Launch Game
Launch Game is a European Erasmus+ project that aims to strengthen entrepreneurial skills, employability and business awareness by introducing game-based learning into entrepreneurship education. The project responds to a clear gap in traditional education, where entrepreneurship is often taught in a theoretical way, leaving learners without the practical experience, confidence and skills needed to turn ideas into viable businesses. Launch Game addresses this challenge by offering a safe, interactive environment where learners can experience entrepreneurship by doing.
At the heart of the project is the development of an innovative, interactive entrepreneurship game that simulates real-life business scenarios. Through team-based decision-making, problem-solving and experimentation, learners develop both hard entrepreneurial skills, such as strategic thinking, risk assessment and business planning, and essential soft skills, including creativity, collaboration, leadership and adaptability. The game-based approach allows participants to learn from mistakes without real-world risks, helping to build confidence and entrepreneurial mindsets while strengthening links between education and the business sector. The project also supports educators by providing practical tools that can be easily integrated into entrepreneurship education across different learning contexts.Launch Game is implemented by a diverse European partnership bringing together expertise in entrepreneurship, education, serious gaming and business support. The consortium includes 8D Games (project coordinator), Stichting Business Development Friesland (Netherlands), Founded (Netherlands), EDHEC Business School (France), University of Barcelona (UB) (Spain), and The University of Cyprus (TUC) (Cyprus). Together, the partners work to create engaging, inclusive and transferable learning solutions that prepare learners across Europe for entrepreneurship and an evolving labour market.
TalentSync
TalentSync – Aligning Skills with Industry Demands is a European Erasmus+ project that aims to bridge the gap between education, training and labour market needs by providing reliable, data-driven insights into current and future skills demands. Across Europe, employers face growing labour shortages, while education and training systems struggle to keep pace with rapidly changing industry requirements. TalentSync addresses this challenge by strengthening skills intelligence and improving alignment between workforce development, vocational education and policy-making.
The project focuses on conducting in-depth skills assessments in three key sectors across different European contexts: aviation in Malta, tourism in the Netherlands, and food innovation in Ireland. Through a combination of desk research, employer surveys, employee self-assessments, focus groups and labour market analysis, TalentSync will identify existing skills gaps as well as emerging future skills. Based on this work, the project will produce three sector-specific Skills Assessment Reports and a refined, transferable methodology for skills assessment, designed to be applied by employers, education providers, business organisations and policymakers across Europe. In addition, TalentSync fosters transnational collaboration through study visits, online workshops and stakeholder roundtables, ensuring that findings translate into concrete action and long-term impact.
TalentSync is coordinated by the Malta Employers’ Association (MEA) and implemented by a European partnership including the National Skills Council (Malta), the National Association of Community Enterprise Centres (Ireland), and Stichting Business Development Friesland (Netherlands). By combining expertise in vocational education, labour market analysis, skills policy and business support, the partnership works to support a future-ready, resilient and competitive European workforce, ensuring that skills development is continuously informed by real industry needs.
Unicorn Quest
Unicorn Quest is a European Interreg Europe project that aims to strengthen regional start-up and scale-up ecosystems by improving policies that support high-growth companies, often referred to as scale-ups, soonicorns and future unicorns. While many European regions actively support early-stage start-ups, fewer policies effectively address the growth phase, where companies need targeted support to scale, internationalise and access finance. Unicorn Quest responds to this gap by helping regions identify, support and retain high-potential start-ups with the ambition to grow internationally.
The project focuses on policy learning and improvement, bringing together public authorities and business support organisations to exchange good practices on scale-up support. Through interregional cooperation, peer learning activities and stakeholder engagement, Unicorn Quest helps regions improve innovation funding instruments, incubation and acceleration schemes, and governance models that better serve fast-growing companies. A key emphasis lies on recognising and supporting soonicorns at an early stage, ensuring they receive tailored support through faster access to funding, specialised coaching and stronger connections to international markets. The project’s outcomes contribute directly to smarter, more effective regional innovation policies that stimulate job creation, competitiveness and sustainable economic growth.
Unicorn Quest is implemented by a European partnership of regions and innovation actors, with Business Development Friesland (BDF) / Stichting Incubator (INQ) representing the region of Friesland in the Netherlands. In this role, INQ works closely with local policymakers, start-up ecosystems and stakeholders such as incubators, accelerators and universities to improve the Innovation Fund of the City of Leeuwarden. By participating in Unicorn Quest, the region strengthens its position within the Northern Netherlands start-up ecosystem and enhances its capacity to support scale-ups in key sectors including water technology, agrifood, sustainability and digital innovation.
