PEAK – New Heights for Youth Entrepreneurship

Background Europe’s mountain regions have contributed to shaping not only Europe's history, society and economy, but also its climate and environment. Now under threat from issues concerning low population density, difficulty of access, economic and ecological vulnerability, there is distinctive need for a new approach to the environmental preservation, economic regeneration and sustainable development of mountain regions. PEAK – New Heights for Youth Entrepreneurship is a mountain entrepreneurship programme for youth which empowers participative and decisive action towards the rejuvenation of mountain economies and sustainable mountain development to help combat out-migration from Europe’s remote, high-altitude regions. The PEAK needs analysis explored the concept of mountain youth entrepreneurship in Scotland, UK, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Italy and found many skills gaps that PEAK consequently aimed to address: • Financial concerns • Lack of entrepreneurial knowledge • Difficulty spotting a gap in the market • Lack of self-confidence 69% wanted ‘access to online training modules’, 68% ‘case studies of relatable experiences’ and 62% ‘training materials delivered through curriculum’. Objectives Our specific objectives were to: • Unlock the economic potential of youth entrepreneurship and new economic niches (such as offering tours or selling added value regional products) • Combat and reverse depopulation by attracting young people to stay, move to – or move back to – mountain areas and become entrepreneurs • Empower youth through entrepreneurship to be equal partners and torchbearers in creating and implementing goals toward environmental sustainability Implementation The project activities were broken down into intellectual outputs, project management and multiplier events. Intellectual outputs: IO1: A resource pack for youth educators and stakeholders that will explore the potential of youth entrepreneurship and new economic niches. IO2: A compendium of video case studies collected from of young PEAK Entrepreneurs across Europe. IO3: Open Educational Resources for non-formal youth education. IO4: A multilingual, interactive VLE platform to enable remote and distance learning for PEAK entrepreneurs across Europe. Project management: The project logo and brand manual were created at the beginning of the project, as well as a dissemination strategy. A dissemination diary has been completed by each partner as a way of logging all dissemination activities. A sustainability strategy was developed to support the sustainability of project activities after the end of the project. Multiplier Events: Three multiplier events were held by the partners, while a fourth partner, UHI, created a YouTube video to present the project resources. Achievements PEAK has had and will continue to have a range of impacts: 1. Training opportunities that better meet identified skills needs for youth entrepreneurship. 2. Upskilling of young entrepreneurs, employees and students in a broad range of subjects relevant to identifying opportunities and starting and building their own company. 3. An enhanced ability to commercialise new products and services and more effectively manage, develop and promote new services, increasing business competitiveness. 4. Longer term benefits, including increased recognition of the benefits of flexible learning pathways.