As part of the British Council Creative Spark Higher Education Enterprise Programme partnership between the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication of the Republic of Azerbaijan (CAERC) and, United Kingdom, Dr Vicky Mountford-Brown, Dr Fiona Whitehurst and Mr Leigh Sear visited Azerbaijan to conduct a variety of activities.

The Executive Director of CAERC, Vasul Gasimili, welcomed educators and students from many universities along with representatives of five local small businesses. He stressed that Azerbaijan is a very wealthy country in terms of resources and that there is lots of scope for new businesses to be started. He mentioned the importance of knowledge transfer between the United Kingdom and Azerbaijan and that as the Creative Spark programme is drawing to an end it is important to ensure sustainability.

Fiona and Vicky facilitated a “Createathon”, a type of hackathon where talented students work with businesses to generate new ideas for the businesses using a variety of tools and techniques.  The businesses who took part were FemTech, AcademStar, Kandi Getir, Supply Chain Community and Crispa Snacks. The students presented their ideas for the business that they had worked with in a Pecha Kucha format. The educators were able to observe the Createathon to see how they could adapt it for their own institutions.

Many educators returned later in the week for a workshop on “Developing Practice, Pedagogy and Professional Standards”. This workshop was led by Mr Leigh Sear of SFEDI group who also lectures at Newcastle University and is an internationally recognised expert in enterprise education. There were vibrant discussions about how Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Educators’ Professional Standards developed for the United Kingdom context are very relevant for Azerbaijan too, despite different constraints and challenges in Azerbaijan. The workshop covered how to build collaborative relationships with learners, educators and other stakeholders and the need for specific case studies and of Azerbaijani businesses and role models.

At the end of the activities with the participation of the project's manager, Elnur Aliyev certificates and prizes were awarded to all educators, students and businesses for their excellent work.

Vicky and Fiona commented that they continue to be impressed and inspired by the dedication and motivation of the educators and students that they work with. They are looking to con time to collaborate with CAERC after the end of the Creative Spark programme.