WIN4SMES Series

In episode #230 of The Grant – the EU funding podcast, I do something different. This is a documentary-style montage episode, recorded live during a WIN4SMES partner event in Hamburg. Across soundscapes, short field recordings, participant voices and focused content interviews, the episode gives a grounded sense of what a Centre of Vocational Excellence project looks like in real life. WIN4SMES is an Erasmus+ CoVE project focused on workplace innovation in SMEs, with pilots across several countries working on how to widen the workforce pipeline and create better conditions for learning, inclusion and innovation. The project pays special attention to groups that are too often overlooked in SME development: women, newcomers, aspiring entrepreneurs and young people with disabilities.

What makes this episode especially strong is that it moves between atmosphere and substance. We hear from the coordinator team about the training activities, from participants reflecting on design thinking, agile methods and AI in vocational practice, and from two pilots working very concretely with inclusion and entrepreneurship. The Hungarian pilot shows how an entrepreneurship camp helps highly talented young people move from innovation ideas to real business thinking. The Lithuanian pilot shows how hospitality businesses can open up work opportunities for young people with disabilities through practical support, mentoring and employer engagement. The episode closes with reflections from coordinator Max Hogeforster on how the different national COVEs are starting to connect more deeply across the project and how the umbrella CoVE is intended to carry this work forward beyond the funding period.

Time codes:

00:00 Airport opening

01:25 Arriving and introducing the training programme w/Anna Maria Czarny

06:43 Meeting the training classes

11:40 The Partner Dinner w/Maëla Barcon

15:34 Introducing day 2

19:13 The Hungary COVE - Supporting Entrepreneurship w/Tamás Rettich

28:20 The Lithuanian COVE - Young People with Disabilities w/Egle Lizaityte

48:16 WIN4SMES - Status and where it is moving w/Max Hogeforster

01:01:55 Farewell and outro