2014 – The Change Makers: Youth generating inclusive growth – Social entrepreneurship through Non-Formal Education, Weimar, Germany, Summer 2014

What is the difference between a project and a Social Entrepreneurship?

How can NGO’s start to become Social Entrepreneurs?

If we want to start our own buisness- is it possible to use public grants to support the buisness idea?

How do we start?

How can we motivate ourselfs and the young people we are working with?

How walks an entrepreneur?

These and other questions were in focus during the TC ‚The Change Makers- Youth Generating Inclusive Growth- Social Entrepreneurship Through Non-Formal Education’ from 23.05.-31.05.2014 in Weimar, Germany.

Thanks to our great participants from Bulgaria, Croatia (Bosnia and Herzegowina), Czech Republic, France (Japan), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania (Ukraine), Portugal, Romania, Spain (Venezuela), thanks to our wonderful trainers Evelina Taunyte and Gianandrea Salvestrin and thanks to the staff of EJBW and CGE Erfurt e.V. we had a very learning, fun and dancing intensive Training Course.

After we got in touch with first definitions and approaches about Social Entrepreneurship (SE) we tried to understand needs of the society and our local communities. Can SE give an answer to the situation of young people in Europe? Are we the new Change Makers? To become so, we learned to develop a structure for our own SE-Ideas. To get more inspired by already excisting ones, we met Social Entrpreneurs and policy makers from the area of Thuringia. Andreas Siegmann explained us how his foundation supports children companies to strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit of the young people (http://www.dkjs.de). Thomas Koch gave us a little inside in the political development in Thuringia- by focusing on a sustainable development. Martin Arnold and Steffen Präger shared the concept of Werft 34, like a HUB for Erfurt- a place for young entrepreneurs to share experiences, skills and to network (http://www.werft34.de). Participants had the chance to ask questions and our guests got in touch with the concept of Non-Formal Education.

The next day we spent with becoming aware of ethics in SE and by developing an own entreprise philosophy. Participants were sharing best practices, tools and methods of their work with young people. At the end of the TC we got to know existing resources for project development and SE.

Within our final evaluation two third oft he participants pointed out, that after this TC they can image to build an own SE in their local communities. We’ll stay tuned and inform you what will happen.

Find more about tools, exampled and our group on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/560520480731963/

Watch the video about the TC

https://vimeo.com/97914087

The project was implemented in the frame of the Youth in Action program of the European Commission.

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