Creative Spark is a British Council programme aimed at developing enterprise education. Mediamax will provide updates on the implementation of the programme in cooperation with the British Council.
20-year-old Khachig Chaparian, who moved to Armenia from Aleppo a few years ago and is now studying software engineering at Armenian National Polytechnic University, wants to found an online gaming startup.
From IT to business
“I see my future in Armenia. Game development is my favorite field, but there aren’t many companies in the sector, so it would be great if we could have more,” said Khachig.
Khachig ChaparianPhoto: Mediamax
The plans to use his IT knowledge in a business appeared very recently. For a week, Khachig attended the “Creative Spark ANEL” courses, organized by the Armenian National Engineering Laboratories (ANEL) of the Polytechnic University in the scope of the British Council’s Creative Spark programme. The courses are aimed at developing entrepreneurial thinking among the students.
“I was told in the university that business courses were available, and I really wanted to learn about creating startups while studying software engineering. All my friends wanted to attend these courses. If we could have them every year, many students would be able to find a good format for their ideas and later implement them. It would be great for our country and help us communicate with others, keep pace with the world,” said Khachig.
Khachig ChaparianPhoto: Mediamax
He joined the foreign students’ group, and the first thing he noticed when he came to the class was the ethnic diversity in the lecture room. The students of different nationalities were united by one passion and one resolve: become a successful expert and entrepreneur. Most members of their group were IT students, but some came from the chemistry and physics departments.
From teacher to trainer
According to Khachig, he might become a trainer himself in the future. For now he just shares what he has learned with his friends, presenting the material the same way he was taught by the trainer of the foreign students’ group, Ani Mamikonyan.
She is a linguist and psychologist by occupation, and she works at the international relations department of the Polytechnic University. Ani Mamikonyan underwent retraining several months ago; now she helps the students integrate entrepreneurial thinking into their lives.
Ani MamikonyanPhoto: Mediamax
“I started working in the university quite recently and I am happy to be involved in this project. The retraining was very interesting, because the format was unconventional, interactive,” said Ani.
She added that the course gave her a lot, and not just as a trainer.
“It is one thing to mull over an idea and a completely different thing to write it down and start looking at it from someone else’s perspective, assess its capacity and find ways to implement it.
Entrepreneurship is very new to me, but the courses were so fascinating that I became interested in business. I think I always had an inclination for business, I just had to discover it, which the courses helped me do. Being a trainer requires special skills. The retraining was organized in such an entertaining way that sometimes we felt like we were in theater. It was impossible not to become inspired, think of starting a business,” told Ani.
Photo: Mediamax
The transformation from student to trainer, according to her, was quite easy. Before applying for the retraining, Ani pondered for a long time if she could take upon herself that responsibility. She said:
“The way that British experts conducted the retraining and their methods were very inspiring, and that encouraging spirit transferred to us as we started teaching the course. I would love to teach as expertly as them one day!”
From courses to life
Ani Mamikonyan can testify that the students approached “Creative Spark” with notable interest and a sense of responsibility. Ani believes it is the trainers’ mission to encourage the students, motivate them to use entrepreneurial thinking, focus on a concrete idea and develop it. They also practice pitching to teach the students make their ideas appealing to potential investors.
Photo: Mediamax
“I think the key to being a successful entrepreneur is team work. People might think, oh, it is my idea so I will realize it and do everything alone, but I am sure one person cannot implement an idea on their own without a strong team, people who believe in what they do. Furthermore, you need to be committed and have faith in your abilities,” concluded Ani.
Creative Spark is a five year initiative designed to support international university and institutional partnerships to develop enterprise skills and creative economy across seven countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan), South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia) and Ukraine through UK support.
Due to the success of year one of the Creative Spark, the British Council announced it would fund a further 12 international partnerships. Each partnership will receive a maximum of GBP 40,000.
The applications for the grant will be accepted here from April 1 to May 12, 2019.
Marie Taryan
Photos: Emin Aristakesyan
The series about “Creative Spark” on Mediamax.am is supported by the British Council. 
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