The Fifth RISE Journey Has Begun!

On November 2, 2024, at Kotur Café & Film in Skopje, we officially marked the start of the fifth RISE Journey. We held our first meeting and got to know the team members who are part of the fifth generation of the RISE program.

The event marked the starting point of an exciting new chapter—this fifth journey of young social entrepreneurs ready to leave their mark in the world of social and green entrepreneurship.

From the open call, we received 33 applications, and for this fifth RISE journey, we selected eight teams with strong missions: Green Graphene (transforming coffee waste into graphene), Mindful Young Leaders (empowering youth through leadership and mindfulness), Open Atelier (creative workshops for adults), Horizon (an interactive learning platform for children), Inclusive Voices (a radio show sharing the stories and experiences of people with disabilities), BIO-RICE+ (sustainable, biodegradable products made from rice), Raat Mesto (eco-tourism connecting culture and nature), and Ruvo (giving a second life to clothing items with the potential to become textile waste).

In addition to the introductions, we also held the first training session, where the teams were introduced to the essence of social entrepreneurship, its impact on society, and the activities awaiting them on this journey. Each of these teams is part of the larger RISE community—a network of social entrepreneurs dedicated to tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

The RISE project is co-funded by the French Development Agency (AFD), the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), and the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. The project is led by a consortium composed of RYCO, SOS Pulse Group, the South East European Youth Network (SEEYN), and the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ), and is implemented by six local incubators: ARNO (North Macedonia), the Balkan Green Foundation (Kosovo), Nesto Vise (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Smart Kolektiv (Serbia), IEC Tehnopolis (Montenegro), and Social Business YUNUS (Albania).