Project title:               Online Green Entrepreneurship Academy

 

Project duration:       September 2020 – February 2021

 

 

Summary

Thanks to official grant assistance extended by the US Embassy in Kosovo.  IBC-M plans to establish Online Green Entrepreneurship Academy, aiming to improve the employability of youth in Kosovo, better prepare them for the requirements of the labor market by providing career guidance and orientation, and assist in starting business activity of the selected best green entrepreneurship ideas.

Project information

“Online Green Entrepreneurship Academy” will be an intensive training program, that will train up to thirty (30) shortlisted young entrepreneurs from all over Kosovo in developing sustainable, green, pro-environmental business models for their business ideas, and further assist in launching the best ones, by awarding them grants and providing mentorship.

Participants are intended to be a youth of 18 to 35 years of age, graduate students, and youth in transition into the job market. Following IBC-M’s model, the groups will represent inter-community/inter-municipality (whenever possible) start-up ideas.

Following weeks of training, lectures’ sessions, and workshops, young entrepreneurs will have a chance to show what they’ve learned and pitched their business models in front of an evaluation committee (organized online).  The best ideas will be rewarded with a grant to start their businesses. Start-ups will be further mentored during their launch phase.

 

Project Goal:

 The project goal sets to address the formal and non-formal labor market instruments, vocational education, youth engagement activities, and inter-municipal and inter-ethnic cooperation.

The establishment of Online Green Entrepreneurship Academy will lead to a trained youth who will be able to develop an entrepreneurial mindset that will enable them to launch their start-up ideas, contributing to the creation of jobs and prospects for youth.

 

Project objectives:

– To comprehensively and diversely educate up to thirty (30) future young entrepreneurs with practical skills in business planning, business development, marketing, communications, management, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

– To enhance the youths’ analytical thinking and develop the capacity of students to understand and apply solutions to real-world entrepreneurship problems.

– Youth/participants to be able to create, identify, and strategically position their business ideas.

 

Youth/participants are able to independently perform work functions of analyzing, planning, and implementing solutions widely related to entrepreneurship and combine financial, legal, organizational, cultural, social, and technological knowledge in connection with entrepreneurship in a local and international market.

– To decrease the percentage of youth leaving the country (impact on brain-drain).

– To increase interest and awareness of youth about business start-up possibilities by 5%.

– To decrease youth unemployment in Kosovo and the region (1-3%).