GREASE – Green Rural Entrepreneurship in the African Social Ecosystem image

GREASE – Green Rural Entrepreneurship in the African Social Ecosystem

Date

2024 - 2026

Donor

Erasmus+ (European Commission)

Partners

DIESIS Network (Belgium)-coordinator, ARNO (N. Macedonia), AFROLEADERSHIP (Cameroon), FORESSCAM (Cameroon), Partenariat France & Afrique pour le co-développement (Cameroon).

Keywords

Social green entrepreneurship, Cameroon social economy, VET providers, trainers, rural women, capacity building, community empowerment, green and digital transition, female economic and social empowerment, sustainable job creation, gender equality.

The Green Rural Entrepreneurship in African Social Ecosystem (GREA.SE) aims to enhance Cameroonian vocational education and training (VET) providers and social economy enterprises focused on green and digital skills for rural women. The project aims to bridge the gap in the educational system between the need for new green, digital, and entrepreneurial skills, and the lack of adequate educational content for trainers in social economy and women in rural areas.

The project will develop key competencies in social green entrepreneurship, through an innovative capacity-building program for trainers for green social entrepreneurship utilizing blended learning methodologies, enabling partners to create high-quality VET programs for sustainable rural development. The project seeks to engage learners, educators, rural women, and local stakeholders in upskilling and creating inclusive job opportunities for the green and digital transition.

General objectives:

  • Improve the capacity of Cameroonian VET providers to provide innovative, blended learning opportunities for green, digital, and social entrepreneurship skills.
  • Enhance the opportunities for female economic and social empowerment and promote gender-inclusive entrepreneurial practices in rural areas.
  • Support transregional share of knowledge, good practices, and blended learning methodologies for the twin transition between the EU, Western Balkans, and Africa.
  • Support the cooperation between local organizations, local public bodies, (social) enterprises, and European organizations in the EU, Western Balkans, and Africa in designing and implementing VET opportunities for sustainable job creation and inclusion in the labor market.

Project highlights: Research on the social economy ecosystem in Cameroon; Booklet on inspiring stories of social green female entrepreneurship; study visits in Cameroon and Belgium; capacity building program for trainers and VET providers in the social green economy working with rural women; training with social green women entrepreneurs from rural areas in Cameroon.