YouCanBe: Handbooks for Social Entrepreneurs

On September 13 at 5 PM in the local café bar KOTUR, ARNO hosted an event where three handbooks for social entrepreneurs and mentors, developed as part of the Erasmus+ project YOU-CAN-BE, were presented.

The event was attended by more than 40 young people, representatives of the NGO sector, and both future and current entrepreneurs.

During the event, access to the free Handbook for Social Entrepreneurs was shared to equip future social entrepreneurs with everything they need to turn their ideas into reality. It included useful information on team management, the theory of change, design thinking, the CANVAS business model, cash flows, and many other valuable topics.

The Mentoring Tools Handbook was also promoted, which focuses on improving mentoring techniques. This free handbook taught participants how to guide and support future social entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, the Support Program for Social Entrepreneurs was also promoted, which, like the handbooks, is free. The program is specially designed to help entrepreneurs increase their impact and build sustainable solutions.

In the spirit of Friday the 13th, the event included discussions on the experiences, lessons, and (mis)fortunes of successful entrepreneurs: Aleksandra Bela from URMA, Kristian Shopov, Eco-magician and Creator of Happiness, and Magdalena from Lice v Lice.

At the event, a sincere wish was expressed that with the help of the developed handbooks, social entrepreneurs and mentors will more easily bring their ideas to life, operate sustainably and grow, and be able to more effectively tackle challenges.

The You Can Be project is implemented by the Apprentis d’Auteuil Foundation – France (coordinator), Vilniaus Kolegija – Lithuania, Asociatia Scoala De Valori – Romania, Zaklada Znanje na djelu – Croatia, and the Association for Social Innovation “ARNO” – North Macedonia. The project is funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. Within this project, many meetings and exchanges were held, and several handbooks were created to serve trainers, mentors, teachers, social entrepreneurs, and colleagues working on this topic.