On 4th – 8th February 2019, twelve migrant women from four continents participated in an international Kaleidoscope entrepreneurship training week in Paris.
The training week was part of the Kaleidoscope entrepreneurship training programme addressed to migrant women, and served to test the Kaleidoscope training. During the training week, the participants has an opportunity, not only to develop their entrepreneurial soft skills, but also to network with each other, learn from each other and to develop their business ideas and to pitch others’ business ideas.
What Happened during the Training Week
The training week consisted of five days of workshops, a study visit and a cultural visit to the hosting culture.
During the workshops, all participants and trainers from four countries got together using innovative training methods based on learning by doing and non-formal learning, and teamwork.
The week started with team building activities, and continued with the themes of the Kaleidoscope training, from action learning, problem-solving, networking creativity for fun for developing an entrepreneurial mindset, to resilience and intercultural barriers. In addition, the participants participated in a business idea workshop. Reflection of own soft skills and progress was an essential part of the training week. The migrant women measured the acquisition of knowledge and skills, tested their own competences and draw out existing competencies learning, laughing and sharing experiences and feelings.
As the final treat, the migrant women and the project consortium visited “Meet My Mama” project, at The Family Incubateur. The project aims to foster entrepreneurship among women through food sector.
The event was organised by the Kaleidoscope project consortium and hosted by Élan Interculturel.
How was the Training Experienced
The participants experienced the training week and training very positively.
New information was learnt, inspiration for own enterprise obtained, and new networks and made.
Paris, of course, created a unique experience for training as well. But the experience is not over, for instance, a WhatsApp group was used for sharing experiences during the training week, and it is still used for sharing experiences after the training week.
