types of businesses, but it focuses on social entrepreneurship, digital prod-
ucts, art and design, tourism, agriculture and clean energy.

Espacio RES is built on the values of collaboration, alliance, hybridisation, innovation, 
responsibility, optimism, creativity, humour, effort and sustainability. It was founded in 
2012 to deliver specific and specialised mentoring, share professional experience and 
provide access to investment and other drivers of business, through a shared work-
space and a sense of community. The space was founded by four entrepreneurs in 
2012 and in 2018 was converted into a foundation. Currently, 36 projects are hosted 
by Espacio RES.

Espacio RES runs different structured programmes.

 • The  Wanted  programme  is  a  free,  3-day  workshop  for  30  students  from  differ-
ent faculties of the University of Seville. The students come together, form mixed 
groups  comprising  technological  capacity,  business  vision  and  creativity  and, 
through  techniques  such  as  design  thinking  and  group  game  dynamics,  partici-
pants conceptualise a business idea.. During the first day, students will learn about 
ideation and business models through the use of tools such as the business model 
canvas. The second day is focused on technical support and prototyping, and in the 
final day students give presentations of their ideas and projects. The programme 
is paid for by the University of Seville.

 • The incubator at Espacio RES is a 1-year mentoring programme for the pre-start-

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34

ANNEX. ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C2 ESPACIO RESEspacio RES plans to map its incubator programme against EntreComp in detail in 
the near future.

Skills  certification  takes  place  for  the  students  in  the  Wanted  programme  through 
open badges. As they do not receive a certification from their university, Espacio RES 
issues confirmation of attendance certificates via an open badge.

One of the core benefits of using the frameworks for Espacio RES is that they estab-
lish a common language. Espacio RES finds it helpful to be able to use EntreComp 
when talking to businesses and government and to be able to point towards compe-
tences such as ‘ethical and sustainable thinking’ and ‘creativity’ as being as important 
as financial literacy for entrepreneurs. EntreComp’s understanding of creating value 
that is not solely economic aligns with the vision and mission of Espacio RES. In addi-
tion, the frameworks carry gravitas, as they were developed by and for the European 
Commission. Espacio RES finds that this opens new paths for conversation when liais-
ing with the Andalusian regional government on entrepreneurship.

up level.

 • Espacio  RES  facilitates  a  community  of  entrepreneurs.  Incubator  alumni  stay  in 
contact to network and exchange experiences and share expertise. The programme 
is financed on a per start-up basis.

USE OF DIGCOMP AND ENTRECOMP

Espacio RES uses both the DigComp and the EntreComp frameworks in its work. Ini-
tially, it assessed all incoming start-ups to the incubator against the eight key compe-
tences for lifelong learning as laid out by the European Commission, but it abandoned 
this practice because it was too cumbersome. The focus is now on the DigComp and 
EntreComp skills.

As part of the Wanted programme, EntreComp is primarily used in an informal way. 
The students conduct self-assessments against the EntreComp competences based 
on the wheel visualisation and propose activities to improve those competences when 
they feel their skills are weak. However, this approach is only rudimentary, as it takes 
place on a competence level, not along the progression scale.

As part of its incubator, Espacio RES uses EntreComp as guide to highlight to the par-
ticipating entrepreneurs which competences entrepreneurs should have. The training 
activities that the entrepreneurs undertake are developed to ensure that training is 
given on each of the 15 EntreComp competences over the course of 1 year. If the or-
ganisers feel that a competence (from either the EntreComp or the DigComp frame-
work) is missing within a certain team, they might provide further activities to foster 
this competence. If a competence is weak across several start-ups, the Espacio RES 
team creates an activity for all start-ups. They might also organise a discussion on 
a certain topic to build capacity. For example, in the past they have organised talks 
on topics such as cybersecurity to raise awareness. There is no specific focus on one 
of the framework competences; instead, the vision and mission of Espacio RES is to 
strengthen transversal competences and highlight the importance of creating value 
beyond economic value. Thus, Espacio RES focuses on building competences such as 
‘ethical and sustainable thinking’ and ‘creativity’ in EntreComp.

35

ANNEX. ENTRECOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C2 ESPACIO RESC3

EU3Leader

The EU3Leader project was an Erasmus+ 
strategic partnership of third-sector 
organisations set up to transform the 
current training programme in third-sector 
management. It wanted to help third-
sector leaders make the leap into quality 
entrepreneurial third-sector leadership. 
The project duration was 30 months and the 
partners were from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, 
Spain and the United Kingdom.

T.14  C3 - EU3LEADER AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

Euclid Network

Sector

Third sector

Frameworks used

DigComp and EntreComp

Start / end date

2016 – 2019

Country

Austria • Croatia • Spain • United Kingdom

Geographical scope covered

EU

Target audience

Students • Start-up entrepreneurs • Entrepreneurs-to-be

Professional sectors covered 

Third-sector leaders

Stakeholders involved 

Euclid Network • Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien • Fundación Pere Tarres • Diesis • The Open University • Smart 

Online resources

Skills framework 

Numerous project reports

EntreComp into Action

C38

Contributors

Euclid Network - Marta Bruschi (TEAM@EUCLIDNETWORK.EU)

36

 •T.15  C3 - EU3LEADER EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

The EU3Leader project worked across activities 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the employability 
pathway.  The  project  determined  which  skills  third-sector  leaders  across  different 
countries need, looking at different competences through the prism of EntreComp’s 
three broad categories: ‘ideas and opportunities’, ‘resources’ and ‘into action’ (activity 
1). EntreComp served as a baseline in the project and helped in navigating and nar-
rowing down different competences. The project partners continued to rely on EntreC-
omp as a baseline framework throughout the further steps along the employability 
pathway when conducting research (activity 3).

The EU3Leader personal development plan (activity 4) and training (activities 5 and 
6) are both focused on the final EU3Leader competence framework that the project 
developed.

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

The project reacted to the need to support third-sector organisations to identify, ad-
dress and exploit emerging opportunities and to deal adequately with existing chal-
lenges. The project involved desk research, which found that the third sector in Eu-
rope faces many challenges and opportunities. Some of them are observable all over 
Europe,  such  as  growing  tendencies  of  managerialism,  increasing  inequalities  and 
thus increasing demands for third-sector organisations amid decreasing public fund-
ing  owing  to  austerity  and  marketisation.  Third-sector  organisations  are  operating 
in  highly  dynamic  environments,  with  high  diversity  and  rapid  changes  in  a  world 
characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. The most important 
challenges and opportunities relate to:

 • funding,

 • innovation and entrepreneurial thinking,

 • human resource management,

 • public image and trust in the sector,

37

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ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C3 EU3LEADER • accountability and governance,

 • cooperation and dealing with (country-specific) legal 

and governmental frameworks.

The EU3Leader project aim was to strengthen leader-
ship and entrepreneurship capacities so that third-sec-
tor  organisations  are  better  able  to  drive  positive 
change. Specifically, the project aimed to:

 • move from management to leadership in third-sec-
tor organisations in Europe, based on emerging chal-
lenges and opportunities for these organisations;

 • create  and  consolidate  a  strategic  partnership 
among  a  few  core  organisations  working  in  entre-
preneurial third-sector leadership in Europe;

 • create  high-quality,  publicly  accessible  and  useful 
materials  for  third-sector  training  institutions,  re-
search professionals and policymakers.

The project produced several outputs, including a report 
on the state of the third sector across the EU including 
patterns and trends, and challenges and opportunities; 
three reports on learning to lead; a framework of key 
competences for leaders in the third sector (see FIG-
URE 7); and a pilot training programme for third-sector 
leaders.

The  EU3Leader  competence  framework  presented  in 
FIGURE 7 is meant to be used by any manager, em-
ployee  or  volunteer  interested  in  third-sector  leader-
ship. It applies across different sizes of organisations, 
activities and countries. It aims to help those interest-
ed in third-sector leadership to master positive habits 
through  the  related  behaviours  set  out  in  the  frame-
work. It focuses on core competences (those relevant 

F.7   THE EU3LEADER COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK.

38

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C3 EU3LEADERT.16  EU3LEADER ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCE DESCRIPTORS

CORE

COMMITMENT

concerns the motivation to commit to the vision, mission and values of the organisation, aligning one’s own interests and 
behaviours with the needs, priorities and goals of the organisation.

VISION & STRATEGIC THINKING

concerns the ability to identify objectives, anticipate opportunities and foresee future scenarios, which contribute to the 
achievement of an organisation’s mission.

STRATEGIC: EXTERNAL

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

ADVOCACY

refers to the ability to obtain funds from a range of sources to cover the full operating costs as well as a programme and 
delivery costs, from strategic plans to individual actions, understanding environment to identify opportunities and to create 
value to funders and to the organization. This also implies knowledge and understanding (e.g. financial analysis, accounting, 
budgeting) to accurately identify opportunities and risks in organisation strategies.

is about persuading or influencing someone to change his/her position, achieving positive outcomes in support of for the 
mission of the organisation. This may also include campaigning, agenda-setting, channel spontaneous movements and 
protests both in own market/sector or country but also Europe-wide and globally.

ENVIRONMENTAL UNDERSTANDING

concerns the ability to clearly read opportunities and threats in the sector/market and weaknesses and strengths in the 
organisation, to identify the most appropriate strategic response.

STRATEGIC: INTERNAL

CREATIVITY & INNOVATION

is about developing original, purposeful and impact-focused solutions, ideas or approaches to improve effectiveness and 
efficiency in reaching the organisation’s goals.

ANALYTICAL THINKING

is the ability to identify problems, analyse significant information, look for and present relevant data to figure out a 
conceptual map that can help to make decisions and solve the issue. It also includes the ability to identify patterns or keys 
in complex situations that are not obviously related.

ENGAGING and DEVELOPING OTHERS

is about encouraging, inspiring and supporting others to develop confidence and capability to help them realise their full 
potential and to achieve common goals as a team.

LEADERSHIP: OTHERS

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATON

is the ability to listen, seek and express ideas and messages effectively, using coherent speech (verbal, nonverbal and 
emotional) in private or public situations, and active listening to fully comprehend what others are saying.

COLLABORATION

ADAPTABILITY

LEADERSHIP: SELF

SELF-AWARENESS

is about working in a cooperative way with others, both within and outside the organisation, even beyond own market/sector 
or country, combining individual with interdependent and common goals, based on common values and a shared culture.

is about effectively adapting your behaviours to a variety of situations, individual or groups, either expected or unexpected. 
It also shows versatility to accept changes or difficulties in achieve goals, individual or organisational.

is about identifying own beliefs, values, strengths and weaknesses, and understanding the impact that they have on 
emotions and behaviours. It is also about controlling emotions in difficult situations, responding appropriately, recognising 
own ‘triggers’ and how one’s behaviour impacts on others.

LEARNING ORIENTATION

is the capability to keep focused on updating and increasing knowledge, skills and experiences to consistently improve 
performance. To do this, one seeks learning opportunities, shares knowledge with others and applies learning to the job.

T.17  SET-UP OF A COMPETENCE IN THE EU3LEADER COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK

VISION & STRATEGIC THINKING

Responds to EU3Leader challenges & opportunities:

concerns the ability to identify objectives, anticipate 
opportunities and foresee future scenarios, which 
contribute to the achievement of an organisation’s 
mission.

 • Ensure sustainable resources

 • Development of leadership competences

 • Organisational management / Professionalisation

 • Strong governance

level 1

level 2

level 3

level 4

 • Sets goals and identifies 
improvements for the 
future (short or medium 
term)

 • Understands connection 
between personal and 
organisational objec-
tives

 •

Is aware of environmen-
tal trends

 • Turns long-term vision 
into effective actions

 • Anticipates potential 
opportunities that 
improve organisation’s 
performance

 • Sets and monitors indi-
cators of environmental 
change in own market/
sector and beyond

 • Realigns regular activi-
ties to meet long-term 
objectives better

 • Ensures team knows 

strategy and sets goals 
for its realisation

1.  Visualises future 

scenarios based on the 
trends and intuition, 
to guide efforts and 
actions

2.  Identifies and keeps 

in touch with external 
stakeholders who can 
facilitate organisation’s 
goals

3.  Regularly reviews own 
objectives to ensure 
they support mission

4.  Projects a shared vision, 
which motivates people 
and drives results

 •

Is able to make complex 
analysis to create a new 
concept that is not at 
first visible to others

 • Restructures processes 
to anticipate future 
changes

 • Assesses and creates 

alternative scenarios to 
face challenges

 • Develops alliances with 
stakeholders, or even 
competitors, to meet 
opportunities and solve 
problems

related competences: 
 Planning & organising, Commitment, Analytical thinking, Impact orientation, Environmental understanding

40

to all third-sector organisations) and competences spe-
cific to certain subsectors and to organisational forms, 
sizes,  countries  or  regions.  The  framework  is  divided 
into four competence parts:

 • strategic  (internal)  competences,  implying  behav-

iours mainly focused within the organisation;

 • strategic  (external)  competences,  implying  behav-

iours mainly focused outside the organisation;

 • leadership  (others)  competences,  implying  behav-
iours  mainly  focused  on  interacting  with  others, 
whether inside or outside the organisation;

 • leadership (self) competences, implying behaviours 

mainly focused on oneself.

Each competence follows the structure outlined below.

1.  Definition. Each competence is defined, with a nar-

row focus on the third sector.

2.  Challenges  and  opportunities  answered.  The 
third-sector  challenge  (or  challenges)  to  which  the 
competence is responding is/are presented.

3.  Observable behaviours, distributed across four lev-
els.  Each  behaviour  is  defined  by  verbs,  sequence, 
context  and  approach  (task  and  people,  emotional 
and  rational,  etc.).  These  descriptors  establish  the 
learning outcomes.

4.  Related  competences.  Other  related  competences 

are shown.

Our framework has four levels of acquisition.

1. You  have  the  competence.  At  the  lowest  level,  it 
means  simple  skills,  namely  behaviours  about  me, 
motivating myself, short-term effects, being reactive 
or passive and taking a one-dimensional perspective.

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C3 EU3LEADER2. From reactive to active. Now we start including others, managing relations with 

small groups, motivating teams and thinking about medium-term effects.

3. Proposal and proactive. This level involves considering relations with an impor-
tant group of people, teams and multidisciplinary profiles and is focused on medi-
um- and long-term effects and acting as an example or model to others.

4. Anticipation, global vision, multidimensional: impact at the organisational level. 
This stage involves exploring and creating and is focused on long-term effects.
The project has piloted and tested an e-learning course on the collaboration compe-
tence. It was a blended learning course in which content was taught online, but action 
had to be taken in practice too. For example, learners took a 20-question survey to 
self-assess their collaboration skills. They then asked two colleagues from their or-
ganisation to fill in the survey too and to thus generate 360-degree feedback on their 
competence and see their colleagues’ assessment of their level of skill. In addition, 
they were prompted to follow up their learning with self-reflection. The course provid-
ed guidance to self-reflect.

USE OF ENTRECOMP

The EU3Leader partners decided to use the EntreComp framework as a tool to un-
derstand the nature of each competence in order to better define what is needed to 
increase  the  entrepreneurial  skills  and  competence  of  third-sector  leaders.  Within 
EntreComp, entrepreneurship is defined as both an individual and a collective compe-
tence, a definition that the partners found appropriate for third-sector organisations, 
in  which  management  is  often  intended  to  be  collective  and  participatory.  The  En-
treComp framework has been used intensively in the development of the EU3Leader 
competence framework for third-sector leaders, which aimed to enable third-sector 
leaders to spot opportunities and bring them to life amid the sector’s continuing chal-
lenges. The EU3Leader framework mirrors the EntreComp framework in that the idea 
of hints (in the EU3Leader project they were called behaviours) and descriptors was 
used.

The  starting  point  was  to  define  what  the  project  wanted  to  address.  It  wanted  to 
foster entrepreneurship and leadership skills, which meant addressing the following 

questions: What is entrepreneurship? What does it mean to be entrepreneurial? What 
is leadership? The project started out seeking to address the entrepreneurship ques-
tion because the third sector faces many challenges (funding, etc.), which prompt or-
ganisations to come up with different business models, which led to the consideration 
of  entrepreneurial  competences.  This  train  of  thought  steered  the  project  partners 
in the direction of the European Commission’s work on social entrepreneurship and 
in turn towards the EntreComp framework. The project partners found EntreComp’s 
three categories a particularly good fit for their purpose: that entrepreneurial leaders 
spot opportunities and use resources to turn them into value. EntreComp helped the 
project partners to understand how leadership fits into their project because the way 
EntreComp applies leadership in the voluntary sector matches the challenges of civil 
society organisations.

The first exploratory work with the EntreComp framework then led to research being 
conducted across the (at the time) 28 EU Member States on entrepreneurial compe-
tences. A literature review was carried out on which competences third-sector leaders 
need and what the challenges and opportunities of the sector are. The project found 
that, indeed, most competences as they are reflected in EntreComp fit and that the 
mindset of leaders is changing. Consequently, the project developed its EU3Leader 
competence framework in a way that reflected how the competences addressed the 
third sector’s challenges and opportunities (see the section on ‘responding to chal-
lenges’ in the EU3Leader framework).

Throughout this research and development phase, an advisory board of third-sector 
leaders  consulted  the  project  partners.  For  example,  at  the  end  of  its  competence 
collation phase, the project had collected 51 competences, which the board helped 
to narrow down. Once again, the three EntreComp categories and a comparison to 
the EntreComp framework helped guide this process. The EU3Leader framework was 
narrowed down to 13 competences and a 14th, which is labelled ‘commitment’, forms 
the heart of the framework.

During the process of developing the definitions and setting out to develop the details 
of the EU3Leader framework, the project looked towards the EntreComp framework 
for a structure that works well. The project partners decided to also use behaviours 

41

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C3 EU3LEADER(hints) and descriptors, but discussed in detail the number and labelling of the levels. 
Several partners did not feel comfortable with the levels; therefore, at the beginning, 
the framework now stresses that it is okay to have Level 1 behaviours in some com-
petences and Level 4 behaviours in others. It also stresses that the levels are fluid 
because they depend on the role, person and organisation (e.g. behaviour X might not 
be relevant in one role or might not be exercised any more, but that does not mean 
the leader in question does not have this competence any more). The partners found 
that EntreComp  had too many levels and was too  complicated,  so they  wanted  to 
simplify their framework (also with a view to designing training). In the final stages 
of  the  project,  they  went  back  to  considering  other  approaches  to  the  contentious 
question of levels (e.g. active, proactive, reactive or categories of colours).

One of the most significant benefits of using EntreComp for the project was that the 
framework gave a good overview of competences in a concise manner. The frame-
work is not overly extensive, has boundaries and has a set of competences to refer 
to, which helped the project narrow down its focus. Equally, the framework’s universal 
approach is credited. In addition, English as a common language was credited in that 
it can express very well what a skill encompasses, which helped establish a common 
language.

42

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C3 EU3LEADERC4

Guadalinfo

Established in 2003, Guadalinfo is a regional 
initiative, which is run through a consortium 
co-owned by the regional government and 
eight provincial governments. It aims to close 
the urban–rural digital divide by supporting 
access to, raising awareness of and training 
for living, working and social innovation within 
a digital society. It works through a network 
of more than 800 community centres across 
Andalusia, offering training, mentoring and 
workshops. 
It has applied DigComp to its training 
programme since 2014 and, since 2018, has 
been exploring how to co-work with DigComp 
and EntreComp to support both digital 
competence training and support programmes 
for local social innovators and entrepreneurs.

T.18  C4 - GUADALINFO AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

Consorcio Fernando de los Ríos 

Sector

Government (public administration organisation)

Frameworks used

DigComp (since 2014) and  EntreComp (since 2018)

Start / end date

2003 – ongoing

Country

Spain

Geographical scope covered

Andalucia region

Target audience

Students • Start-up entrepreneurs • Entrepreneurs-to-be

Professional sectors covered 

General, with a focus on six specific profiles defined for Guadalinfo social-innovation-related training 
(linked to EntreComp and DigComp): the employability of citizens • entrepreneurs • innovators – rural 
and social • intrapreneurs • innovation agents • children and young people

Stakeholders involved 

More than 2 000 stakeholders involved

Regional level: regional government (including different departments) • diputaciones – eight provincial 
councils of Andalusia • universities • schools / formal education • European networks (e.g. AllDigital, 
ENoLL) • business • NGOs and civil society organisations

Local level – for over 800 Guadalinfo centres: town halls • community organisations • women’s 
associations • neighbourhood associations • schools • NGOs  • businesses • users 

Online resources

DigComp training provision

DigComp self-assessment tool

Certification platform (in development – led by regional gov.)

EntreComp into Action

-

Contributors

Consorcio Fernando de los Ríos - Luis Navarro Lopez, Director General, formerly Guadalinfo Head of 
Project Unit (LUIS.NAVARRO.LOPEZ@GUADALINFO.ES)

43

 •T.19  C4 -  GUADALINFO EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

Guadalinfo  provides  services  for  citizens  across  many  areas  of  the  employability 
pathway. 

The main task of the network is to reach out to citizens both online and through a 
network of local centres, to target audiences in rural and deprived areas of Andalusia 
including unemployed and under-employed individuals (employability pathway activ-
ity 2).

It has developed an online self-assessment tool for digital competences designed to 
identify individuals’ existing strengths and weaknesses (activity 3), which is followed 
by personalised training plans delivered both online and through the network of cen-
tres (activities 2, 4, 5 and 6).

At  the  centres,  innovation  agents  can  support  individuals  with  job  search  services 
(activity 9).

Centres provide workshops and mentoring to help social innovators, social entrepre-
neurs and entrepreneurs to develop and realise their ideas (activity 12) through the 
InnyCia programme ( ).

A certification process is currently being developed to provide recognition of an indi-
vidual’s digital competence (activity 13).

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

Guadalinfo is an initiative of the regional government of Andalusia and is overseen 
by the Consorcio Fernando de los Ríos, a public administration organisation co-owned 
by the Andalusian regional government and the eight provincial councils of Andalusia. 
Guadalinfo was launched in 2003 as a pilot initiative to close the digital gap between 
urban and rural areas by extending high-speed broadband to remote and underpriv-
ileged areas of the region while at the same time offering support and training to 
encourage citizens to develop the knowledge and skills needed in a digital society.

Vision: To be a single, integrated and accessible network, available throughout Anda-
lusia  both  through  physical  centres  and  online,  using  information  and  communica-

✓

✓

✓

✓

44

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOtions technology (ICT) and social innovation to improve 
quality of life (13).

Since its inception, funding for this initiative has been 
sourced  from  all  levels,  including  from  the  European 
Regional Development Fund, the regional government, 
the  eight  provincial  councils  and  the  municipal  town 
halls  hosting  each  Guadalinfo  centre.  It  is  both  a  so-
cial project and a technology-based project, which uses 
digital means to improve the quality of life for citizens. 
This has been achieved through a network of Guadalin-
fo community-based training centres.

Mainstreamed into a strategic project in 2008, the net-
work  has  now  grown  to  over  800  centres  across  the 
region of Andalusia, including 637 in municipalities of 
fewer than 10 000 inhabitants, more than 80 in munic-
ipalities of fewer than 20 000 inhabitants and over 60 
located in neighbourhoods with high levels of poverty 
and deprivation.

Since 2003, the network has evolved from being a pro-
vider  of  ICT-based  training  to  becoming  a  pioneer  in 
social innovation, now recognised as a regional Living 
Lab network by the ENoLL network. Since 2012, facil-
itators  in  each  Guadalinfo  territorial  cluster  have  re-
ceived training to become innovation agents and devel-
op the skills and knowledge needed to transform their 
local  Guadalinfo  centres  into  living  labs.  They  have 
been  introduced  to  social  innovation  and  shown  how 
to  focus  on  the  user  experience,  active  listening,  cre-
ativity, projects and start-ups, empowering citizens to 

13  Translated from the Guadalinfo Strategic Plan 2016–2020, 
p. 10.

F.8   GUADALINFO – FROM TELECENTRE NETWORK TO LIVING LAB

45

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOF.9   OBJECTIVE 1 - PRIORITIES AND LINES OF ACTION

build digital skills, develop ideas, work with mentors and realise innovative projects 
and businesses.

Guadalinfo is now seen as the largest social innovation lab in Europe, with over 1 mil-
lion registered users and more than 2 000 stakeholders linked to over 800 living labs 
within its network.

For the period 2016–2021, the organisation has defined three strategic objectives:

1.  assist and improve the quality of life of citizens through ICT, with a particular focus 
on improving the employability of individual citizens, connecting citizens through 
e-government and supporting the digitalisation of small and medium-sized enter-
prises (SMEs) and business;

2.  promote social innovation through cooperation, collaboration and citizen participa-
tion, seeking to stimulate new ideas and, where appropriate, the implementation 
of projects and initiatives with support provided by ICT;

3.  create a network that is a reference point and a connector for wider networks (of 
stakeholders): on the one hand, a reference to address digital skills development 
needs; on the other hand, a network that connects networks (public and private 
services), engaging citizens with other agents and initiatives (through the Living 
Lab approach), through the contribution of its great reach (permeability across all 
parts of Andalusia), leadership and capacity (14).

Through this evolution, this project identified the utility and innovative potential of 
first DigComp and then EntreComp as key tools to support their training and men-
toring programmes for citizens. The network became aware of DigComp through its 
involvement in AllDigital, the European network of telecentres, and quickly saw the 
potential for its work. In 2017, the network discovered EntreComp and its further po-
tential to underpin its work on social innovation. The two frameworks are now being 

14  Translated from the Guadalinfo Strategic Plan 2016–2020, p. 13.

46

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOused across two of the Guadalinfo 2016–2021 strategic objectives.

USE OF DIGCOMP AND ENTRECOMP

F.10  

OBJECTIVE 2 - PRIORITIES AND LINES OF ACTION

1. Objective 1 includes four lines of action, including one that aims to drive aware-
ness of the digital empowerment of citizens. This area of work has been a Guadal-
info priority since 2003 and, since 2014, the initiative has used DigComp as the 
competence framework underpinning design and implementation.

2. Objective 2 drives the social innovation priority that has emerged since the incep-
tion of Guadalinfo, which builds on awareness of and training in digital skills and 
technologies to encourage and support the development of social innovation pro-
jects in which ICT plays a key role. Since 2018, Guadalinfo has been exploring how 
to use EntreComp as a tool to support the design and delivery of its work alongside 
and complementing its existing use of DigComp. Work linked to EntreComp is under 
development and not yet implemented into user programmes.

Guadalinfo has applied DigComp and EntreComp to varying degrees across its de-
livery, and its work continues to evolve. As the organisation is rooted in the delivery 
of digital competences, DigComp has been a fundamental feature of its work, while 
EntreComp’s potential to work alongside DigComp and support the network’s work on 
social innovation has been identified only relatively recently.

DigComp

Guadalinfo began integrating DigComp across its training programme in 2014. It now 
underpins all digital skills training from the first self-assessment through to the de-
sign and delivery of training programmes. It will soon also be reflected in an online 
certification  platform  for  digital  competences.  The  process  of  aligning  its  strategy 
with the competences outlined in DigComp was simple. It allowed the network to build 

47

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOF.11  

OVERALL SCORING WITHIN THE SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL

a clear structure for the digital competences within its training programme.

Digital skills training

Self-assessment tool

The self-assessment tool is a questionnaire of 63 questions accessed via an online 
portal. It takes the user through a series of practical questions asking them how they 
understand and/or use ICT to identify their strengths and weaknesses across the 21 
DigComp competences. At the end of the questionnaire, the user receives a person-
alised report, which provides an overall level for each of the five competence areas 
(information,  communication,  content  creation,  security  and  problem  solving)  from 
starter to advanced levels. It then identifies which questions were answered correctly 
for each of the 21 competences, and provides a simple description of each of these 
competences as background information. The current version of the questionnaire is 
aligned to DigComp 2.1.

An extensive portfolio of digital skills training mapped to the DigComp competences 
has now been designed. Training guides and content are designed centrally and then 
training  for  trainers  is  provided  to  the  different  Guadalinfo  centres  to  allow  them 
to  teach  each  course  according  to  the  specific  course  programme  and  philosophy. 
Currently, the network undertakes evaluations on the basis of the numbers of partic-
ipants and courses delivered; it does not explicitly evaluate the progress in ICT and/
or DigComp-related competences of those taking the courses (this is something it is 
exploring). Instead, the network evaluates the performance of the centres, the num-
ber of courses delivered, the number of users engaged in the process and the number 
of innovators/entrepreneurs that are engaged in centre activities. Each centre has a 
different workplan and tailored evaluation measures that are agreed with the centre 
and linked to the size of the municipality in which it is located.

48

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOCertification platform

Currently in development is a tailored certification process for digital competences, 
which  is  being  developed  by  the  regional  government.  Following  the  launch  of  the 
tool, it is the network’s intention that all new public-service employees will be asked 
to give evidence of digital competences as part of the recruitment process, based on 
assessment and certification taking place in Guadalinfo centres. The design will be 
aligned to DigComp and will build on a similar tool already being used in the Castile 
and Leon region, and results will be modelled on the Common Reference Framework 
for Language Learning (i.e. A1 to C2 levels of competence).

EntreComp

Guadalinfo is at an early stage in its use of EntreComp. It is in the first stages of ex-
ploring how EntreComp can align to the work it is undertaking in Objective 2 related 
to social innovation. Upon discovering the tool through its existing links to DigComp, 
the team immediately saw that EntreComp places a focus on the competences of the 
individual rather than on the value of the idea. The approach and language of EntreC-
omp matches the Guadalinfo philosophy and actions. It matches the Guadalinfo ap-
proach of supporting social innovation and entrepreneurship by placing the focus on 
developing the EntreComp competences of the individual. The network believes this is 
where the main value to the community lies, namely through empowering individuals 
as protagonists in their entrepreneurial journey. In the future, the strategic plan will 
include indicators related to EntreComp.

In line with the Living Lab approach, the roadmap to deliver Objective 2 was devel-
oped through reflection workshops held with a cross-section of centre stakeholders. 
EntreComp  had  not  been  launched  when  the  strategic  plan  was  written,  but  these 
more recent reflection workshops have drawn on EntreComp to iterate, design and 
deliver projects within this objective. Six profiles have been defined for development 
linked to the EntreComp competences:

3.  children and young people,

4.  the employability of citizens,

5.  entrepreneurs,

6.  innovators – rural and social,

7.  intrapreneurs,

8.  innovation agents.

Five of these profiles relates to end-users, while innovation agents are trainers/facil-
itators within each Guadalinfo centre. The organisation recognises that its staff need 
these competences to be able to drive social innovation forwards through the Living 
Lab approach at the local level. Trainers/facilitators are key intermediaries working 
with innovators and entrepreneurs, or indeed any individuals, who are interested in 
developing ideas for social innovation or businesses through the InnyCia programme, 
which will also be aligned to the EntreComp framework.

Guadalinfo  is  now  finalising  the  study  and  roadmap  to  contextualise  EntreComp 
through Guadalinfo’s programmes. The first draft indicates the relevance of EntreC-
omp to ICT, social innovation, promoting citizen participation and supporting projects 
and citizen start-ups. The recommendation is that Guadalinfo should aim to establish 
itself as a training and certification body for the entrepreneurial competences identi-
fied in EntreComp. To achieve this, the report advises that Guadalinfo has to diversify 
the vision of entrepreneurship connected to start-ups, and open up further areas to 
include:

 • individual entrepreneurship

 • collective entrepreneurship

 • employability

 • intrapreneurship.

At  the  time  of  data  collection,  Guadalinfo  was  about  to    develop  25  pedagogical 
guides including training content and resources. These were going to be mapped to 
both EntreComp and DigComp, reflecting the necessity of both these frameworks for 
all citizens and the ability to co-work with both frameworks through the same training 
activities. Training to the 800+ Guadalinfo centres was provided so at to begin train-
ing end-users in September 2019.

49

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOC5

Mygrants

Asylum seekers in Italy have, in recent 
years, spent 257 days on average in first-
reception centres (waiting for their protection 
requests to be assessed) and about 1 year 
in second-reception centres, where they 
undertake personal autonomy and integration 
projects. Opportunities for these asylum 
seekers to prove that they can be useful 
and for training were generally limited. In 
the light of this situation, in 2017, Mygrants 
was created with the aim of developing an 
app to provide information and formative 
assessment services to refugees on three 
main topics: asylum, social challenges and 
entrepreneurship. The system uses advanced 
digital technology to scout out hidden talents 
among trainees based on their learning 
behaviour and achievements, and to match 
them with job opportunities. Mygrants had 
44 000 trainees by the end of 2018 (with 
individuals using the app for, on average, 
236 minutes daily) and had set up over 
900 internships with companies. EntreComp 
inspired the app’s overall structure and was 
used to design its entrepreneurship content 
and several related offline activities. DigComp 
may soon be used for analytical purposes.

T.20  C5 - MYGRANTS AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

Mygrants

Sector

Commercial

Frameworks used

DigComp and EntreComp

Start / end date

2017 – ongoing

Country

Italy

Geographical scope covered

International

Target audience

Migrants

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

A third-sector organisation (working with refugees), international organisations, business associations, a 
banking association, universities, the ministry of education, the local public administration

Online resources

All resources have been developed for internal use only, as the Mygrants app can be used only by 
registered users among Mygrants’ customers

EntreComp into Action

-

Contributors

Mygrants - Chris Richmond N’zi, founder and CEO (INFO@MYGRANTS.IT, CHRIS@MYGRANTS.IT)

50

 •T.21  C5 -  MYGRANTS EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

Thanks  to  its  relationship  with  business  associations,  Mygrants  can  identify  labour 
market  shortages  (employability  pathway  activity  1)  and  develop  related  skills  by 
designing and delivering general and ad hoc training (activities 5 and 6), which even-
tually  leads  to  job  placement  (activity  8)  and  workforce  development  support  for 
customer organisations (activity 11).

The continuous assessment of learning achievements is a key feature of the Mygrants 
app (activity 3), which supports the delivery of personal development support (activity 
4) and careers advice (activity 7).

Mygrants’ third main area of personal development is devoted to entrepreneurship 
and it offers support to start-ups born from this area (activity 12).

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

Between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2017, more than 700 000 asylum seek-
ers  and  other  immigrants  landed  in  Italy  (in  2018,  these  numbers  dropped  signif-
icantly).  Of  these,  90  %  were  under  35  years  old,  only  53  %  had  a  higher  degree 
and 13 % had a university degree. These people are placed in first-reception centres 
(term in Italian - centri di accoglienza straordinaria, CAS-), where they wait for their 
request for asylum or other protection to be assessed and, if granted the protection, 
some of them go to second-reception centres (term in Italian -sistema di protezione 
per richiedenti asilo e rifugiati, SPRAR-), where projects are started for their personal 
autonomy  and  integration.  The  average  length  of  stay  in  first-reception  centres  is 
257 days (600 days including second reception), during which the refugees have no 
way of carrying out productive activities: there are no means that allow immigrants 
to demonstrate that they are useful. Training opportunities are also generally limited, 
except for minors and for the learning of Italian as a second language.

Chris N’zi, Mygrants founder, spent 2010 to 2015 in Frontex, the European agency 
for the management of international cooperation at the external borders of the EU 
Member States, as a strategic intelligence analyst and then as commissioner. During 

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51

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C5 MYGRANTSthis period, he was able to study, in depth, the drivers of migratory flows towards the 
European Union, which suggest – beyond periodic fluctuations – their inevitable in-
crease over time. He had often noticed that the reception activities referred to above 
are not very effective and that immigrants spent most of their time doing nothing. He 
and a colleague, later the co-founder of Mygrants, developed the conviction that it is 
possible and necessary to facilitate the transition of immigrants from being ‘assis-
tance-dependent’ people (as they are often perceived by the native population) to be-
ing productive human resources. They believed that the migration phenomenon could 
be turned into and seen as a positive opportunity for immigrants, of course, but also 
for the host communities. The key they identified was the unexpressed potential, or 
talent, that they saw among the immigrants who arrived in Italy, although they have, 
on average, a lower social and educational profile than those who arrive in central 
and northern Europe. Chris N’zi and his colleague therefore decided to develop what 
they call ‘a lean solution for a complex problem’, getting involved personally with the 
creation of Mygrants.

Mygrants: the company and the web app

Mygrants is the first app (initially a web app) that, through modules with repeatable 
multiple-choice thematic quizzes in English, French and Italian, provides immigrants 
with basic information about their rights and duties and the operation of the Italian 
and European asylum system, a set of training courses to strengthen their previous 
knowledge and develop new knowledge, and a number of related support activities 
(some of which are illustrated later). The key value of the app, besides offering im-
migrants  a  constructive  way  to  spend  their  time  waiting  in  reception  centres  and 
contributing to their personal growth, is to collect a wealth of data about them. This 
allows Mygrants to identify those among them who are or become ready to move on 
towards three  destinations: job placement, higher education and entrepreneurship. 
Predictably, given that earning a living and having money to send back home is the 
urgent priority for most immigrants, 99.8 % of Mygrants users aspire to a job place-
ment,  but  0.2  %  among  them  aim  to  become  entrepreneurs.  As  we  will  see  later, 
Mygrants’  training  and  support  programme,  which  is  constantly  being  enriched,  is 
increasingly being aligned with the labour market shortages in northern and central 

Italy to provide immigrants with the training needed to fulfil these job roles, but is 
also linked to job and business creation opportunities in some African countries.

Mygrants is also the name of the start-up that created the app, which became opera-
tional in January 2017. It started with the two founders and today has 18 employees 
(in Bologna and elsewhere). The company was born with the economic, technical and 
networking support of some business angels, who also provided a space for co-work-
ing in the centre of Bologna. After designing the overall architecture of its training 
programme, Mygrants very rapidly started producing and translating the content to 
be delivered (15); developed, with internal professionals, the technology platform (16); 
and released the service on the market to test it. The first users of the Mygrants web 
app, called ‘trainees’, were active in April 2017.

Mygrants training is organised into two main levels of difficulty, called ‘discover’ and 
‘explore’,  which  are  aligned  with  the  first  two  levels  of  the  EntreComp  progression 
model.

Discover addresses three main themes: rights and duties, social challenges and en-
trepreneurship. The three themes can be seen as reflecting the immigration journey 
in the host country: trying to acquire the right to stay in the country; understanding 
the  functioning  of  the  Italian  and  European  asylum  system  and  the  challenges  of 
integration, which are also social challenges everywhere (e.g. accessing services, ed-
ucation  and  work);  and  identifying  what  you  want  to  and  can  achieve  in  your  new 
life, by creating value for yourself and others, and how you can achieve this. Each 
theme is articulated into subtopics/courses, organised into three levels of progression 
(beginner, intermediate and advanced), which partly reflect the user’s progress in the 

15  The initial content production activity was carried out in collaboration with University of Fog-
gia, the Bologna Future Food Accelerator for start-ups and the Foundation for Financial Education 
and Saving (FEDUF), which was set up by the Italian Banking Association (ABI). Subsequently, 
commercial training content suppliers were identified, in particular Skilla, an Italian learning 
content provider for business with a catalogue of more than 250 learning paths dedicated to soft 
skills, available in English and Italian.

16  Subsequent investment optimised the user experience, even for those with a weak or no 
internet connection.

52

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C5 MYGRANTSprocess and partly reflect the difficulty of the content. In total, the discover level in-
cludes 56 courses, each with four quiz modules and a final test module, giving a total 
of 280 modules.

Explore  is  divided  into  two  broad  areas:  soft  skills  (seven  courses)  and  hard  skills 
(16 courses). Courses in the explore level have different numbers of modules, with a 
total of 1 080 modules (as of January 2019). This part of the training is constantly 
enriched to reflect new needs and customisation options for customers, as explained 
later.

In  the  discover  level,  all  immigrant  trainees  are  required  to  start  in  the  rights  and 
duties area. They can then choose in which other area to continue, depending on their 
interests or their more urgent needs. Some modules, such as the one devoted to Ste-
ve Jobs’ experience as a successful migrant, are extremely popular. Within each area, 
they can take courses following the beginner, intermediate or advanced progression 
path. Within each course, they are free to choose which module to start from. To ac-
cess the explore level, trainees need to complete the discover level with at least 70 % 
correct answers.

Mygrants adopted a training delivery approach that blends the gamification of learn-
ing, adaptive training, adaptive microlearning, formative feedback, applied forgetting 
and the spacing and testing effects (17). Each module includes 10 questions, which 
are presented (with text and possibly also images) to users one at a time, each with 
three or more possible answers. If the answer selected is correct, trainees get forma-
tive feedback confirming the answer and they receive 1 point. If the answer is wrong, 
trainees receive feedback giving the right answer plus some additional explanation. In 
both cases, trainees are presented with the module’s next question. After completing 
all questions, they can see their result and performance in that module. If they scored 
7 or above, they pass the module and get information about their ranking in terms of 
their score in the weekly and global questions and in terms of their answering speed. 

17  Also referred to as retrieval practice or test-enhanced learning, the testing effect states that 
the more often a learner retrieves information, the more likely it is to be stored in long-term 
memory. The testing effect is most pronounced when the memory being retrieved is at the edge 
of exiting short-term memory (as described by the spacing effect).

If they scored fewer than 7 points, they get a report listing all of the answers given, 
including their mistakes, and the module can be repeated. Trainees are free to decide 
whether  to  repeat  the  module  immediately,  try  the  next  module  or  change  topic. 
There is no limit to the number of attempts that can be made to pass a module. In 
fact, trainees can spontaneously take again a module that they already passed and 
be rewarded for that. Whether they passed the module or not, after a few weeks, the 
system suggests that the trainee take the test again. In this way, the system checks 
the applied forgetting (permanence) of the result, as trainees may have selected the 
right answers by chance or the information may also have been subject to oblivion. 
The analysis of the results data shows that both aspects are at play, for some train-
ees more than others and for some topics more than others. The Mygrants personal 
profiling algorithm can then make deductions depending, for instance, on whether you 
needed 3 or 10 attempts in order to score 8/10 in a given module, and so on.

The final test module of a course is also made up of (currently) 10 questions taken 
from  those  of  the  previous  four  modules  and  each  question  has  to  be  answered 
within 120 seconds. A score of 8/10 is needed to pass a final test module and so the 
course.

Each month, the system produces a report for every trainee showing his/her perfor-
mance in terms of the points earned, number of quiz modules completed, percentage 
of correct answers and time used, and highlighting his/her competences and interest, 
perseverance, motivation and talent and giving a suggestion for his/her personal de-
velopment path. Every month, the best performing trainees also receive opportuni-
ties (called ‘grants’) according to their profiles and destination: higher education (e.g. 
scholarships  offered  to  refugees  by  the  United  World  Colleges  or  the  participation 
of four Mygrants trainees in the Silicon Valley Study Tour 2018), job placement (fol-
lowing  specific  requests  from  enterprises)  or  entrepreneurial  support  (e.g.  financial 
support through the Mamaventure investment fund  dedicated to community-focused 
entrepreneurial projects launched by immigrants).

Since the first users became active on 1 April 2017, the Mygrants web app had had 
27 000 active users in Italy by the end of 2017 and 44 000 in Italy and 12 000 in 

53

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C5 MYGRANTSAfrica (18) by the end of 2018. In 2018, thanks to the acquisition of new customers 
and projects, Mygrants also started being used by Italian trainees, namely by about 
1 800 (19) by the end of 2018. Training paths for Italians tend to be different at the 
beginning, as some subthemes are hidden to them (e.g. in the rights and duties area) 
and others of interest to them have been added, but they converge later with those 
of immigrant trainees.

Active users are those who use the app at least once a month (20). The vast majority 
of users, thanks to Mygrants’ content quality and gaming approach, use the system 
every day and for a long time: the average for active users is 236 minutes per day, 
although some reach over 6 hours per day! On the other hand, the drop-out rate from 
the Mygrants web app has been, until recently, around 3 %. These figures are strong 
evidence of Mygrants’ success among its trainees.

Mygrants’ evolving business model

Thanks to the analysis (21) of the massive number of data gathered from the quizzes’ 
results and users’ online behaviour, Mygrants is able to measure trainees’ progress 
in knowledge acquisition and their capacity to implement the acquired knowledge; to 

18  Mygrants started operating in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal with young people (students, 
those who were unemployed and workers) who had the aspiration to migrate. Using the app, they 
could learn more about the asylum system in Italy and Europe and their rights and duties, and 
also gain a wider knowledge and weekly updates (the app’s global news) by exploring the training 
path, which was completely open and free for them. Mygrants is working on the development of a 
training programmes specific to trainees in different countries of origin (or in transition from those 
countries).

19  In particular, the main group comes from the Upshift ‘ideas in action’ project carried out with 
UNICEF in Sicily. Upshift empowers young people to build skills and find opportunities through 
social innovation and entrepreneurship. In Sicily, it involves 1 500 immigrant and 1 000 Italian 
young people.

20  After 30 days of non-use, users are given a dormant status and, after 60 days, they cannot 
use Mygrants anymore.

21  The data analysis, an activity that is strategic for Mygrants, is carried out in collaboration with 
a foreign company, as an agreement could not be made with a national company.

record their ability to achieve goals, their perseverance in the study, their discipline 
and other attitudes; and to map their interests, past skills and soft skills. By integrat-
ing all of this information, Mygrants can then profile trainees and identify those who 
are most dynamic and have the greatest potential. Suggestions can also be made 
to trainees on the areas in which they are lacking, leading them towards their most 
suitable destination for which they can get assistance from Mygrants (job placement, 
higher education and entrepreneurship).

Mygrants’ initial business model was to provide a service to the organisations (usually 
associations,  social  enterprises  and  other  third-sector  organisations)  that  manage 
CAS and SPRAR reception centres for asylum seekers. These, on average, dedicated 
5 %–7 % of the government contribution of EUR 35 per day for each of their guests to 
training and employment (EUR 1.75 per day). Mygrants proposed an economic agree-
ment for a minimum period of 6 months at a cost of EUR 0.50 per day per trainee in 
2017 and EUR 0.90 in 2018. Of this, 20 % of any profit would be reinvested to sup-
port the talented individuals identified as part of their path to emancipation (which 
includes railway tickets, additional training courses, participation in events, donations 
for self-employment, etc.). At a broader level, the local economy would benefit from 
Mygrants’ capacity to identify and prepare thousands of talented young immigrants 
to enter the labour market or set up new businesses (22).

Along with organisations running reception centres, Mygrants signed agreements to 
provide its service (with similar economic arrangements) to other actors working with/
for immigrants, usually in the context of specific projects and initiatives. For instance, 
with ABI and FEDUF, in agreement with the Italian Ministry of Education, Mygrants ran 
a pilot in 2017 and 2018 with adult education centres (term in Italian - Centri Pro-
vinciali per l’Istruzione degli Adulti , CPIA) (23) in Tuscany, so that immigrant students 

22  In northern Italy in particular, many business sectors face labour shortages owing to skills 
mismatches, among other reasons. On the other hand, documented immigrants in Italy have 
been an important source of business creation in recent years. They represent about 9.5 % of the 
entire stock of active companies and are able to generate employment opportunities not only for 
migrants but also and above all for Italians.

23  CPIAs, which operate throughout Italy in most large urban centres, are the main system pro-

54

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C5 MYGRANTScould develop new skills (in financial education) also during the summer school break 
and teachers could continue monitoring their learning progress. Mygrants’ work with 
UNICEF is briefly illustrated in footnote 27. In Bologna, Mygrants signed an agreement 
with the Municipality of Bologna to provide services to its Insieme per il lavoro project, 
which develops job placement activities for young and adult unemployed people in 
very difficult economic and social conditions.

The most interesting development concerns Mygrants’ relationship with business as-
sociations. This was set up at the outset, as such a relationship is crucial for achieving 
Mygrants’ job placement goal. To summarise, firms from manufacturing industry and 
other sectors signal, through their trade associations with Mygrants, that they have 
or will soon have a number of vacant jobs in certain occupations (24) and locations. 
Mygrants identifies, with the companies or the trade associations, the key require-
ments of potential candidates for those jobs, including the basic knowledge they must 
have, and checks on its database if anyone meets these requirements already or if 
anyone may reach them by undertaking additional training. If/when a match is found, 
Mygrants signals the available options to the companies (Mygrants trainees are ge-
olocalised) and, if they confirm their interest, provides all the support needed to start 
the internship (tirocinio) or other work arrangement. Additional learning modules may 
be developed on the app to meet specific requests from the companies. In parallel, 
messages are sent through the app to specific trainees or whole groups of trainees , 
signalling that there are companies interested in recruiting people with those require-
ments and even sometimes providing very specific indications about the modules to 
study. This is a strong motivational factor for trainees.

On  the  other  hand,  thanks  to  consistent  updates  to  the  database  following  train-
ees’  online  activity,  trainees’  profiles  are  also  dynamic.  To  exploit  this  opportunity, 
Mygrants gives companies the opportunity to directly query the database or to set 
thresholds  for  candidates’  characteristics  so  that  the  system  automatically  sends 

viding courses for Italian as a second language and civic education to migrants.

24  For instance, the manufacturing trade association Unindustria of Emilia Romagna sent 
Mygrants two requests for the local mechanical industry: in 2017 for 400 and in 2018 for 1 800 
vacant positions.

companies an alert when someone meets their requirements, and the company can 
then ‘pre-book’ that person.

Thanks  to  these  activities,  by  the  end  of  2017/early  2018,  Mygrants  had  enabled 
250 type C internships (25) and a year later this figure was over 900 (an average of 
22  per  week).  These  internships  were  with  companies  in  Emilia  Romagna,  Veneto, 
Tuscany and Piedmont and, more recently, also Lombardy, where Mygrants signed an 
agreement with the Milan Municipality. Of these placements, 82 % were turned into 
an apprenticeship, a temporary work contract or a permanent work contract. This is 
another indicator of Mygrants’ effectiveness and an important motivation for its train-
ees. These results have also stimulated the Emilia Romagna regional government to 
test out Mygrants on the customers of public employment centres.

USE OF ENTRECOMP AND DIGCOMP

During his work at the European Commission, N’zi had heard about both the EntreC-
omp and the DigComp frameworks. When he launched Mygrants in January 2017, 
both  a  partner  (Simone  Ravaioli)  and  a  former  colleague  separately  sent  him  the 
published frameworks and N’zi took this as a clear signal that he should look closely 
at them.

EntreComp

The Mygrants team identified entrepreneurship as one of the three main areas for in-
formation and training programme in its app. In fact, entrepreneurship was perceived 
as the area with the widest training needs and development potential (although these 
were also wide in the job placement area). To define the learning goals, structure and 

25  Type C internships are placement/replacement internships aimed at facilitating the person’s 
insertion or reintegration into the world of work and are specifically for disabled and other dis-
advantaged people, including asylum seekers, holders of international or humanitarian protec-
tion and persons on social protection pathways. The minimum duration of such an internship 
is 3 months. If things work out well, it is usually extended for another 6 months. The maximum 
duration is 1 year.

55

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C5 MYGRANTScontent for this area, the team developed a scheme that included three broad pro-
gression steps (beginner, intermediate and advanced); it was also noted that entre-
preneurship required more than just the identification of ideas and opportunities, as 
trainees needed to find the resources required to turn these ideas into something real 
and so needed to know how to do this. Following this logic, the team identified five 
macro-topics for each of these broad steps, which could become courses, with each 
split into four or five subtopics that would be addressed by quiz modules.

After  spending  2  days  reading,  analysing  and  brainstorming  over  the  EntreComp 
framework,  the  team  discovered  that  their  scheme  was  perfectly  compatible  with 
the framework. Given that Mygrants was looking for a system that could support it 
in developing its training programme and, in particular, in making its programme vis-
ibly coherent with an established framework, the adoption of EntreComp, which had 
strong  background  and  a  European  status,  came  as  a  fortunate  opportunity  and  it 
was an easy decision to choose this framework. Its endorsement at the EU level was 
particularly important, in view of the high geographic mobility of immigrants in Eu-
rope. Mygrants’ training programme and outcomes might be more easily recognised 
elsewhere if associated with EntreComp.

In practice, the first two steps of the EntreComp progression were chosen to define 
Mygrants’ two levels of difficulty – discover and explore – around which the overall 
training programme is structured, encompassing not only entrepreneurship, but also 
the rights and duties and social challenges areas. In line with the lean start-up model, 
EntreComp’s three competence areas – ideas and opportunities, resources and into 
action – were adopted to represent the beginner, intermediate and advanced steps of 
Mygrants’ training on entrepreneurship development. This also reflects the view that 
these steps represent increasing complexity, especially for newcomers (26). Mygrants 
also named the 15 courses within the entrepreneurship training programme, so that 

26  In the Upshift ‘ideas in action’ project (see footnote 27), the initiative was entirely centred on 
entrepreneurship, and Mygrants created personalised content according to the client’s (UNICEF’s) 
requests. In this case, courses were developed for all 15 EntreComp competences at the three dif-
ficulty levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced), with a total of 45 courses and 315 modules 
(seven modules in each course).

they now correspond to EntreComp’s 15 competences. The content modules of each 
course were also identified to reflect some of the EntreComp competences and their 
threads, with inevitable adaptations.

For  instance,  the  analysis  of  EntreComp  competence  1.5,  ethical  and  sustainable 
thinking (assess the consequences and impact of ideas, opportunities and actions), 
led to the development of the following discover modules: ‘What is a market?’, ‘Do 
more with less’, ‘Keep it simple’ and ‘Follow your heart’. EntreComp competence 2.4, 
financial and economic literacy (develop financial and economic know how), inspired 
the creation of the following discover modules: ‘The bank and I: our rights’, ‘Basic bank 
account’, ‘Tools to manage your money’ and ‘Digital tools to manage your money: in-
ternet and home banking’. At a higher progression level, learning content is provided 
about enterprise structures and their economic and financial management.

Besides  using  the  framework  to  structure  the  training  programme,  EntreComp  in-
spired Mygrants in the organisation of the support actions that it delivers to its most 
talented trainees. We refer in particular to the MakeMyWay entrepreneurial support 
programme offered to such trainees and to the MygrantsDays event. These activi-
ties are structured according to EntreComp’s three main steps and areas: identifying 
ideas and opportunities, finding resources and moving into action. Without a clear-
ly  identified  idea  and  opportunity,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  find  the  material  and 
non-material resources to do anything and, without resources (and a structured idea), 
it is impossible to move into action and generate value. Each step is then developed 
according to the ‘lean start-up’ approach: build, measure and learn. It is important to 
prototype, test and validate each step before moving on to the next one.

MakeMyWay

In  the  MakeMyWay  programme,  25  to  40  trainees  who  showed  the  highest  inter-
est and capacity based on their training performance and their participation in the 
MygrantsDays event were invited to a series of workshops and other activities that 
were held over a period of about 6 months that aimed to help participants develop 
an entrepreneurial mindset and, when possible, transform an idea into a real entre-
preneurial venture.

56

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C5 MYGRANTSThe process begins with the selection by the participants of the key topics on which 
they want to work; this is actually done online before the workshop, along with the 
creation of working groups / teams. In the first workshops, the lean business model 
canvas, the business model canvas, the social model canvas and the value proposi-
tion canvas are presented to the trainees as useful tools for designing and developing 
their  entrepreneurial  intuition  with  an  analytical  and  strategic  spirit.  In  addition  to 
design thinking, an important part of the entrepreneurial learning programme is the 
identification of real cases to be taken as a starting point to inspire the MakeMyWay 
participants, but also to provide them with useful input to strengthen, remodel or val-
idate their ideas. For example, a would-be entrepreneur intended to develop a service 
(very  similar  to  Mygrants)  for  low  educated  or  illiterate  young  people  in  his  home 
country in Africa. As an inspirational ‘cue’ (influencer), he chose Alloysius Attah and 
his company Farmerline. Alloysius developed a text-based app to provide information 
and training to local farmers in Ghana on various topics including the price of seeds, 
methods and timing of irrigation, and economic education with the aim of increasing 
their  ability  to  generate  market  value  from  sustainable  agriculture.  Following  the 
delivery of the prototype (the build stage), he realised that the adoption rate of the 
app was very low. After in-depth analysis and market research, he found that a high 
percentage of local farmers were illiterate (the measure stage). He thus understood 
(the learn stage) that the (perhaps most useful) way forward was to convert all of the 
text content into voice messages in local languages. The result was, after a new pilot, 
an increase in the adoption rate of Farmerline of 3 000 %.

Depending on the location of the teams, on the maturity of the entrepreneurial idea 
and on the activities to be done, the follow-up meetings take place every 7, 10 or 
15 days, either face-to-face or with the support of online tools such as WhatAventure. 
In the meetings, the teams identify and explore existing solutions to the challenges 
selected, develop ideas to improve at least one of them, develop prototypes when 
needed and work on the business models. The ultimate aim is to structure the initial 
ideas and turn them into viable entrepreneurial ventures. This entails, among other 
things, providing support for fundraising and for the creation of a successful team, by 
aggregating new human resources.

Through these processes, eight new enterprises were launched by members of the 

Mygrants community by the time of data collection: two in 2017 and four in 2018, 
and two in  early 2019). The Mamaventure investment fund for community projects 
launched by immigrants is one of these companies.

MygrantsDays

MygrantsDays is a 2-day event that Mygrants organises each year in Bologna in De-
cember, since2017.. The event targets the 50 best would-be entrepreneurs identified 
among Mygrants trainees from all around Italy, who are also joined by Italian students 
interested in contributing. On the first day, participants are divided into six teams each 
formed of at least six people, which correspond to the six challenges launched for 
the event (27). After a description of the challenges, the lean business model canvas 
is presented to participants. The hackathon called HackMyWay then starts and each 
team  must  carry  out  market  research  to  produce  the  lean  business  model  canvas 
of three existing solutions. All of the solutions considered are apps and other digital 
tools. For each challenge, the team must identify the best solution and present it in a 
Tweet. The teams must then identify the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen 
solution and they have 1 minute to present how they think it is possible to improve 
it, which they receive feedback on. Unlike in a proper hackathon, they do not develop 
a prototype during the event, but instead develop a mock-up; a prototype might be 
developed later in the MakeMyWay programme. On the second day, the teams work 
to produce the lean business model canvas of their entrepreneurial idea. Given that 
the success of an entrepreneurial idea frequently depends on not only what it is done, 
but also how it is presented, the teams must produce a pitch deck of their entrepre-
neurial idea. In the afternoon, they hand in the pitch deck that they developed and 
the ‘celebrate’ portion of MygrantsDays starts. Keynote speakers give presentations 
on the following topics: innovation as progress, adversity as progress (in which how 
Mygrants training experience helps in the path towards the three final destinations 
is discussed), skills as progress (in which companies discuss their experience of job 
placements of trainees found through the Mygrants trainees community) and, finally, 

27  Mygrants proposes a long list of 20 challenges online and, before the event, all trainees select 
their top six that they would prioritise.

57

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C5 MYGRANTScompetition as progress, in which the six teams face a pitch competition by present-
ing their entrepreneurial solutions. At the end of the pitch competition the panel of 
judges honours the winning team.

Mygrants is also developing profiles of aspiring entrepreneurs. This is a sort of dy-
namic CV that gathers in real-time the learning progress made by trainees towards 
the  entrepreneurship  destination.  The  profile  provides  an  indicator  of  the  trainee’s 
level in each of the 15 EntreComp competences, based on the trainee’s results in the 
Mygrants courses (e.g. he/she may be strong in creativity, but weak in financial and 
economic literacy). This is important information, because entrepreneurial ventures 
often require the mobilisation of different people who bring different skills and other 
resources. The profile provides an informal validation of entrepreneurial competence, 
that will be used by Mygrants to cluster trainees and develop new analyses about the 
performance of different groups and individuals, which in turn may help to identify 
gaps, barriers and drivers to be addressed by improving the Mygrants programme. 
At the individual level, the aim is to develop adaptive learning paths that match each 
trainee’s profile and to offer tailored training to enhance each trainee’s propensity – 
not everyone will be a start-up founder – for finance, business development, commu-
nication, marketing and so on.

The main benefit of using EntreComp has been that Mygrants was able to validate, 
with only some minor adjustments, the structure of its training programme. This was 
also a very important motivational aspect in the launching stage of the initiative, as 
the Mygrants team could see that it was heading on the right path.

Even though EntreComp is still not widely known, it certainly contributed positively 
to establishing the collaboration with UNICEF on the Upshift initiatives in Sicily. The 
Mygrants team showed UNICEF officers (who were already aware of EntreComp) how 
they  had  used  EntreComp  for  the  structure  and  development  of  the  training  pro-
gramme and to map the background and new competences of trainees. These were 
appreciated as important features in the quality of Mygrants’ proposal.

The openness of both the EntreComp and the DigComp frameworks makes them a 
useful  reference  for  creating  tools  to  informally  profile  entrepreneurial  and  digital 
competences, with the possibility of adapting the profiling tools over time as needed.

The use of EntreComp has definitely also contributed to the creation of a common 
language  and  understanding  of  entrepreneurship  competences  among  Mygrants’ 
staff and is helping in the dialogue with new customers, who are mostly unaware of 
EntreComp and are introduced to it by Mygrants.

DigComp

Along with EntreComp, the Mygrants founders also studied the DigComp framework, 
but they have not yet had the opportunity to implement it. Mygrants intentionally cre-
ated an initial filter for users in the form of registration on its platform, which required 
users to create a username and a strong password and to provide an email address 
to which a message was sent and needed to be acted upon to finalise the registration 
process. This filter proved effective in allowing only people who already had a basic 
level of digital skills to use the platform, which is crucial, as all of the training takes 
place online. On the other hand, Mygrants chose the smartphone – owned by almost 
all  immigrants  –  as  the  primary  delivery  channel  for  the  training,  with  the  aim  of 
avoiding the exclusion of people who did not have a computer. In addition, Mygrants 
invested in its technological platform (which is now available as an app for Android 
and iOS devices) to minimise the requirements in terms of internet connectivity (28). 
Thanks  to  these  choices,  Mygrants  was  able  to  avoid  making  the  development  of 
basic digital skills a prerequisite or an urgent objective for its customers to be able to 
use the app and its services. The development of digital competence, for the moment, 
has not been seen as a priority.

Having said that, Mygrants addresses and contributes to developing trainees’ digital 
competence in different ways. Albeit designed to be very simple, the app allows train-
ees to become accustomed to and more efficient at using apps. This is demonstrated, 
for instance, by the average times taken to complete a quiz module, which is about 
6 minutes at the beginning of the training and around 1 minute and 35–50 seconds 
after 2 weeks. Frequent navigation on the platform (e.g. to check results) and the use 

28  From May 2019, the app was also usable with very poor or no internet connection. This is 
important because many reception centres in Italy have poor on no internet and this will also 
facilitate the use of the app in Africa.

58

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOof  its  services  further  contribute  to  some  digital  competences  development.  Many 
modules in different discover courses address experiences, companies and especially 
learning  and  entrepreneurial  opportunities  in  the  digital  world  in  general  and  spe-
cifically in Africa, thus contributing to developing trainees’ digital literacy (29). In the 
explore soft  
kills part of the training, the ‘manage technical aspects’ course of-
fers five modules each on basic skills for the use of Microsoft Word, Excel and Power-
Point. In explore hard skills, the IT ‘informatics basics’ course offers seven introductory 
modules on basic computing notions (hardware, software, etc.). Finally, as we have 
seen, trainees who engage in Mygrants’ entrepreneurial support activities learn to use 
online collaboration platforms, study existing apps and are tasked with thinking how 
to improve them and so on.

Given  the  above  informal  digital  learning  experiences  and  some  IT  training  made 
available through the app, Mygrants has started thinking about how to also profile 
and cluster trainees according to their digital competence, for the same purposes as 
discussed with the entrepreneurial profile. From this perspective, Mygrants is consid-
ering using DigComp to structure trainees’ digital competence profile.

29  Several modules in the discover courses are devoted to ICT (massive open online courses, free 
digital learning and mobile phones) for learning in general and in Africa; to IT (including cryptocur-
rencies), banking and finance in general and in Africa; to opportunities for young people with cod-
ing, Google and digital start-ups in Africa (including for agriculture); and a full course (Advanced 
R&A) is devoted to the meaning and issues of digital identity.

59

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C4 GUADALINFOC6

SFEDI

The SFEDI Group is a group of 
organisations with a central focus 
on the development of enterprise 
and entrepreneurship through its 
UK government-recognised National 
Occupational Standards for Enterprise, 
as a regulated qualification-awarding 
body and through innovative pilot and 
transnational projects.
The organisation has taken the strategic 
decision to embrace and embed 
EntreComp in its project development, 
new course design and ongoing review 
of existing qualifications. EntreComp 
increasingly sits alongside the SFEDI 
National Occupational Standards for 
Enterprise to guide design and underpin 
its approach.

T.22  C6 - SFEDI AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

SFEDI Group

Sector

Commercial

Frameworks used

DigComp and EntreComp

Start / end date

1996 - in progress

Country

UK

Geographical scope covered

National

Target audience

SFEDI Awards – general learners including: prisoners pre and post release • those who are long-term 
unemployed • refugees and migrants • schools/colleges • universities • those who are employed •

SFEDI Solutions: intermediaries and stakeholders

IOEE 

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

SFEDI Advisory Council: British Bankers Association (BBA) • Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority 
Entrepreneurship • Confederation of British Industry (CBI) • Convention for Scottish Local Authorities 
(COSLA) • Department for Business Innovation and Skills • Enterprise Educators UK • Enterprise Rockers • 
Enterprise Village • Federation of Small Business (FSB) • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and 
Wales (ICAEW)• IOEE • International Association of Bookkeepers (IAB) • LANTRA • Lloyds Banking Group • 
National Enterprise Network (NEN) • National Black Women’s Network (NBWN) • Skills CFA • The Prince’s 
Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME) CYMRU • University of Wales Trinity Saint David • Young Enterprise

Online resources

N/A – resources developed through this initiative form part of the qualification resources

Detailed overviews of each course are available online through the qualification specification documents 
for each course available via SFEDI Awards: sfediawards.com/qualifications 

EntreComp into Action

-

Contributors

SFEDI Group - Ruth Lowbridge (RUTH.LOWBRIDGE@SFEDI.CO.UK)
Nic Preston – SFEDI Awards
Leigh Sear – SFEDI Solutions

60

 •T.23  C6 -  SFEDI EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

Assessment of skills. The qualification assessment tools have been built on the basis 
of EntreComp – every qualification has a clear assessment structure based on the 
standards and the learning content. EntreComp is reflected in, although not specifical-
ly referred to, in around 30–40 qualification assessment tools.

Personal  development  plans.  These  are  a  feature  of  a  range  of  courses  and  are 
mandatory  within  some  higher  level  business  support  qualification  courses  at  lev-
els 5–7. EntreComp underpins these, with terminology either similar to or the same 
as that in EntreComp.

Design of training. This is a core activity of both SFEDI Awards as a qualifications 
body and SFEDI Solutions as a research and development arm working on pilot and 
international projects. EntreComp has mainly been used in training at the pre-General 
Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (European Qualifications Framework (EQF) 
Level 1), GCSE (EQF Levels 2 and 3) and A level (EQF Level 4) stages. EntreComp has 
also influenced the design of qualifications at EQF levels 5–7; however, they become 
less explicitly linked at higher levels.

Delivery of training/development. SFEDI Awards and SFEDI Solutions currently de-
liver EntreComp-aligned courses at the national level.

Workforce  development.  SFEDI  Awards  designs  and  delivers  training  for  organi-
sations  and  those  currently  in  employment  to  support  business  sustainability  and 
growth. There are similarities to EntreComp in this area of the curriculum; however, 
the design is pre-EntreComp and has not yet been updated.

Start-up pathway. SFEDI Awards currently targets the start-up audience. Provision in 
this area is currently being reviewed and the new course design will be mapped to En-
treComp to ensure that it delivers against all of the EntreComp-related competences.

Certification of competence. This is integral to the successful completion of SFEDI 
Awards as an awarding body. The system cannot currently provide insight into the 
development  of  EntreComp  competences;  however,  it  can  provide  insight  into  the 
uptake and completion of courses that are mapped against the EntreComp frame-
work. Every qualification is broken down into units and every unit is broken down into 

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ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C6 SFEDI AWARDSlearning outcomes; therefore, it is possible – although it has not been done – to map 
attainment to the EntreComp competences. This has not been done because it is not 
a user-friendly approach for learning providers; however, the system does allow it.

Client tracking and monitoring. This is an integral part of SFEDI Awards’ delivery of 
learning, with delivery partners receiving quarterly and annual reports on the perfor-
mance of networked delivery centres and the quality of qualification delivery. Specific 
research is being done on the prison training programme, involving surveys of pre- 
and post-release prisoners on their perceptions of the learning process and its actual/
future benefits. The destination of learners is not tracked by SFEDI.

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

SFEDI is the first UK government-recognised standards-setting body for business sup-
port and enterprise. Since being established in 1996, the organisation has expanded 
to become a suite of companies providing comprehensive support to enterprise and 
entrepreneurs. The SFEDI mission is as follows:

To provide opportunities for individuals and organisations to develop their enterprise 
and entrepreneurial skills, knowledge and expertise allowing them to maximise both 
their  personal  potential  and  their  wider  contribution  to  the  growth  and  success  of 
society and UK Public Limited Companies.

The group is guided by the SFEDI Advisory Council made up of experts and represent-
atives from national organisations for enterprise and business support. The role of 
the council is to:

 • inform and uphold the standards for enterprise and business, and support skills 

policy and practice;

Through twice-yearly enterprise summits, the SFEDI Advisory Council enables SFE-
DI to debate and influence enterprise policy at the UK and international levels, and 
promotes this work, through the reach of its members. Members come from a wide 
range of industry, academic and member organisations in the United Kingdom.

All  SFEDI  Group  actions  focus  on  enterprise  and  entrepreneurship,  and  the  organi-
sation felt that EntreComp offered huge potential to look at enterprise from a wider 
perspective, embracing both self-employment and personal development paths.

The SFEDI Group is an umbrella organisation, which was originally the Small Firms 
Enterprise  Development  Initiative,  bringing  together  five  companies  that  address 
complementary areas of enterprising skills and enterprise and business support: SFE-
DI Awards, SFEDI Solutions, SFEDI Directory, the IOEE and Apprenticemakers.

 • SFEDI Awards was founded in 2007 as a UK-regulated awarding organisation de-
signing and delivering qualifications in enterprise and enterprise support services 
through a network of more than 250 delivery centres. The qualifications are built 
on the SFEDI National Occupational Standards for Enterprise and were developed 
in close collaboration with the IOEE as a professional institute dedicated to enter-
prise.

 • SFEDI Solutions is a research and development organisation responsible for de-
veloping  national  occupational  standards,  undertaking  applied  research  projects 
and  creating  innovative  enterprise  learning  and  skills  programmes  and  enter-
prise-education materials.

 • The IOEE was founded in 2010 to create the first professional learning institute for 
business enterprise and business support, to advocate for, deliver and recognise 
enterprise skills and development, including for a membership network.

 • SFEDI Directory is a national register of accredited business and enterprise sup-

 • exchange best practice in enterprise and business, and support skills and know how 

port professionals.

development;

 • promote awareness of the benefits of and access to enterprise and business, and 

support learning and skills development;

 • Apprenticemakers is an initiative to engage and train mentors for apprenticeships.
Of these, two organisations are actively using EntreComp to a significant extent:(30): 

 • act as a central policy advisory group on all things relating to enterprise and busi-

ness, and support learning and skills development.

30  Other companies within the SFEDI Group include www.Apprenticemakers.co.uk to support and 
develop mentoring for apprentices and www.SFEDIDirectory.co.uk offering a national register of 

62

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C6 SFEDI AWARDSSFEDI Awards and SFEDI Solutions.

The whole SFEDI Group aligns its work to the SFEDI National Occupational Standards 
for Enterprise, which were developed through broad-based consultation with the en-
terprise sector and are approved by relevant regulatory bodies (31). First published in 
the late 1990s, the standards were originally intended as an overview of the com-
petences to be considered when developing learning related to starting, running or 
growing  a  business.  The  IOEE  hosts  and  is  responsible  for  regular  updating  of  the 
standards, and since its inception it has expanded to now embrace competences re-
lating to personal and social development, as well as employability. The standards are 
organised into the following suites:

 • understanding enterprise,

 • pre-enterprise,

 • an introduction to business support,

 • enterprising skills,

 • enterprise and entrepreneurship educator,

 • business support,

 • business information,

 • business enterprise.
The IOEE makes reference to EntreComp in its work, but ultimately sets its own stand-
ards at the national level; however, clear links to EntreComp will increase as stand-
ards  are  periodically  reviewed  and  updated.  The  statements  of  competence  in  the 
standards are used by the SFEDI Group (in particular SFEDI Awards and SFEDI Solu-
tions) as the basis to design relevant competency-based qualifications in enterprise. 
Since 2016, these statements of confidence have been used alongside EntreComp 
as a complementary framework of internationally recognised reference for entrepre-

accredited business and enterprise support professionals.

31  Including The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (England – Ofqual), Qual-
ifications Wales, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and the Council for the Curriculum, 
Examinations and Assessment (Northern Ireland).

63

neurship competences.

USE OF ENTRECOMP

SFEDI first came across the EntreComp framework through Professor Andy Penalu-
na (32) as a member of the SFEDI Advisory Council and in his role as the chair of the 
expert group designing the new UK university guidelines for enterprise and entrepre-
neurship education. The framework was formally introduced by Leigh Sear through 
discussions in a SFEDI management meeting. This forum allowed a formal space for 
the SFEDI Group both to become aware of the framework and to consider its potential 
against current actions across the five organisations. All SFEDI Group actions focus 
on enterprise and entrepreneurship, and the organisation felt that EntreComp offered 
huge potential to look at enterprise from a wider and more international perspective, 
embracing both self-employment and personal development paths.

SFEDI Awards

The first area of action identified was to incorporate EntreComp as one of the ref-
erences for a review into SFEDI Awards qualifications. EntreComp provided a struc-
tured framework upon which SFEDI could underpin its analysis, which clearly aligned 
to  a  broader  meaning  of  enterprise  rather  than  to  self-employment  only.  A  basic 
mapping exercise was carried out which included reference to EntreComp to gain an 
understanding of where current approaches already aligned to EntreComp and the 
potential for further development (no shareable resources were available from this 
process). This resulted in a strategic move towards matching SFEDI’s approach to the 
terminology  used  in  EntreComp  and  the  overall  themes  addressed  in  the  learning 
outcomes.

The process of designing new qualifications highlights EntreComp through the design 
and consultation stages. Each new qualification is reviewed by experts and key stake-
holders before and during development, and EntreComp features in the discussions 

32  Professor Andy Penaluna is the Emeritus Professor of Creative Entrepreneurship at University 
of Wales Trinity Saint David.

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C6 SFEDI AWARDSwith each stakeholder or stakeholder group. This is to show where the process begins 
from, illustrating both EntreComp and the SFEDI National Occupational Standards for 
Enterprise as the starting points for development. SFEDI Awards now underpins most 
of its qualifications with EntreComp competences, including:

 • prison education both pre and post release;

 • Think Enterprise – targeting people with disabilities and those who are long-term 

unemployed;

 • qualifications delivered through refugee councils to help with settlement and inte-

gration into local communities;

 • school-based  learning  in  which  SFEDI  qualifications  are  used  to  support  learner 

engagement through learning enrichment/enhancement sessions;

 • work with existing companies to support workforce development.
Two of the earliest courses designed to align to EntreComp and the SFEDI National 
Occupational Standards for Enterprise were the Level 1 (EQF Level 1) course called 
‘Passport in enterprise and employability’ and the Level 3 (EQF Level 3) course on 
‘Business innovation, sustainability and growth’.

The Level 1 course clearly and explicitly aligns with all of the EntreComp competence 
threads, although EntreComp is not currently mentioned in the course documentation. 
It is a particularly flexible course with a large number of optional units that learning 
providers can mix and match to create bespoke qualifications. The units are grouped 
under three headings:

 • personal and social development (26 units),

 • employability (17 units),

 • self-employment (14 units).
This qualification is used by a wide range of organisations. Schools use this frequent-
ly,  usually  focusing  on  the  personal  and  social  development  units  to  support  and 
validate  wider  enterprise  skills,  which  are  often  linked  to  the  development  of  local 
social projects. Hard-to-reach audiences such as those not in education, employment 
or training (NEET) also focus on personal and social development, while those who 
are closer to the employment market address the employment sections in which the 

skills developed include lateral thinking. Level 1 courses to support those interested in 
self-employment would address those sections, while courses delivered in the SFEDI 
prison programme might address one or all of these three themes.

SFEDI Solutions

SFEDI  Solutions  takes  a  broader  approach  through  its  research  and  innovation  ac-
tivities  designed  to  test  and  explore  new  opportunities,  including  the  development 
of  national  occupational  standards,  undertaking  applied  research  projects,  creating 
innovative enterprise learning and skills programmes, and designing enterprise-edu-
cation materials. Its work is either rolled out by different parts of the SFEDI Group or 
taken up by external clients or partners. SFEDI Solutions has used EntreComp explicit-
ly across an increasing number of projects, particularly Erasmus+ projects that it has 
co-developed. These include:

 • the COOP-IN project (http://coopinproject.eu/en/),

 • Green Entrepreneurship Training (https://www.green-entrepreneurship.online),

 • the ON-D-GO project (http://learnonthego.eu/en/).
EntreComp is now central to the approach taken by SFEDI Awards and SFEDI Solu-
tions. There are various benefits and impacts of this.

 • It offers a way to navigate the changing narrative on enterprise and entrepreneur-
ship.  Entrepreneurial  skills  are  now  seen  as  transversal  skills,  not  limited  to  the 
realm of self-employment or business, and EntreComp firmly supports this broader 
understanding by using a key competence approach.

 • EntreComp allows SFEDI to better align its qualifications to the skill needs of em-
ployers  by  using  the  framework  to  map  and  make  explicit  the  skills  developed 
through SFEDI qualifications.

 • The framework has helped to create fully flexible personalised learning by offering 
a structure upon which to map skills development, allowing more ownership and 
responsibility to be given to the student to direct their own learning. For example, 
in the ‘Learn on the Go’ project for refugees and migrants, training needs analysis 
used EntreComp to guide the design and allow migrants and refugees to map their 
existing entrepreneurial skills prior to creating a personalised learning path.

64

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C6 SFEDI AWARDS • SFEDI has found that EntreComp can be a significant point of reference for educa-
tors. Previously, educators have relied on model answers for the learning content 
of  courses,  which  was  requested  by  delivery  centres  to  help  with  quality  assur-
ance and educator guidance. With the advent of EntreComp, model answers are no 
longer required because student answers now depend on different factors such as 
the context of the idea being proposed and how they want to apply it. Educators 
are informed of the need to be flexible and allow students more ownership over 
their learning path, and they use the EntreComp threads and learning outcomes to 
guide their understanding of student development.

 • SFEDI Awards is starting to review its business support courses targeting potential 
and early-stage entrepreneurs, aiming to map these against EntreComp more spe-
cifically to ensure that the courses deliver on all competences to a relevant level.

65

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C6 SFEDI AWARDSC7

Social Innovators KG

Social Innovators KG is a private Austrian 
company that wants to help entrepreneurial 
and creative people to find solutions to 
social and environmental problems when 
public institutions cannot. Through various 
programmes, Social Innovators assists with 
the conceptualisation and materialisation 
of new products, projects and companies, 
and advises both start-ups and established 
organisations and associations on how to find 
social and sustainable approaches in work and 
business. Social Innovators runs an incubator 
for the Austrian company Arbeitsmarktservice 
Steiermark (AMS), a public employment 
service for the labour market in Austria. AMS 
offers a development programme to support 
business start-up for the unemployed, which 
is the Social Innovators Incubator. As part 
of the programme, future entrepreneurs are 
supported for up to 6 months: they receive 
unemployment benefits to be able to focus 
on developing their business idea, as well as 
training. EntreComp is the foundation of this 
business development programme.

T.24  C7 - SOCIAL INNOVATORS KG AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

Incorporate Future KG (previously named Social Innovators KG)

Sector

Private

Frameworks used

EntreComp

Start / end date

2015 – ongoing (The project will come to an end amid COVID-19 in June 2020.)

Country

Austria

Geographical scope covered

Styria, Austria

Target audience

Start-ups/entrepreneurs-to-be

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

Start-ups

Online resources

All resources have been developed for internal use only

EntreComp into Action

-

Contributors

Incorporte Future KG - Sabine Varetza-Pekarz (SVP@INCFUTURE.ORG)

66

 •T.25  C7 -  SOCIAL INNOVATORS KG EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

Social Innovators KG provides labour market intermediary functions along the em-
ployability pathway, which are highlighted in green in the table above. The organisa-
tion’s activities include:

working with the under- and unemployed through its business start-up programme, 
which  is  delivered  for  the  Styria  public  employment  office  (employability  pathway 
activities 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6);

the delivery of a start-up pathway (activity 12);

providing information, training and advice for prospective entrepreneurs on creating 
and growing their own businesses (activities 11 and 12).

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

The  motivation  that  drives  Social  Innovators  is  based  on  the  company’s  personal 
values  and  its  conviction  that  sustainable  entrepreneurship  is  an  essential  part  of 
meeting societal challenges. Social Innovators is convinced that entrepreneurship is a 
key competence that allows one to take charge of one’s own life.

Social Innovators believes that to be socially active and to be economically successful 
are not exclusive concepts. They want to help entrepreneurial and creative people to 
find solutions to social and environmental problems when public institutions cannot. 
Through  various  programmes,  Social  Innovators  assists  with  the  conceptualisation 
and materialisation of new products, projects and companies and advises both start-
ups and established organisations and associations on how to find social and sustain-
able approaches in work and business.

Social Innovators KG is led by three CEOs – Sabine Varetza-Pekarz, Florian Simon and 
Christian Ortner – who have experience as independent entrepreneurs, trainers and 
mentors in business (33). The non-profit organisation Social Innovators & Friends is 

33  When it changed its name, the management structure of Incorporate Future KG also changed: 
Sabine Varetza-Pekarz is now the sole CEO.

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ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C7 SOCIAL INNOVATORS KGeconomically involved as a limited partner in the company Social Innovators KG. It 
wants  to  create  an  honest,  appreciative  and  successful  combination  of  ethics  and 
business.

In 2008, Sabine Varetza-Pekarz realised that entrepreneurial acting and thinking can 
be learned only in praxis. Even though she has a degree in business economics and 
been leading companies since 2000, she found that skills such as managing employ-
ees and leading teams, selling to and negotiating with customers, and dealing with 
financial aspects or taking on risk were skills that could not be taught in formal ed-
ucation, unless pedagogies were changed to embed learning through value creation.

Social Innovators is an Austrian Kommanditgesellschaft (KG), a partnership in which 
two or more natural persons or legal entities have joined under one common company 
for any permitted purpose. Social Innovators offers various commercial programmes, 
of which one is the Social Innovators Incubator. The incubator is a place of learning 
where participants of different entrepreneurial training programmes meet and where 
new entrepreneurs can exchange ideas with those who are at a more advanced stage 
in building their business. Experts and mentors are also on hand to provide expertise 
and coaching to develop business ideas further.

The incubator has been active since 2015 and is based on the EntreVersity® concept, 
developed by Sabine Varetza-Pekarz in 2008. EntreVersity takes inspiration from the 
dual-learning approach of apprenticeships. Accordingly, through this concept, 80 % of 
learning takes place in praxis and through being entrepreneurial and 20 % of learning 
is formal and takes place in cooperation with higher education institutions. In 2018, 
Social Innovators ran a first pilot of EntreVersity in cooperation with AMS, the local 
public employment service.

About AMS

AMS is a public employment service for the labour market in Austria. It places job 
seekers into vacancies and supports them through advice, information, skills develop-
ment and financial support.

One of the programmes that AMS offers for the unemployed is a development pro-
gramme to support business start-up (Unternehmensgründungsprogramm – UGP. As 

part of the programme, future entrepreneurs are supported for up to 6 months: they 
receive unemployment benefits to be able to focus on developing their business idea, 
as well as training. The programme is for those who are unemployed and are at the 
beginning of the start-up phase and want to become self-employed. They must have 
a concrete business idea and show that they are able to fulfil the requirements man-
dated by trade law. AMS then assumes the costs for business consultancy and the 
necessary training, such as that delivered by Social Innovators KG.

The programme is divided into four phases.

 • Clarification. AMS assesses if the business idea is promising and if the prospective 

programme participant meets all of the personal requirements.

 • Preparation. AMS helps the participants in the development of their business idea 

and suggests qualifications that they could gain, if necessary.

 • Realisation. The participant starts his/her own business.

 • Aftercare.  A  management  consultancy  controls  the  participant’s  company  and 

makes suggestions for improvement.

About the Social Innovators Incubator programme for UGP participants

The incubator programme hosts 15 UGP participants at a time. In addition, there are 
10 further entrepreneurs who are part of the incubator programme and 15 members 
of the Social Innovators & Friends community. All take part in the training activities 
that are provided by Social Innovators. As part of the incubator programme, partici-
pants also have the opportunity to take up a physical workplace for up to 6 months 
in the incubator premises in Graz, Austria. The first programme ran in July 2018 and 
ended in December 2018.

USE OF ENTRECOMP

Social Innovators KG works only with the EntreComp framework, not with the Dig-
Comp framework. EntreComp was used to guide the development of the incubator 
training programme. The training provided as part of the 6-month programme is spe-
cifically focused on taking the initiative, working with others, coping with uncertainty, 

68

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C7 SOCIAL INNOVATORS KGIt also sees entrepreneurship as one of the core competences needed for addressing 
social responsibility.

EntreComp has proven itself to be a helpful instrument and a useful measuring in-
strument and compass for entrepreneurs. The framework is used widely throughout 
the programme. Upon joining, participants assess their skills in one-on-one coaching 
sessions with their mentors. The EntreComp framework is introduced in these ses-
sions and the participant’s level is defined for the resources and into action areas. 
When developing its tools, Social Innovators mainly referred to EntreComp’s descrip-
tors  and  levels.  The  descriptors  served  to  explain  the  competences  to  participants 
and the levels served as learning objectives. Social Innovators worked well with the 
framework because EntreComp is easy to understand, providing an overview of skills 
at  a  glance.  The  clear  structure  facilitates  orientation  because  it  offers  a  familiar 
system of classification, similar to the Common European Framework of Reference 
for Languages. Equally, the individual learning objectives are described in a concrete 
and easily understandable way.

Social Innovators KG will continue to use EntreComp to assist its founders in the UGP 
programme. It will use EntreComp for the further development of the incubator and 
tutorials. 

ambiguity and risk, and learning through experience skills in the ‘into action’ compe-
tence area of the framework. In the ‘resources’ area, activities focus on the following 
skills: mobilising resources, self-awareness and self-efficacy, mobilising others, and 
motivation and perseverance.

To  foster  the  into  action  competences,  the  programme  relies  on  methods  such  as 
developing business ideas iteratively through action-oriented feedback loops. In the 
resources competence area, skills are fostered through coaching such as the personal 
development-focused approach of the process communication model. Formal training 
includes workshops such as the ‘Make-me-better’ workshop, which focuses on deep-
ening the business vision of the aspiring entrepreneurs, and a ‘Going live’ workshop 
to  help  participants  deepen  their  entrepreneurial  mindset  and  to  foster  their  sales 
competences. Throughout the programme, participants are always accompanied by 
mentors and coaches. As part of the ‘Make-me-better’ workshop, participants pres-
ent their business idea to the incubator community and receive feedback and input 
to further develop their business and services. Thus, blind spots and new potentials 
become visible and participants are able to clarify their business’ unique selling point. 
The ‘Going live’ workshop helps participants to develop and improve their product or 
service. Participants prepare a customer presentation and develop personas for their 
business. A real presentation is simulated and they get feedback from participants 
who act as their customers. After that, coaches give advice on how to take the busi-
ness to market. UGP participants also have the opportunity to take part in networking 
meetings and regular get-togethers to benefit from the entrepreneurial spirit in the 
incubator.

The hope Social Innovators had when using EntreComp as the foundation of its pro-
grammes was two-fold. On the one hand, it wanted to use the framework as a plan-
ning and measuring tool to select and approve their activities. On the other hand, it 
considered  the  framework  as  a  useful  selling  point  for  convincing  project  partners 
with a similar mindset and approach to come on board. EntreComp worked particu-
larly well for Social Innovators because, with its aim to establish a bridge between 
the worlds of education and work, it fits with its vision and values. Social Innovators 
sees itself as having the task of bringing entrepreneurial thinking and acting into the 
(corporate) world and thereby of developing very concrete, practical training formats. 

69

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C7 SOCIAL INNOVATORS KGC8

Startup Support South Africa

Startup Support South Africa is an organisation 
supporting a range of entrepreneurship 
capacity-development initiatives. This short 
case study focuses on its work with a major 
bank, in which EntreComp was used as the 
basis for a completed pilot project and will 
be used in the planned roll-out of workforce 
redeployment training to support existing 
employees at risk of redundancy in developing 
their part-time enterprises into a sustainable 
full-time income.

T.26  C8 - STARTUP SUPPORT SOUTH AFRICA AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

Startup Support South Africa

Sector

Private

Frameworks used

EntreComp 

Start / end date

2018 – ongoing

Country

South Africa

Geographical scope covered

Johannesburg

Target audience

Employees at risk of redundancy owing to automation of roles

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

Standard Bank (South Africa)

Online resources

All resources have been developed for internal use only

EntreComp into Action

-

Contributors

Startup Support South Africa - Fredell Jacobs, Chief Start-up Officer (FREDELL@STARTUPSUPPORT.CO.ZA)

70

 •T.27  C8 -  STARTUP SUPPORT SOUTH AFRICA EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

Assessment of skills. The initiative used the learning agility model from HFM Talent 
Index to assess existing competences, with a broad relevance to personal competenc-
es and strong alignment to the EntreComp model.

Personal development plan. This was an important foundational element of the train-
ing. The learning agility model identified areas to work on, which in turn allowed the 
development of the personal development plan.

Design of training. The programme design was based on the EntreComp competences.

Delivery of training/development. The programme delivered pilot training and is now 
being extended through a wider roll-out in the company.

Workforce  development.  The  aim  of  this  programme  was  to  repurpose  the  current 
skills of individuals identified through a workforce development programme based on 
the need for human capital redeployment. 

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

Startup Support South Africa is a capacity-development consultancy firm led by Fre-
dell Jacobs that supports clients in designing and developing initiatives to build skills 
and  start/grow  businesses.  The  consultancy  discovered  the  EntreComp  framework 
through a Google search in 2017 and immediately saw its potential as a tool for its 
work. Since then, it has used EntreComp in a number of projects including the follow-
ing.

 • Guidance for the structure and content of new curriculum development for pro-
grammes run by the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. This organisation invests in the 
entrepreneurial  potential  of  individuals  across  southern  Africa.  It  takes  a  holis-
tic  approach  to  entrepreneurship  development,  supporting  three  critical  aspects: 
mindset, skills and competences development, and understanding the ecosystem.

 • Supporting the concept and content of a new start-up by providing innovation-based 
gap years for students. Value creation has become the theme of the programme, 
supported by programme content combining personal mastery, entrepreneurship 

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

71

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C7 SOCIAL INNOVATORS KGcompetences and digital citizenship.

The most recent project was the development of an entrepreneurship programme for 
Standard Bank. The bank was expecting to make over 3 000 staff members redun-
dant in the coming years as a result of advances in the use of artificial intelligence 
at the company. To lessen the social and economic impact of these difficult decisions, 
new ideas were sought out on human capital redeployment programmes to find new 
ways to support employees to reinvent their careers inside or outside the bank. One 
option identified was the opportunity for the bank to be a springboard for staff to start 
their own businesses as a full-time employment alternative. This specific activity is 
the focus of this short case study.

USE OF ENTRECOMP

The target audience of the project is employees at risk of redundancy, and the intend-
ed outcome is that they are supported to design a development path towards tran-
sitioning out of the organisation into a full-time entrepreneurial venture. The course 
design is underpinned by EntreComp and the model was shared directly with partici-
pants via class notes and the course overview.

The implementation of EntreComp into the programme began at the very first stages 
of discussion. Fredell Jacobs used the original EntreComp report to support his pitch 
at the initial briefing meeting with Standard Bank, outlining how an EntreComp-based 
approach  could  be  taken  for  an  entrepreneurship-focused  workforce  redeployment 
programme. He took the following excerpt from the report as the basis of his pres-
entation, which he found really spoke to industry representatives because it was re-
latable and provided contextual relevance:

EntreComp defines entrepreneurship as a transversal competence, which applies to 
all spheres of life: from nurturing personal development, to actively participating in 
society, to (re)entering the job market as an employee or as a self-employed person, 
and also to starting up ventures (cultural, social or commercial).

public and third sectors and in any hybrid combination of the three value creation 
domains (social, cultural and economic). It offered a comprehensive approach based 
on evidence that gave those involved a certain amount of confidence in the proposed 
model.

The training was designed and delivered as follows.

 • The EntreComp framework underpinned training design and, to simplify delivery, it 
was not explicitly shared as a learning resource or entrepreneurial learning model 
with learners during the course.

 • The team mapped the EntreComp model to the learning agility mode, which was 
used as the self-assessment tool at the start of the project. This was done to check 
the overall alignment of the programme to EntreComp and ensure that all com-
petences within EntreComp were being covered across the training programme.

 • Participants were recruited through a multi-stage selection process, which included 
the learning agility scan as a final component. Seventeen people were recruited to 
the pilot course. The stages of recruitment were:

•  applications

•  a shortlist

• 

interviews

•  the learning agility scan (mapped to EntreComp)

•  confirmation as a candidate for What’s Your Next.

 • The overall course was delivered via 200 hours of contact time and used a range 

of tools including:

•  the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative – Ice House Entrepreneurship Programme 

(https://elimindset.com);

•  the Franklin Covey Institute 7 Habits for Personal Victory;

•  Business Model You;

•  Strategyzer.

The broad definition allowed industry representatives to see a broader definition of 
entrepreneurship  linked  to  a  clear  understanding  of  value  creation  in  the  private, 

The progression model from EntreComp was a guide for selecting content appropriate 
for the level of development and/or life cycle stage of the entrepreneur.

72

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C8 STARTUP SUPPORT AFRICASupport from Standard Bank

T.28  ENTRECOMP PROFICIENCY LEVELS SELECTED FOR STANDARD BANK ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME IN SOUTH AFRICA

FOUNDATION
RELYING ON SUPPORT FROM OTHERS

INTERMEDIATE
BUILDING INDEPENDENCE

ADVANCED
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

EXPERT
DRIVING TRANSFORMATION,  
INNOVATION AND GROWTH

Under direct super-
vision. (Includes, for 
example, support by 
teachers, mentors, 
peers, advisors, or 
consultancy services)

With reduced support 
from others, some 
autonomy and to-
gether with my peers.

On my own and to-
gether with my peers.

Taking and sharing 
some responsibilities.

With some guidance 
and together with 
others.

Taking responsibility 
for making decisions 
and working with 
others.

Taking responsibility 
for contributing to 
complex develop-
ments in a specific 
field.

Contributing sub-
stantially to the 
development of a 
specific field.

1. Discover 

2. Explore 

3. Experiment 

4. Dare 

5. Improve 

6. Reinforce 

7. Expand 

8. Transform 

Level 1 focuses main-
ly on discovering your 
qualities, potential, 
interests and wishes. 
It also focuses on 
recognising different 
types of problems 
and needs that can 
be solved creatively, 
and on developing 
individual skills and 
attitudes.

Level 2 focuses on 
exploring different 
approaches to prob-
lems, concentrating 
on diversity and de-
veloping social skills 
and attitudes.

Level 3 focuses on 
critical thinking and 
on experimenting 
with creating value, 
for instance through 
practical entrepre-
neurial experiences.

Level 4 focuses on 
turning ideas into ac-
tion in ‘real life’ and 
on taking responsibili-
ty for this.

Level 5 focuses on 
improving your skills 
for turning ideas into 
action, taking increas-
ing responsibility for 
creating value, and 
developing knowledge 
about entrepreneur-
ship.

Level 6 focuses on 
working with others, 
using the knowledge 
you have to generate 
value, dealing with 
increasingly complex 
challenges.

Level 7 focuses on 
the competences 
needed to deal with 
complex challenges, 
handling a constantly 
changing environ-
ment where the 
degree of uncertainty 
is high.

Level 8 focuses on 
emerging challeng-
es by developing 
new knowledge, 
through research and 
development and in-
novation capabilities 
to achieve excellence 
and transform the 
ways things are done.

The roll-out of this programme took place in 2019; it will involve 60 people annually. 
This is now seen as a corporate social responsibility action by the company.

EntreComp was used as an anchor point for the programme, training consultants and 
participants. It offered a focus on competence and mindset development to create 
value and highlighted the qualities of adaptability, which were fundamental to the 
drivers and philosophy of the course itself. In addition, the progression model and its 
learning  outcomes  helped  trainers  to  map  out  entrepreneurial  lifelong  learning  for 
participants as they moved through the course.

The robust evidence base underpinning the tool was extremely important, which in-
cluded a literature review, a case study analysis and a multi-stakeholder consultation. 
This gave an extra layer of confidence in using the framework for both Startup Sup-

port South Africa and Standard Bank.

EntreComp  allowed  the  bank  to  see  how  this  programme  could  embrace  different 
types of entrepreneurship, including intrapreneurship, social entrepreneurship, green 
entrepreneurship and digital entrepreneurship. The framework applies to individuals 
and groups (teams or organisations) and it refers to domain-neutral value creation – 
one can act upon ideas and opportunities to generate value for others in any domain 
or  value  chain.  Furthermore,  it  can  be  adapted  to  a  wide  range  of  entrepreneurial 
philosophies and paths and can be used equally in public-service, service-sector and 
private-sector actions.

Finally,  EntreComp  places  the  emphasis  on  action-based  learning,  which  was  the 
ethos being sought by Standard Bank.

73

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C8 STARTUP SUPPORT AFRICAC9

The Women’s Organisation

Established in 1996, The WO is a social 
enterprise committed to providing women’s 
economic development through learning, 
enterprise and engagement activities. It is a 
charity and a company limited by guarantee, 
employing 42 staff and a team of associates.
The WO has applied both the DigComp and 
EntreComp frameworks to varying levels 
as part of its activities, and has used them 
as tools to support its commitment to 
adopting innovative approaches to its work 
and ensuring that high-quality standards 
are maintained. DigComp has been applied 
as part of Erasmus+ project activities, while 
EntreComp has been applied more widely 
across the organisation, for both service 
delivery and internal organisational purposes.

T.29  C9 - THE WOMEN'S ORGANISATION AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

The Women’s Organisation

Sector

Charity and social enterprise

Frameworks used

DigComp and EntreComp 

Start / end date

EntreComp, 2016 – ongoing • DigComp, 2015–2017

Country

UK

Geographical scope covered

UK and international

Target audience

Women • Entrepreneurs – start-up and growing

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

Internal

Online resources

For internal use only 

www.thewomensorganisation.org.uk

EntreComp into Action

-

Contributors

Lisa McMullan, Director for Development & Consultancy (LISAMCMULLAN@THEWO.ORG.UK)
Maggie O’Carroll, CEO
Eleanor Vick, Programme Administrator

74

 •T.30  C9 - THE WOMEN'S ORGANISATION EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

The WO provides labour market intermediary functions along the employability path-
way, which are highlighted in green in the table above. The organisation’s activities 
include:

working with under- and unemployed women by providing a range of personal devel-
opment and employability programmes on an outreach basis in different communities 
across the Liverpool City Region (employability pathway activities 1, 2 and 4);

training and support activities that are designed and delivered to address known bar-
riers to participation, including confidence building, identification of personal skills and 
working with partners to support clients through specialist mental health services and 
financial literacy and resilience services (activities 5 and 6);

providing information, training and advice for women creating and growing their own 
businesses (activities 11 and 12).

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

The WO’s mission is to reach out to all women to enhance their role in their own lives, 
in  their  community,  in  business  and  in  the  wider  world.  It  seeks  to  achieve  this  by 
delivering knowledge, changing perceptions and influencing policy.

Underpinning  all  of  its  work  activities,  The  WO  has  a  set  of  clearly  stated  values, 
namely to:

 • be accessible;

 • be innovative;

 • deliver quality services;

 • build relationships and work in partnership;

 • be inclusive.
Established in 1996, The WO is a social enterprise committed to providing women’s 
economic  development  through  learning  and  engagement  activities.  It  is  a  charity 
and a company limited by guarantee, employing 42 staff and a team of associates.

75

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C9 THE WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONTo  date,  The  WO  has  supported  over  55  000  by  providing  them  with  information, 
advice and training, helping to create over 4 000 small businesses. The organisation 
describes its business model as revolving around five key pillars of activities:

 • employment and enterprise support services, through the direct provision of ser-

vices for women to promote economic and enterprise development;

 • business incubation, through its 54 St James Street brand, providing physical and 

virtual working spaces, meetings, training and conference facilities;

 • programme  management, through  collaboration with partners (at the  local,  EU 
and international levels) providing public-sector contract and finance management 
expertise through which specialist services are provided that complement and add 
value to the organisation’s overall mission;

 • consultancy, through its Enterprise Evolution brand to exploit its expertise in, for 
example, enterprise development and education, social value and impact planning 
and reporting;

 • research and influence, by working closely with leading academics, thinkers and 
key influencers to inform policy development and improve the wider environment 
for women entrepreneurs in particular.

The WO has direct experience of delivering and participating in highly innovative and 
successful partnership projects, at local, national, EU and international levels. It has a 
long and successful record of accomplishments in the delivery of public and EU pro-
ject management and is recognised as a quality provider of economic development, 
education, training and support. By undertaking research, developing and delivering 
comprehensive training programmes and advice services to support private and social 
entrepreneurship, and engaging in workforce development, it strives to enable women 
on their journey through education, training, work, enterprise creation and growth.

The WO also has extensive experience in building capacity within the private, public 
and third sectors by providing expert services for partner organisations. These include 
programme  management,  organisational  development,  business  modelling,  social 
impact reporting and professional development for business advisers and enterprise 
educators.

Examples of The WO’s activities and projects include the following.

 • The Enterprise HUB. The WO is the lead and managing partner for the enterprise 
gateway  for  business  start-up  in  the  Liverpool  City  Region.  The  Enterprise  HUB 
provides expert business advice and support services to new and early-stage en-
trepreneurs. The WO manages the partnership and provides targeted training and 
advice services to women across the area.

 • Excelerate Labs. The WO leads this partnership to support women-led small busi-
nesses to innovate and grow through comprehensive business coaching services, 
workshops and networking opportunities.

 • Incubation: The WO provides high-quality workspaces for 21 small business ten-

ants and a virtual tenancy service for 177 small businesses.

 • Civil Society Involvement: The WO leads this UK national European Structural and 
Investment Funds (ESIF) project to enhance the voice of the third sector at the na-
tional level. Enabling and facilitating a healthy exchange of knowledge, The WO en-
sures that the lessons learnt from involvement in European-funded programmes 
are shared with key influencers and policymakers at the national level.

 • EntreComp  into  Action:  The  WO  was  commissioned  as  the  lead  contractor  for  a 
partnership of three organisations by JRC (JRC/SVQ/2017/B.4/0002/NC) to develop 
a  manual  and  guidelines  for  stakeholders  designed  to  make  the  take  up  of  the 
framework easier and to facilitate its implementation. The EntreComp into Action 
user guide was published in March 2018.

The  WO  became  aware  of  both  frameworks  through  its  partnership  working,  in  a 
formal Erasmus+ partnership project for DigComp and through informal knowledge 
exchange with organisations within its network for EntreComp. Active involvement in 
the enterprise-education community provided the opportunity to further learn about 
EntreComp from university colleagues who shared their experiences.

The organisation has a culture and approach to working that involves seeking out new 
information, research and practices that help it to achieve its overall mission and live 
up to its values. The DigComp and EntreComp frameworks were identified as useful 
evidence-based tools that provide relevant structure and context for development.

The application of EntreComp, in particular, has been driven by The WO’s desire to 
achieve a number of goals, which align to those articulated in EntreComp into Ac-

76

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C9 THE WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONtion (34), namely to:

 • raise awareness and understanding of the enterprise learning and entrepreneur-
ship support programme and create a common language for stakeholders when 
exploring, designing and delivering enterprise development initiatives (mobilise);

 • provide and support an evidence-based approach to service delivery (create val-

ue);

 • map  against  existing  actions  and  resources  against  the  EntreComp  compe-
tences (appraise and assess) and use this analysis to design and enhance start-up 
provision (implement);

 • recognise  entrepreneurship  competences  and  use  these  as  a  structure  for 

demonstrating the impact of The WO’s support programmes (recognise).

Key to the extent that EntreComp has been applied across The WO is the leadership 
provided  by  the  Chief  Executive  –  Maggie  O’Carroll.  Maggie  particularly  values  the 
breadth  of  the  competence  descriptors,  how  the  EntreComp  framework  embraces 
aspects of personal development and how it recognises different forms of value crea-
tion. The framework provides an innovative way of describing the development needs 
of entrepreneurs, at different stages of business start-up and growth, and a robust 
structure  from  which  to  analyse  existing  provision  and  design  new  approaches.  It 
contributes directly to The WO as an organisation in its ability to live up to its values, 
particularly of being innovative and providing quality services.

USE OF DIGCOMP AND ENTRECOMP

The WO has applied both the DigComp and EntreComp frameworks to varying levels 
as part of its activities, and has used them as tools to support its commitment to 
adopting innovative approaches to its work and ensuring that high-quality standards 
are  maintained.  DigComp  has  been  applied  as  part  of  Erasmus+  project  activities, 
while EntreComp has been applied more widely across the organisation, for both ser-
vice delivery and internal organisational purposes. Specifically, the frameworks have 

34  () 

See EntreComp into Action goals, p. 29.

been applied as outlined below.

DigComp

The  WO  became  aware  of  DigComp  through  its  involvement  in  the  Erasmus+  Key 
Action 2 Partnership project (2014-1-UK01-KA202-001780) Digital Innovations for 
Growth Academy (DIGA). This project involved undertaking research to develop and 
pilot a training programme to promote digital innovation for enterprise trainers and 
educators working with new and growing SMEs.

DigComp informed the development of the training programme, with module 1 in-
cluding a DigComp-based audit for participants to undertake a personal evaluation of 
their digital skills. The DigComp self-evaluation tool was chosen as the basis for the 
audit, as it provided a robust and credible structure that was appropriate for all part-
ners to use, in different countries and with participants working in different sectors. 
Feedback from the training indicated that participants found the tool easy to use and 
useful when helping them to recognise the breadth and importance of digital skills 
to their work.

Ninety-three enterprise trainers and educators participated in the DIGA pilots in Bul-
garia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom during 2016–2017. Further 
information about the project is available here: http://digaproject.eu/

EntreComp

Mapping of training provision

The  WO’s  training  programmes  and  business  advice  services  have  been  mapped 
against the EntreComp framework. The training programmes are grouped into seven 
areas:

1.  personal development for employability courses,

2.  planning for success (pre-start),

3.  business start-up,

4.  boost your new business,

77

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C9 THE WOMEN’S ORGANISATION5.  social media strategy courses,

6.  bookkeeping,

7.  tax and national insurance.

Business advice services (1-2-1 Business Support) were 
identified  as  an  eighth  area  that  should  be  mapped 
against  the  framework  so  that  a  comprehensive  re-
view  of  all  training  and  support  services  was  under-
taken. The combination of group training and individual 
business advice sessions ensures that The WO’s clients 
have access to a customised package of support that 
best meets individual needs.

Each of these eight areas has been mapped against the 
15  EntreComp  competences  and  eight  levels  of  pro-
gression. The framework has provided a structure for 
discussion and review, with colleagues within the train-
ing team producing both an overview that clearly sum-
marises the intended outcomes of each of the training 
programmes and detailed individual programme maps.

This  exercise  has  helped  the  organisation  to  under-
stand the extent of its services and recognise those ar-
eas not currently explicitly addressed. It has prompted 
informed  discussions  and  reflection  and  has  provided 
a structure to consider the full complement of existing 
training  programmes  enabling  a  holistic,  rather  than 
project-restricted, view to be taken. This has been use-
ful  in  terms  of  describing  the  training  and  enterprise 
support programme to stakeholders and in helping cli-
ents (learners) to recognise their own achievements in 
terms  of  entrepreneurship  competences.  The  process 
has also prompted an update to the training provision. 
The team has identified opportunities to improve and 

F.12  

THE WO’S TRAINING AND SERVICE OFFER MAPPED AGAINST THE ENTRECOMP FRAMEWORK

78

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C9 THE WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONprovides a set of enterprise support services that are described as delivering a set 
of activities based around the three EntreComp entrepreneurship competency areas: 
ideas and opportunities, enterprise resources and into action.

EntreComp was used to provide a robust, credible context for the project proposal and 
to bring an innovative approach to local enterprise services delivery.

Overall, The WO finds that EntreComp is accessible and both its visuals and its lan-
guage help in engaging and generating interest, at the citizen, practitioner and pol-
icymaking levels. Furthermore, they find it is flexible and can be tailored to be rele-
vant in different situations, working with different target groups, such as under- and 
unemployed women thinking about setting up their own businesses or experienced 
business owners and entrepreneurs, and targeting different audiences including ben-
eficiaries and customers.

enhance course content and materials to make explicit links to EntreComp compe-
tences.

New training materials

EntreComp-inspired  training  materials  have  been  developed  and  are  now  integrat-
ed into the organisation’s consultancy services provided by Enterprise Evolution. The 
focus of these activities, namely on enterprise education and staff development pro-
grammes for those working in university and college environments, has prompted the 
creation of ‘EntreComp flashcards’. The flashcards follow an easy-to-read and engag-
ing format to encourage discussion and reflection around entrepreneurship compe-
tences. They have been successfully applied in working with university researchers 
exploring commercialisation opportunities; with staff championing enterprise activi-
ties and business start-up with undergraduates; and with entrepreneurship academ-
ics seeking to engage their students in current practices. These have been produced 
in English and translated into Chinese (Mandarin) for use with universities in China.

Team development

As part of its learning and development plan, The WO held a team development day 
in October 2018 for all staff members, with one of its activities focusing on EntreC-
omp. Colleagues had the opportunity to read and reflect on the 15 competences and 
descriptors and to discuss in small groups what this could mean for their own area of 
work. The intention was to ensure that all members of the team had some familiarity 
with the framework, as, although some are very familiar with EntreComp, others had 
little knowledge or understanding of how it was being used within the organisation. 

Strategic level/tender development

The  EntreComp  framework  has  been  used  by  The  WO  to  provide  the  context  and 
structure for its novel Enterprise Hub project (ESIF priority axis 3: enhancing the com-
petitiveness of SMEs), which was written into the project proposal. The project is a 
business  support  programme  designed  to  increase  entrepreneurship,  new  business 
creation  and  early-stage  sustainability  and  growth  in  the  Liverpool  City  Region.  It 

79

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C9 THE WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONF.13  

ENTERPRISE EVOLUTION ‘ENTRECOMP FLASHCARDS’, IN ENGLISH AND MANDARIN

80

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C9 THE WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONC10

Youth@Work - Strategic Partnership on Youth Employability  
and Entrepreneurship of Erasmus+ national agencies

This project is a strategic cooperation 
between a number of Erasmus+ 
national agencies in Europe and 
SALTO-YOUTH Resource Centres to 
support and develop the themes of 
entrepreneurship and employability 
across youth-work strategies and 
initiatives at national and EU levels. 
EntreComp and DigComp are used as 
competence frameworks to underpin 
the partnership’s strategic objectives 
and approach, and it has so far 
provided tailored capacity-building 
training to national agency staff, which 
was followed by recruiting and training 
a pool of trainers to specialise in these 
topics and support the work of the 
Youth@Work Partnership at the EU 
level and of the national agencies at 
the national level. 

T.31  C10 - YOUTH@WORK AT A GLANCE

Leading organisation

Turkish Erasmus+ national agency

Sector

Public

Frameworks used

DigComp and EntreComp 

Start / end date

2018 – 2020

Country

Turkey (LEAD) • Italy • Poland • France • Republic of North Macedonia • Spain • Cyprus • Hungary • UK • 
Malta • Greece

Geographical scope covered

Europe – Erasmus+ programme and partner countries

Target audience

Not-for-profit sectors – NGOs in the youth sector • Public sector – European • Private sector – employment, 
business and entrepreneurship-related organisations • Mainly working with professionals linked to policy/
practice/research related to young people • Some events focus on young people (e.g. social entrepreneurs, 
young leaders, youth leaders)

Professional sectors covered 

General

Stakeholders involved 

Stakeholders actively involved through the national and regional consultative groups of Youth@Work 
Partnership including national ministries, regional administrations, chambers of commerce, universities, 
social innovation centres and larger NGOs -ups

Online resources

All resources have been developed for internal use only

EntreComp into Action

-

Contributors

Raluca Diroescu – Youth@Work Partnership Coordinator (R.DIROESCU@GMAIL.COM)

81

 •T.32  C10 - YOUTH@WORK EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES

EMPLOYABILITY PATHWAY ACTIVITIES 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Labour market skills analysis

Outreach to under/unemployed

Assessment of skills

Personal development plan

Design of training

Development/Delivery of training

Careers advice

Liaising with employers for job placement/experience

Job search/support

10

Employee support

11

Workforce development

12

Start-up pathway

13

Certification of competence

14

Client tracking and monitoring

Assessment of skills and certification of competence. This activity is ongoing, but 
at an early stage of development. This is seen as a key action for the partnership to 
address, in line with policy priorities identified at the EU level (35). Early-stage explora-
tory actions are being taken by the partnership to explore, first, an online self-assess-
ment tool for entrepreneurial competences and, second, guidance for youth workers 
and youth-work organisations to support better understanding and assessment of the 
entrepreneurship key competence. This is intended to complement and go beyond the 
YouthPass (36) tool, which was traditionally used to recognise key competences gained 
through youth-work activities.

Design of training. Training has been designed for key audiences within the partner-
ship, which will drive awareness and understanding of how to embed employability 
and entrepreneurship – based on DigComp and EntreComp – into youth-work delivery 
across Europe. Two stages of training have so far been designed for the following, 
separate, audiences:

•  leading staff at the Erasmus+ national agencies for youth work;
•  a pool of specialist youth trainers available for national and international training 

and development.

Delivery of training. Training supporting the implementation of EntreComp and Dig-
Comp has been delivered for both of the audiences listed above.

35  An assessment for the entrepreneurship key competence was identified as a priority area of 
action in a wide range of EU documents including the 2012 European Commission Communica-
tion on Rethinking Education and the 2018 Council Recommendation on Key Competences for 
Lifelong Learning. 

36  YouthPass is a recognition tool for key competences gained through non formal and informal 
learning in youth projects, developed and promoted by the European Commission. It is a flexible 
and free form document which allows youth-worker and youth to discuss, identify and provide 
evidence for each competence developed during youthwork. While it offers a blank canvas upon 
which to provide recognition of non-formal competences, there can be a wide disparity in the 
approach and quality of use. It is uses across all youth projects funded through Erasmus+ and will 
be used in the European Solidarity Corps programme. 

✓

✓

✓

✓

82

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C10 YOUTH@WORKCertification of competences. This activity is ongoing, but at an early stage of de-
velopment. This links to the self-assessment and assessment tools used under the 
assessment of skills activity. The recognition and validation of non-formal learning 
such as youth work was traditionally done by YouthPass. This partnership is exploring 
how to create a more specific recognition of DigComp and EntreComp competences 
in youth work.

NAs to participate in and financially support the activities of the strategic partnership 
through the budget item (‘budget line’) for transnational cooperation activities. This 
collaborative approach is approved through NA workplans submitted to the European 
Commission (the Directorate-General for Education and Culture) outlining how they 
intend to spend the transnational cooperation activity funding allocation. The mem-
bers include:

CONTEXT AND DRIVERS

The Youth@Work Partnership was an idea sparked between the heads of Erasmus+/
youth work national agencies (NAs) working in the field of young people. In a meeting 
in 2015, they concluded that transnational cooperation activities planned by different 
NAs  across  Europe  lacked  a  coherent  set  of  objectives.  This  was  resulting  in  frag-
mented  and  uncoordinated  approaches  being  implemented  by  different  NAs.  Using 
the funding provided for this specific area of work by the European Commission, they 
decided  to  create  strategic  partnerships  of  NAs  to  create  and  implement  specific 
priorities agreed by all partners. The Youth@Work Partnership became one of three 
initiatives set up to address high priority themes, with the partnership being the initi-
ative focused on employability and entrepreneurship. The other two are the following.

 • Europe Goes Local. In this long-term cooperation project, 22 NAs are working to-
gether to enhance the quality of youth work at the local level. The partnership is 
led by the Belgian (Flanders) Erasmus+ NA for youth work.

 • Strategic Partnership on Social Inclusion. This project brings together more than 
10  NAs  to  address  common  activities  in  the  area  of  social  inclusion,  led  by  the 
Estonian NA for youth work.

Formally established in January 2018, the partnership is a consortium of 11 Eras-
mus+ NAs and four SALTO-YOUTH Resource Centres dedicated to supporting employ-
ability and entrepreneurship among young people and professionals. Working togeth-
er meant that NAs could create a common strategy, work collaboratively and increase 
efficiencies. There is a formal interinstitutional agreement between the NAs, through 
memoranda  of  understanding  (MoUs),  that  outlines  the  proposed  cooperation  be-
tween the NAs as different institutions across Europe. These MoUs bind the member 

 • Erasmus+ NAs from Turkey (the leading NA) and Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, 

Italy, Malta, North Macedonia, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom;

 • SALTO-YOUTH Resource centres representing eastern Europe and Caucasus (based 
in  Poland),  Southeast  Europe  (based  in  Slovenia),  EuroMed  and  Good  Practices 
(based in France), and Training and Cooperation Resource Centres (based in Ger-
many);

 • the Resource Centre for the European Solidarity Corps (based in Austria).
The partnership runs a schedule of activities each year, creating new initiatives and 
building on existing actions. All the activities of the member NAs that were previous-
ly linked to the themes of employability and entrepreneurship now come under the 
umbrella of the Youth@Work Partnership, such as conferences, training, study visits, 
online courses and publications. This will create a coherent approach for NAs, build 
synergies and increase impact and dissemination. Importantly, this will also establish 
a stronger voice at the European level to represent the participation of youth work in 
these themes and to enhance European policy visibility for the work of the partner-
ship and its member NAs. The NAs want to develop and make visible the actions and 
impact of the Erasmus+ programme in the areas of employability and entrepreneur-
ship, and through this partnership they see an opportunity to develop the weight and 
consistency (‘coherence’) of evidence needed to achieve this at both national and EU 
levels. This is being informed by and will build on the work of studies such as Taking 
the Future into Their Own Hands (37), which gives the state-of-play of this work across 
EU countries.

37  Taking the Future into Their Own Hands: Youth work and entrepreneurial learning is a report 
with supporting case studies that was published by the European Commission in 2017.

83

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C10 YOUTH@WORKThe objectives of the partnership agreed by all actors are to:

 • young people (with a specific focus on young people with few opportunities and 

 • enhance the visibility and role of youth work in the youth employability and entre-

special needs).

preneurship ecosystems;

 • support the contribution of Erasmus+ in the implementation of the European youth 
strategy and of other European youth employability and entrepreneurship-related 
policies;

 • strengthen the cooperation and synergies between local, regional, national and EU 
initiatives on youth employability and entrepreneurship, and support peer learning;

 • increase the development of sustainable partnerships, good practices and quality 

projects and foster innovation;

 • create a space and opportunities for different stakeholders to cooperate and learn 

from each other;

 • reinforce the contribution of youth work and of Erasmus+, in particular to compe-

tences’ acquisition and recognition among our target groups;

 • enhance the understanding and advance the use of EntreComp, DigComp and oth-
er European competence frameworks to be developed by the European Commis-
sion, as well as of YouthPass.

For  these  objectives  to  be  fulfilled,  the  partnership  has  identified  detailed  target 
groups  that  reflect  the  broad  engagement  needed  for  employability  and  entrepre-
neurship themes, namely:

 • the non-profit sector, including youth workers, trainers, NGOs, youth organisations, 
youth  councils  and  forums,  private  foundations,  research  institutes,  universities 
and think tanks;

 • the public sector, including EU, national, regional and local administrations, partic-
ipative budget initiatives and other grass-root initiatives, schools and VET youth 
employability/entrepreneurship  support  structures  (e.g.  career/employment  offic-
es);

 • the private sector, including companies and social enterprises, human resources 
structures, corporate social responsibility, unions/representatives, incubators and 
accelerators;

DigComp and EntreComp were quickly identified as important for supporting these 
objectives  and  are  explicitly  mentioned  in  the  partnership  objectives.  This  ensures 
that the work of the partnership is based on these European-level evidence-based 
competence frameworks, to provide a clear rationale and guidance on the implemen-
tation of all actions of the partnership.

IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGCOMP AND ENTRECOMP

In this partnership cooperation, DigComp and EntreComp have been addressed at the 
same time. This has offered an efficient route to raising awareness of both frame-
works, but also results in some significant challenges to providing an adequate over-
view  to  audiences  who  may  not  have  previously  worked  with  competence  frame-
works. More of an emphasis has been placed on EntreComp than DigComp, because 
this is the more challenging and less traditionally accepted area for youth work to 
engage  with,  whereas  there  is  more  common  understanding  of  the  relevance  and 
application of digital competences to youth-work projects.

The first stage of implementation was to ensure that the frameworks were explicit 
in the objectives of the partnership. This was a straightforward process, as the im-
portance  of  both  frameworks  is  widely  recognised  at  the  EU  policy  level  and  they 
underpin the revised EU Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning  
published in May 2018. While all objectives relate to themes in which DigComp and 
EntreComp are naturally relevant, the frameworks are explicitly mentioned in the final 
objective:

Enhance the understanding and advance the use of EntreComp, DigComp and other 
European competence frameworks to be developed by the European Commission, as 
well as of YouthPass.

The objectives were devised and agreed in collaboration with the heads of all NAs 
involved. Most NAs were aware of the frameworks, but this process did highlight a 
lack of working knowledge about the relevance and application of these frameworks 

84

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C10 YOUTH@WORKwithin the work of NAs. This lack of understanding led to the second action of the 
Youth@Work  Partnership  related  to  the  competences,  namely  to  train  key  staff  in 
NAs to understand the frameworks and how they support entrepreneurship and em-
ployability. This training was organised in Madrid and led by the Spanish NA, bringing 
together 14 staff from all 11 NAs that are part of the partnership. In this training, the 
following learning outcomes were sought for these staff:

 • to understand the applicability of EntreComp to diverse youth-related projects and 

training, particularly relevant to employability;

 • to  be  able  to  actively  support  projects  developing  transversal  competences  for 

employability;

 • to be able to identify the different types of value that can be created through new 

projects, actions and training;

 • to  be  able  to  promote  a  consistent  deployment  of  key  competence  frameworks 

across the work of an NA;

 • to have the potential to build the capacity of other members of NA staff on these 

topics.

The training resulted in excellent feedback from all participants. A follow-up evalua-
tion has not yet taken place to review the application of this learning to NA activities.

The third stage of implementation is to recruit and train specialist trainers on em-
ployability and entrepreneurship. This pool of trainers will be an EU-wide resource for 
the NAs and for Youth@Work Partnership activities. With this development, those in 
charge of developing activities and delivering training will be aware of how these can 
be integrated into activities. The recruitment has taken place, in March 2019, which 
was again hosted by the Spanish NA.

Planning has already commenced for the next stage (38) of activities in which EntreC-
omp and DigComp will be centre stage. These are outlined below.

Assessment of competences. There is a significant need to design and develop a tool 
that can complement YouthPass, while providing more in-depth recognition of these 

38  Information gathering for this case study was conducted in the second half of 2018.

specific competences aligned to the two frameworks. A hackathon-type event will be 
hosted by the North Macedonian NA in early September, which will be the first step of 
the consultation, bringing together key experts in the field with young people active in 
youth projects. The focus will be to create a tool or methodology as an extension to 
YouthPass (which is already well embedded in youth-work environments) and enable 
users  to  better  demonstrate  employability  and  entrepreneurship  competences  and 
provide evidence of this for employers.

Working with stakeholders. Each NA within the Youth@Work Partnership has a na-
tional or regional consultative group engaging trusted stakeholders from ministries, 
municipalities, employers and social entrepreneurship. These groups are the channel 
through which NAs consult on a regular basis and disseminate activities, outcomes 
and outputs. The members of these groups will be invited to a contact-making event 
in October 2019 to build their understanding and commitment of the Youth@Work 
Partnership, create and strengthen the transnational stakeholder network and draw 
on their experience to inform the work of the partnership. This event will include ses-
sions to raise awareness and understanding of the two frameworks.

Engaging  policy  stakeholders  at  the  EU  level.  In  the  first  quarter  of  2019,  the 
Youth@Work Partnership gave a presentation at the European Commission-led joint 
business meeting between heads of Erasmus+ NAs, including those responsible for 
education and training and those responsible for youth work (these are usually differ-
ent individuals and may be from different organisations). This is the first joint meet-
ing of these areas. The Youth@Work Partnership presented its priorities, including its 
connection to the two frameworks, to both raise the profile of its work and attract 
potential additional partners from both areas.

These and other activities will address the need to reflect much further on the frame-
works and how best to integrate them into youth work.

So  far,  adopting  the  two  frameworks  has  allowed  all  NAs  to  work  on  a  common 
understanding of the competences that they are trying to achieve. This, in turn, has 
shown that there is a significant opportunity for capacity building across the functions 
of the NAs, both in how they work and in supporting the development of new projects 
and the dissemination to their networks.

85

ANNEX. DIGCOMP CASE STUDIES  /  C10 YOUTH@WORKLIST OF TABLES

11 

14 

15 

16 

18 

21 

22 

26 

27 

28 

30 

33 

34 

36 

37 

39 

T.1 Entrecomp cases in alphabetical order of the leading organisation

T.2 Entrecomp cases mapped against employability pathway steps

T.3 The 10 cases mapped against lifelong learning settings

T.4  Explicit use of EntreComp in each step of the employability pathway

T.5 Common uses of EntreComp across the 10 case studies

T.6 Competence assessment and certification in the case studies

T.7 Analysis of training design in EntreComp cases

T.8 C1 - NFLinEYE at a glance

T.9 C1 - NFLinEYE employability pathway activities

T.10 The 16 tasks mapped against the EntreComp competences

T.11 The EntreComp competences translated into tags

T.12 C2 - Espacio RES at a glance

T.13 C2- Espacio RES employability pathway activities

T.14 C3 - EU3Leader at a glance

T.15 C3 - EU3Leader employability pathway activities

T.16 EU3Leader entrepreneurial competence descriptors

T.17 Set-up of a competence in the EU3Leader competence framework
T.18 C4 - Guadalinfo at a glance
T.19 C4 - Guadalinfo employability pathway activities
T.20 C5 - Mygrants at a glance
T.21 C5 - Mygrants employability pathway activities
T.22 C6 - Sfedi at a glance
T.23 C6 - SFEDI employability pathway activities
T.24 C7 - Social innovators KG at a glance
T.25 C7 - Social innovators KG employability pathway activities
T.26 C8 - Startup support South Africa at a glance
T.27 C8 - Startup support South Africa employability pathway activities
T.28  EntreComp proficiency levels selected for Standard Bank
entrepreneurship programme in South Africa
T.29 C9 - The Women's Organisation at a glance
T.30 C9 - The Women's Organisation employability pathway activities
T.31 C10 - Youth@work at a glance
T.32 C10 - Youth@work employability pathway activities

42 
43 
44 
50 
51 
60 
61 
66 
67 
70 
71 
73 

73 
74 
81 
82 

86

LIST OF FIGURES

7 
8 
9 
13 
25 
29 
38 
45 
46 
47 
48 
78 
80 

F.1 DigComp competence areas and competences
F.2 EntreComp competence areas and competences
F.3 DigComp at Work cover
F.4 The Employability Pathway
F.5 Countries involved in EntreComp cases included in the study
F.6 A reflection (loop) on the task ‘reflect on cultural differences in business’
F.7 The EU3Leader competence framework.
F.8 Guadalinfo – from telecentre network to Living Lab
F.9 Objective 1 - priorities and lines of action
F.10 Objective 2 - priorities and lines of action
F.11 Overall scoring within the self-assessment tool
F.12 The WO’s training and service offer mapped against the EntreComp framework
F.13 Enterprise Evolution ‘EntreComp Flashcards’, in English and Mandarin

87

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doi:10.2760/673856 
ISBN 978-92-76-19002-8