YouCanBe- Training in Lithuania for future social and green entrepreneurs

March 3 – 9 in Vilnius, Lithuania, we organized training as part of the YouCanBe project, during which we presented and tested the Toolkits and program for future young social and green entrepreneurs from Europe. Marjan from ARNO was part of the trainers, while participants from Macedonia were Simona and Kristina from “Ambrozija” (RISE Journey 2 team), Stefani from “Indoor Garden” (finalist of Green Ideas), and Mila (participant of the STRET project), all part of the ARNO alumni community of social and green entrepreneurs.

The training was attended by more than 20 young people from France, Croatia, Lithuania, Romania, Spain, Ukraine, and Poland who worked in international teams to develop ideas for social and green enterprises with global impact. In addition to this, participants had the opportunity to participate in workshops on leadership and soft skills for social entrepreneurs.

A jury composed of professors from the Faculty of Economics of Vilniaus Kolegija (VIKO) and entrepreneurs from Lithuania selected the best three ideas: “Green Builders”, a social enterprise idea for consultancy services aiming to promote sustainable work and life practices among employees in large corporations; “Guardians of the Rivers” – an idea for cleaning rivers and producing construction materials from plastic waste collected from rivers; and “Handy” – an idea for an online platform connecting citizens with craftsmen and promoting the dying profession among youth. The teams received symbolic awards and the opportunity to participate in further project activities.

We also visited several inspiring social enterprises. The restaurant “Mano Guru” employs and reintegrates former offenders, while “Tasko Istorija” is a gallery and publishing house for books, games, and other educational materials for people with fully or partially impaired vision. We visited the social enterprise “Pirmas Blynas”, a restaurant located in the heart of the city that employs people with physical and intellectual disabilities. In addition to the organized visits, through an interactive game, we explored social enterprises throughout the beautiful streets of Vilnius. We also got acquainted with “Labirintas” , which helps children and young people with learning difficulties, “Socialinis Taxi” – a company for transporting people with physical disabilities, and “Eskedar Coffee Bar” which employs and trains African refugee women.

Next on the project’s agenda is the training for future social and green entrepreneurs in Bucharest, Romania, which will take place at the end of May.

The project “You Can Be” is implemented by the Foundation Apprentis d’Auteuil-France (coordinator), Vilniaus Kolegija-Lithuania, Asociatia Scoala De Valori-Romania, Zaklada Znanje na djelu-Croatia, and the Organization for Social Innovation “ARNO” – N. Macedonia. The project is funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union.