Experts from twelve countries gathered today in Turin to define criteria for promoting good practice in entrepreneurship and SME training. The objective of the expert forum is to elaborate a peer review method and tools that could be brought forward for more systematic promotion of good practice in ETF partner countries.

‘A significant amount of our work involves promoting good practice exchange between our partner countries as well as between the European Union and our partner regions,’ says Anthony Gribben who leads the entrepreneurship and enterprise skills portfolio at ETF. ‘But we are increasingly aware that what is what is good, best or even excellent practice is often subjectively defined. This can lead to deep disappointment and frustration particularly when you have spent scarce time and money in borrowing on the practice only to find that it does not work,’ he adds.

The task of the expert forum is to define good practice criteria and draw up a peer review method that could be used by the training community to determine what works and what works well. The forum comprises experts from the private, public and NGO training provider market from Armenia, Egypt, France, Germany, Sweden, Lebanon, Finland, UK, Jordan, Serbia and Italy. The experts are drawn from three fields in particular: training for youth start-ups, women’s entrepreneurship and skills for internationalisation of small businesses.

The outcomes of the two-day workshop will feed into an ETF toolkit to improve good practice identification and dissemination that will feature in an ETF meeting involving all 31 partner countries and the EU institutions in Brussels 15-16 November.