EDIFY EDU: Building Inclusive Futures Through Education
This question has guided the EDIFY EDU project, a 36-month Erasmus+ initiative that began in 2022 and runs until 2025. EDIFY — which stands for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion for Improving the Quality of Management Education, Training and Professions — is designed to close a clear skills gap in European business and management education. For decades, organisations have talked about diversity and inclusion. Yet in practice, implementation is often fragmented, particularly within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of the European economy. EDIFY was created to change that.
At Female Founder Space, we are proud to have been one of the German associate partners in this ambitious European alliance. Together with Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) and Pro Arbeit Kreis Offenbach (AöR), we have worked to bring new EDI curricula into classrooms and workplaces. From our perspective in Berlin, our contribution has been to connect these academic and labour market initiatives with the world of entrepreneurship, startups, and women-led innovation ecosystems.
Our role has been not only to provide expertise on gender equality and entrepreneurial diversity, but also to serve as a host and mentor for students during their Work-Based Learning (WBL) experiences. These internships and projects have allowed young people to put EDIFY concepts into practice — in real organisations, in real time, with real impact. In this article, we want to reflect on what EDIFY has achieved and share how Female Founder Space has contributed to shaping more inclusive futures through both national and international activities.
The EDIFY Vision and Structure
Funded under the Erasmus+ Partnerships for Innovation: Alliances action, EDIFY is structured as a three-year collaboration among 15 partners from eight countries: Ireland, Italy, Finland, Greece, Belgium, Austria, and Germany. It brings together a diverse set of actors — universities, VET providers, job centres, chambers of commerce, accelerators, and NGOs — to jointly design and deliver innovative EDI training.
The project’s structure reflects a carefully planned progression: from research and needs analysis, to curriculum development, to piloting training programs, and finally to disseminating results and ensuring sustainability. The training is modular and designed around micro-credentials, which are portable, certifiable learning units recognised across Europe under the Bologna Process. These modules include 20 core EDI topics — such as inclusive recruitment, unconscious bias, or legal compliance — and 20 transversal skills, like negotiation, sustainability, and digital leadership.
By aligning with European Qualification Framework (EQF) levels, EDIFY ensures that its training is academically rigorous while also directly applicable to workplaces. The project also links to key EU policy priorities, including the European Pillar of Social Rights, the Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025, and the twin green and digital transitions.
From a German perspective, EDIFY resonates strongly with national policy priorities such as addressing the gender pay gap, improving labour market integration for marginalised groups, and ensuring that SMEs — the Mittelstand — are not left behind in adopting inclusive practices.
EDIFY Germany: Collaboration Across Sectors
In Germany, the project is led by three distinct but complementary partners. TU Dresden brings academic expertise and curriculum innovation. Pro Arbeit Kreis Offenbach ensures anchoring in labour market realities and SME contexts. And Female Founder Space, as an NGO rooted in Berlin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, contributes the perspective of women-led startups and inclusive innovation.
This partnership has been powerful. TU Dresden has piloted new courses and coordinated much of the academic framework. Pro Arbeit has brought employers and SMEs into the conversation, testing how EDI can be implemented in real businesses. And at Female Founder Space, we have focused on ensuring that entrepreneurship — often the seedbed of innovation — is also a space where inclusion is taken seriously.
Together, we have worked to deliver the four main training pathways of EDIFY in Germany: the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), the Specialisation Course, the Spring School in Vienna, and the Work-Based Learning internships.
The MOOC: Expanding Access to Foundational Skills
The first large-scale training activity was the MOOC “Enhancing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace,” which ran in the Winter Semester 2024/2025. Designed to be flexible and accessible, the course consisted of 20 modules covering topics like unconscious bias, intercultural communication, inclusive leadership, and digital tools for EDI.
Across Europe, more than 650 participants enrolled, including 94 from Germany. For many, this was their first structured training on EDI. The online format allowed both students and working professionals to participate alongside their existing commitments, while still earning certificates and digital badges recognised under EU frameworks.
The Specialisation Course: From Online Learning to Applied Projects
Building on the MOOC, TU Dresden launched the Specialisation Course in the Summer Semester 2025. This blended program combined classroom teaching with online work and shifted the focus from theory to practice. More than 70 students took part.
Here, the emphasis was on project-based learning. Students developed EDI action plans, analysed case studies, and reflected critically on the role of inclusive leadership in organisations. What made this stage especially powerful was its integration with the Work-Based Learning internships, where students were able to apply their ideas directly in real organisations.
The Spring School in Vienna: A European Exchange
A highlight for many was the EDIFY Spring School on Gender Equality and Career Opportunities, held in Vienna in May 2025. Organised by the female factor and Talent Garden, this international week brought students from across Europe together for workshops, peer exchanges, and networking with women leaders.
From Germany, five TU Dresden students participated. Their reflections were striking. One student described the experience as “eye-opening and inspiring,” saying:
“The program helped me understand how systemic barriers shape access to leadership and entrepreneurship. It was not only about theory but about meeting people who live these challenges daily, and realizing how inclusion can drive innovation.”
Another emphasised the collaborative spirit:
“Working in diverse teams to co-create business ideas showed me that inclusive entrepreneurship isn’t only ethical — it’s practical and scalable. I left Vienna with new skills in communication and personal branding, and a stronger sense of purpose.”
Work-Based Learning: Bringing EDI Into Practice
Perhaps the most impactful part of EDIFY has been the Work-Based Learning internships, carried out in Summer 2025. 50 German students joined national and 4 international internships, working with companies and NGOs to test how EDIFY concepts could be applied in practice.
At Female Founder Space, we hosted and mentored national and international interns. One international student from a Portuguese university shared her reflections after completing her Work-Based Learning placement with Female Founder Space. For her, the internship was not only a professional opportunity but also a moment of personal growth.
“My time at Female Founder Space showed me that equity and inclusion are not just concepts to study, but realities that shape how organizations function. Working on projects that supported women entrepreneurs gave me the chance to see how small changes — creating opportunities, giving visibility, listening carefully — can have a big impact.”
She also emphasised how the experience connected theory from the EDIFY courses with practice in Berlin’s entrepreneurial ecosystem:
“The EDIFY training gave me the language and tools to think critically about inclusion, but the internship gave me the chance to apply it. I saw how women founders navigate systemic barriers and how inclusive practices can open doors. It was an experience that made me rethink not only how I work, but also how I want to lead in the future.”
For her, inclusion was not something abstract, but something that had to be lived in everyday practices:
“Inclusion happens in daily choices — how we run meetings, how we value contributions, how we create space for others. It’s a practice, not a policy.”
Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead: The Value of Work-Based Learning
From our perspective at Female Founder Space, the most impactful element of EDIFY EDU has been the Work-Based Learning (WBL) internships. While the online and classroom courses provided essential foundations, it was through WBL that students could truly apply EDI principles in real organisations. Hosting and mentoring students revealed just how transformative experiential learning can be, as participants moved from abstract concepts to concrete contributions — from supporting women entrepreneurs to addressing unconscious bias in everyday work practices.
The impact was clear on both sides. Students left their internships with sharper skills, deeper awareness, and a stronger sense of responsibility for embedding inclusion in their future careers. As one international student from Portugal reflected: “The EDIFY training gave me the language to think about inclusion, but the internship gave me the chance to live it.” At the same time, organisations benefitted from fresh perspectives and concrete action plans, proving that WBL is not only a training pathway for students but a two-way exchange of knowledge and practice.
Our work has shown that entrepreneurship can be a powerful lever for inclusion. Startups, by their nature, are flexible and innovative. When diversity is embedded in their DNA, they can model new ways of working that larger organisations may later adopt. By mentoring students, curating best practices, and amplifying the voices of women founders, we have connected the EDIFY curriculum to real-world entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead: The Value of Work-Based Learning
As EDIFY EDU project concluded in August 2025, we at Female Founder Space are convinced of one thing: the work must continue. The cultivation of inclusive leadership cannot be a one-off project; it must become a core part of how we educate, how we innovate, and how we lead.
The numbers are encouraging — more than 650 MOOC participants across Europe, the Specialisation Course, Work-Based Learning, and multiple international exchanges. But behind those numbers are individual journeys of transformation: students who learned to see inclusion not as optional, but as essential; entrepreneurs who realised that diversity is not just ethical but also strategic; and organisations that took first steps toward embedding EDI into their cultures.
For Female Founder Space, EDIFY has reaffirmed our mission: to create spaces where women and underrepresented groups can thrive as founders, leaders, and innovators. We are proud to have contributed to both the national and international Work-Based Learning and to have brought the voice of entrepreneurial diversity into this important European initiative.
For more information on the EDIFY project, please visit the project website of the Project.
Disclaimer
EDIFY EDU has been co-funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union. The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
You are free to share, copy, redistribute, and build upon this work provided that a clear reference to the source is given, which is: the EDIFY EDU Erasmus+ project.
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