The MAC Skilling project trained 247 professionals from the Azores, Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Madeira, and Mauritania in entrepreneurship and open innovation. The initiative expanded the capacities of those working in training, advisory, and mentoring roles supporting entrepreneurs across Macaronesia and West Africa. The programme ran from 14 April to 26 May, totalling 60 hours distributed across 12 hours of live online sessions and 48 hours of self-directed work. Startup Madeira, a project partner, played a key role in training coordination and programme dissemination.
To facilitate access to content and participation by professionals from the different territories, live sessions and learning materials were supported by multilingual translation and interpretation services. 65% of participants completed the training pathway and obtained the corresponding certification. Post-programme surveys reflected an average satisfaction score of 4.6 out of 5, with participants particularly highlighting the practical application of the content and the quality of the training delivered. Link to the original article:
Participants included vocational training and university teachers, staff from entrepreneurship centres, project managers, mentors, open innovation and technology transfer professionals, as well as technical staff from incubators, local development agencies, and economic promotion bodies. Through six learning modules, participants built competencies in areas relevant to the competitiveness of the regional productive fabric.
The curriculum covered experiential learning and gamification applied to entrepreneurship education; risk management, resilience, and overcoming emotional barriers in decision-making; open innovation and collaboration models between startups, corporations, incubators, and accelerators; the application of artificial intelligence, digital marketing, process automation, and e-commerce; and business model design using Lean Startup methodologies, market validation, and value propositions based on the Oslo Manual. The pathway concluded with a bootcamp in which participants presented applied projects before simulated investor panels and received personalised feedback.
This combination of profiles and content allowed participants to adapt the knowledge acquired to the training and entrepreneurship support activities carried out in each territory. The programme thus contributed to extending methodologies and tools related to innovation, digitalisation, and the creation of new business ventures across Macaronesia and West Africa.
As a follow-up to the train-the-trainers programme in entrepreneurship, the next step will be the launch of the MAC Skilling Open Innovation Programme, planned for October to December 2026. The initiative will connect the business environment with students and teachers from universities and vocational training centres through the resolution of real challenges posed by companies from the participating regions. With the support of associations, foundations, and business clusters, the programme will seek to boost competitiveness and facilitate the acquisition of practical experience in the strategic sectors of the cross-border cooperation area.
MAC Skilling is a cooperation project led by ITC and co-funded by the Interreg MAC 2021–2027 programme.
Link to the original article: https://www.itccanarias.org/web/es/actualidad/noticias/mac-skilling-capacita-a-mas-de-200-profesionales-en-emprendimiento-e-innovacion-abierta-en-la-macaronesia-y-africa-occidental
