New entrepreneurial skills and a better position of expats in the labour market. The international FANS project is a success!
In February 2025 we successfully completed the FANS (From Adaptation to New Skills and Self-Employment) project. The aim of this two-year ambitious initiative, co-funded by the European Union, was to create tailor-made business development services for migrants and expats. The result? Beyond expectations!
Collaboration across Europe
We embarked on a journey of mutual learning and collaboration on 1 March 2023, together with Poznan Science and Technology Park from Poland and Startup Leiria from Portugal, to explore regional ecosystems, share best practices and create a new service model to support expatriates in their entrepreneurial endeavours. Two years of intensive work
FANS had several phases and each of them contributed in a unique way to the set goal:
Initial exploration: we kicked off the project with reciprocal visits to Ostrava, Poznan and Leiria to learn about each partner’s strengths, local services and ecosystem.
Peer-learning sessions. Each such peer-learning session was supported by the expertise of a selected expert. On behalf of MSIC/Ostrava Expat Centre, we focused on strengthening entrepreneurial capacity
and mindset of expats. Alexander Grit from Hanze University in the Netherlands shared his insights on the topic of integrating expats and fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.
Service design and piloting. Ostrava Expat Centre worked on the development of the service “FANS – Ready to Launch Your Business in Ostrava?”, a comprehensive support system tailored to the needs of expats. Eleven expats participated in workshops on a wide range of topics – from idea generation to marketing strategies, tax consultations and improving business models. Some of them have subsequently set up their own businesses.
The project is over, the cooperation continues
But the FANS project is definitely not the end of the story. We are already looking forward to the continuation of the new services and further activities with our partners. The success of this initiative underlines the power of international collaboration in supporting innovation and addressing the diverse needs of expats.
Follow us on our next journey!
The FANS project was co-funded by the European Union.
