Developing heritage-based digital skills and entrepreneurship in Namibia through curriculum enhancement
Education
- ESTDEV
Project objectives
The aim of the project is to modernise the curricula of Namibian higher education institutions by offering a training programme - Training of Trainers - to share Estonian knowledge to develop the future skills of students. The main themes of the project will focus on combining local cultural heritage (arts and crafts, music, food, etc.) with modern design, digital solutions and creative entrepreneurship. It will raise awareness about heritage-based entrepreneurship and the creative economy using digital technologies, and involve young people.
Young people participating in the programme will acquire knowledge about product development, entrepreneurship, circular economy and digital technologies. This will improve their entrepreneurial skills, which will be useful in everyday life and provide a good basis for starting a business.
Actions and results
The project activities consist of four parts:
- Creative Entrepreneurship Academy conference. A 2-day open event to raise awareness on Intangible Cultural Heritage, the creative economy, digitisation. Target audience: cultural and creative industries organisations, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, young people. Organising partner: the National Commission for UNESCO in Namibia. In the framework of the conference programme, there will be a round table discussion between experts and participants in the format of a World Café to go deeper into the themes.
- Training of Trainers - A programme aimed at Namibian University lecturers, where the Viljandi Culture Academy of the University of Tartu will share knowledge and experience in developing curricula aimed at the development of future skills of young people and the implementation of inclusive education principles. A group of lecturers will also undertake a study visit to Estonia to visit the Viljandi Cultural Academy and participate in the international Viljandi Heritage Festival.
- HACK THE HERITAGE NAMIBIA. In addition to Estonian experts, participants in the Training of Trainers programme contribute to the activities. a) A 1-day hackathon in TeamLab format to find new business ideas based on the spiritual cultural heritage and based on the circular economy business model. Idea generation; validation; team building; idea development with the support of mentors. b) 1-day Boot Camp. A workshop where teams that have started TeamLab will learn how to present their ideas and practice pitching techniques. The day will end with a pitching competition where a jury of experts will select the winners. The winning teams will serve as inspiration for others through project communication.
- PESA Virtual Academy - A 3-week web-based startup accelerator programme consisting of video tutorials and mentoring sessions with Estonian experts to help startups launched at the Hackathon develop their business ideas to investor readiness.
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