Kent Business School and ADA University have won British Council funding for a second year working on developing entrepreneurial programmes in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku.
Nearly £35,000 has been granted under the Council’s Creative Spark programme to enable the development of workshop programmes within ASUCA (Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts).
Led by ASPIRE, the University of Kent’s home for start-up support, the funding will cover collaboration on developing new programmes in Azerbaijan and learning resources for students and staff.
Much of the work will be conducted online, but exchange visits between the universities are planned if possible post pandemic.
Dean of Kent Business School, Professor Marian Garcia, said: “It is very exciting to be working with ADA University and ASUCA to share our experiences. It’s been an inspiring journey, from the start where we were working with a handful of students, to today where many hundreds have taken part in our programmes. In these deeply troubling times, we have never needed the power of entrepreneurship, its innovation and vision, more.”
Ms Nargiz Ismayilova, Director of the Centre of Excellence in EU Studies, ADA University, said: “This is a fascinating project which is focusing on supporting business and creative entrepreneurship. The project will support students in shifting their skills in these fields. During the first year, the project contributed to the creative enterprise sector in Azerbaijan through developing the skills of young generation from arts, business and IT fields and to enable them to develop viable start-up ideas.”
The second year’s funding comes after a successful collaboration between ADA University and Kent Business School which included a visit to the UK by academics from ADA University to learn about ASPIRE and work at the University of Kent to develop successful entrepreneurship programmes, including the Business Start-Up Journey.
The Creative Spark Higher Education Enterprise Programme runs in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and the UK. It provides thousands of young people with enterprise and English skills to help them build their own businesses and create their own career paths. This happens through higher education and creative institutions working together in partnerships, supported by the British Council.