WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO?

“LIBA“ Lithuanian Practice Enterprise Association

LIBA (Lith. Lietuvos imitaciniu bendroviu asociacija “Liba“) is a non-profit Association, founded in 2015 and providing support to the Lithuanian Practice Enterprise network. LIBA was created by a group of active people and organisations working with Practice Enterprise concept in Lithuania.

LIBA is a young organization but all members have long-time experience working with Practice Enterprise concept. LIBA has 42 members representing numerous institutions (universities, basic education schools and VET) and regions of Lithuania. The Association is working according to the Strategic Action Plan for the year.

The aim of LIBA is to gather various institutions with Practice Enterprises, Practice Enterprise Trainers, Teachers, Coordinators, Trainees who is or where working with Practice Enterprise concept, social partners, other natural or legal persons on purpose to:

Improve Practice Enterprise model according to target groups (Trainers, Trainees) needs;
Stimulate qualitative and quantitative Practice Enterprise expansion;
Organize and moderate mutually beneficial partnership between Association members and all interested organizations.

The main objectives are:

To promote lifelong learning concept;
To liaise with Lithuanian and European associations working with entrepreneurship education and lifelong learning concept;
To organise various seminars and other events;
To participate and initiate national and international projects;
To cooperate with governmental, public or private institutions, associations and people in Lithuania and worldwide who are taking part in formal or informal entrepreneurship education and lifelong learning activities.

PRACTICE ENTERPRISE

Practice Enterprise (also known as a practice firm or virtual enterprise) is a virtual company that runs like a real business silhouetting a real firm’s business procedures, products, and services.

In a Practice Enterprise, trainees/ students/clients are trained in a work-based environment. The integrated environment allows learning to occur as a natural part of the day-to-day activities. The students/trainees/clients do not pour over books studying the principles of business theory; they conduct real commercial business with other Practice Enterprises within the network conforming to accepted business practices and frameworks.

In this didactical concept, the roles of the Teachers/Trainers/Lecturers and the students differ strongly from those in the traditional teaching-learning processes. The Trainer is the general manager of the firm, guiding the trainees as employees to meet the Practice Enterprise’s Business Plans and budgets. Definitely, they are the guide or adviser of the company’s “employees”. The trainees are the workers in the firm. Some are appointed as line managers for a part of their training and development.

The training methodology is the target to resolve typical issues encountered at trainees’ levels

Lack of business experience;
Only have access to theoretical knowledge, which may not include how to actually complete a prerequisite commercial document;
Lack of business knowledge, processes, systems, and procedures;
Lack of appropriate social and business skills to undertake tasks;
Lack of knowledge business etiquette;
Lack of experience dealing with foreign language or international documentation.

The participants are employees of a company, having to apply for a position in the company via Human Resources, receiving an induction program, training schedule, contract of employment, job description, and departmental duties. They rotate around the organization enhancing their practical knowledge of the various departmental procedures, systems, operations, and targets, learning by doing the job functions.

There are 27 PEs in Lithuania.

Activities in PE „Vigora“

SIMULITH CENTRE (LITHUANIAN CENTRAL OFFICE OF PEs)

Each country in which a PEs Network exists has its own service centre, called the National Central Office (CO).
The PE centre coordinating the activities of PEs in Lithuania is called “Simulith Centre”. It was founded in 1994 and operating in Vilniaus kolegija/University of Applied Sciences (VIKO).

VILNIAUS KOLEGIJA/UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

VIKO is the largest accredited higher professional education institution in Lithuania. It provides higher professional education in the sectors of Tourism, Business, Information Technologies, Electronics, Pedagogical Education, Economy, Health Care, Agriculture, and Arts. VIKO has more than 6500 students, who study here under 42 study programmes in 7 faculties: Electronics and Informatics, Economics, Business Management, Health Care, Pedagogic, Arts and Creative Technologies and Agro-technologies. 8 Degree programmes are in English.

PEN WORLDWIDE

A CO provides excellent opportunities to initiate and carry out continuous PE concept development on the national and international level.
Since 1999 Lithuania is a member of worldwide PE network PEN WORLDWIDE.

PEN WORDLWIDE is a not-for-proﬁt association that administrates the worldwide practice enterprises network. It supports a worldwide network of over 7,500 Practice Enterprises in schools, colleges, universities, vocational training institutions, companies and training centers in over 40 countries around the world, providing a unique approach to business skills training to more than 200,000 trainees each year.

Please contact us with any questions you may have.

Address:
Association LIBA
Saltoniskiu str. 58-117
LT – 08105 Vilnius
LITHUANIA

E-mail:
marius.ignatonis@liba.lt