Young GREENtrepreneurs - Innovative approaches in promoting green entrepreneurship among youth

The consortium applied for the Young GREENterpreneurs project to address several key needs related to youth employment, green innovation, and sustainable territorial development. These needs included: 1. Youth Employment Challenges: The organizations applied to address the pressing issue of youth unemployment in regions with significant green development challenges. 2. Green Innovation and Sustainability: The project sought to foster green innovation and sustainability-oriented territorial development. 3. Youth Engagement and Development: The project offered opportunities to better engage youth in territorial development processes and business orientation. 4. Digital Development and Networking: Recognizing the importance of digital solutions and networking for youth, the organization aimed to provide a digital environment that met the needs of young people. Through the development of online hubs and training modules, they enhanced access to innovative product development and collaboration opportunities, especially in the realm of green entrepreneurship. Overall, by participating in the Young GREENterpreneurs project, the partners aimed to contribute to youth empowerment, green innovation, and sustainable economic development.

The main objectives of the project were as follows: 1. To empower and equip youth, youth workers, and the startup community with innovative digital tools to gain new skills, competencies, and practical knowledge for developing their own businesses with community value in green entrepreneurship (healthy society, water protection, clean energy, sustainable communities, responsible consumption/production, climate mitigation, protection of natural ecosystems, sustainable use of resources). 2. To develop training modules on GREEN product development so that young people can acquire new skills and become familiar with new, practically usable knowledge. The startup community and youth workers will have the chance to further cooperate with youth on the topic through developed modules. 3. To develop training modules on GREEN business development to increase the green entrepreneurship competencies of young people. This aspect of the project targeted schools, educational institutions, and youth workers. 4. Dissemination of the project results beyond the partnership (internationally). 5. Promotion of green entrepreneurship among young would-be entrepreneurs . 6. Promotion of the use of digital tools at the EU level.

We implemented the following activities by project result: PR1: A1. Defining the green thematic content of the platform: 401 questionnaires were collected from the 6 partner countries; A2. Development (design and programming) of the platform: the technical creation of the landing page and the HUB and the development of its functionalities have been completed. The Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions have been finalised. The HUB was then made public and registrable. And then the dissemination of the platform and the mobilisation of the target group started. A3: Content development: content development was ongoing, based on the project theme and the needs identified in the preliminary questionnaire, with the participation of all partners. The content development process also took into account the feedback and needs of the target group. A4. Developing a model for sustainable operation of the platform: an agreement was drawn up and signed by all partners, which defines both the content and the legal responsibilities for the maintenance of the platform after the project period. This is all the more important because the partners are planning further collaborations, for which the platform could be the starting platform. A5. Test operation of platform among targets: feedback was important from the moment it became public. The C1 and C2 LTTAs provided a privileged forum for testing, the use of MIRO and CANVAS, the creation of groups, the uploading of documents and real-time feedback was provided in real-time during these weeks. This was also helped by the online traing weeks held at specific times, which brought additional users, additional interesting content and feedback to the authors and developers. A6. Monitoring and evaluation: monitoring was partly manifested in the feedback questionnaires filled in during the training weeks and partly in the feedback of the monitoring questionnaire placed on the HUB. In addition, useful feedback was received at the Multipler events, in particular on two HUB features: the Business Canvas model and the use of the MIRO interface. The feedback was taken seriously and suggestions were incorporated either in terms of content or functionality. A7. Summary guidelines preparation. PR2: A1: Customization of the modules to the target group: led by a PR2 leader. The proposal prepared by Kikstarter was reviewed, shaped and finalised by the partnership, and the development of the content of the modules was started. Most of the partners are skilled in creating training materials and have considerable experience in entrepreneurship and product development. A2: Development of all training content: for this task, the partners shared the tasks of compiling and proofreading the content of the modules, and each partner reviewed and commented on each module. A3: Preparation of the internal staff for product development training: prior to the Kamnik training, the partners involved had prepared and planned the process of conducting the training. A4: Implementation of the international startup week: the 5-day training took place in Kamnik, followed by the online training week two weeks later. A5: Monitoring and evaluation of the results and final upgrade of training package: based on the feedback collected during the f2f and online training week and the f2f training week experience, the partners made changes to the modules and finalised them. This was followed by translation and the final materials were uploaded to the landing page. A6: Summary guidelines preparation. PR3: A1: Definition of the training modules: the exercise was led by the PR3 leader. The proposal prepared by DEFOIN was commented, shaped and finalised by the partnership and the development of the content of the modules started. The majority of partners are skilled in the development of training materials. A2: Development of the module content: for this task, the partners divided the tasks of compiling and proofreading the content of the modules, and each partner reviewed and commented on each module. A3: Implementation and monitoring of the training: the 5-day training took place in Madrid and the online training week was implemented the following month (November). Based on the feedback collected during the f2f and online training week and the experiences of the f2f training week and the online training week, the partners made changes to the modules and finalised them. This was followed by translation and the final materials were uploaded to the landing page. A4: Summary guidelines preparation.

PR1: Quantitative indicators: 401 young people completed on-line survey for fine-tuning the content on the HUB; - 1 online HUB created in 6 languages; - 204 users of the HUB; - 20 shared and further developed ideas; - 3852 pages views; - 15 success stories; - 10 practical projects starting from the ideas collected on the platform; Qualitative indicators: Positive evaluation of outputs; Positive feedback collective via survey PR2: Quantitative indicators: - 1 newly developed traing package (4 modules) translated into 6 languages; - 1 international start-up week in Kamnik (8-12 May 2023); - 1 online startup week (22-26 May 2023); - 862 downloads of the training modules (average download per module: 72); - 49 participants on the training (23 f2f; 26 online); 23 f2f: young - 7; youth worker - 8; staff - 8; 26 online: young - 15; youth worker - 5; staff - 6; Qualitative indicators: -Positive evaluation of results; (see the attached document); -Positive feedback of participants collected via evaluation surveys; (see the attached document); -Forging partnership through the creation of shared values; PR3: Quantitative indicators: - 1 newly developed traing package (8 modules) translated into 6 languages; - 1 international start-up week in Madrid (16-20 October 2023); - 1 online startup week (6, 8, 13, 15, 16 November 2023); - 862 downloads of the training modules (average download per module: 72); - 64 participants on the training (22 f2f; 42 online); 22 f2f: young - 18; youth worker - 7; staff - 7; 42 online: young - 26; youth worker - 8; staff - 8; Qualitative indicators: -Positive evaluation of results; (see the attached document); -Positive feedback of participants collected via evaluation surveys; (see the attached document); -Forging partnership through the creation of shared values;