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Students are educated on cross-border markets in international student joint ventures

Special raincoats for bags and umbrellas for dogs, dishwashing gloves and wooden stereo headphones - these are just some of the new business products that have been created in student joint ventures by students from Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Sweden. For three years in a row, students from northern European countries took part in the project “Central Baltic Student Enterprises without Borders” (CBEwB), attending various conferences, camps and fairs to get an idea of the international business environment. 55 educational institutions, 480 students, 79 international joint ventures and hundreds of new, useful contacts - this is the balance of this international event!

Epp Vodja, JA Estonia, CBEwB leading partner: “Entrepreneurship is no longer limited by national borders - every idea, if it comes into ripe ground for business, has the potential to conquer the whole world. The international project CBEwB has made it possible for Nordic pupils to look at the world - working with children and teenagers from other countries, they have had the opportunity to establish invaluable contacts, overcome the barriers created by language and cultural differences, and to train their collaborative skills, not through daily contacts but communication on the Internet."

The CBEwB project took place for three years in a row, with the participation of Jelgava State Spidola Gymnasium, Riga State Gymnasium No 3, PIKC Liepāja State Technical School, PIKC Valmiera Technical School, Iecava Secondary School, Olaine Secondary School No 1, Rujiena Secondary School, Aloja Auseklis Secondary School, Madona State Gymnasium and Limbazi secondary school No 3.

Conferences and fairs took place in Tallinn, Helsinki, Riga and Stockholm, with schools changing every year, and thus project participants - teachers and pupils. The only exception was the two schools that participated in all three years - Riga State Gymnasium No 3 and Jelgava State Spidola Gymnasium - but the pupils involved were changed every year to enable as many young people as possible to gain experience from international student companies.

Margita Jirgensone, Jelgava Spidola State Gymnasium: “The biggest benefit for students was the opportunity to compare the experience of different countries in organizing national competition finals, mentality and communication, as well as to see the Swedish approach to the design of stands and the principles of Student companies, to draw ideas for stand design and product diversity.”

Olga Kuzmina, Riga State Gymnasium No 3: “This was a great experience not only for the students but also for the teachers! This was a chance to get to know how pupils' joint ventures are organized in other countries, to assess their ambition and to get new inspiration for their daily work.”

One of the positive examples of collaboration was the PetsUnited student joint venture, where students from Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Finland created a special website for pet owners who leave home for some period and seek carers for their pets - this joint venture was recognized as the best in both Tallinn and Stockholm fairs.

The project's leading partner is Junior Achievement Estonia (Estonia) and other partners - Junior Achievement Latvia, Young Entrepreneurship (JA-YE Finland) and Ung Företagsamhet Sverige (Young Enterprise Sweden). It runs from September 2015 to April 2019. The project is part of the Interreg Central Baltic Program and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

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