From 3 to 6 July 2022, the “EU4Youth – Unlocking the potential of young social entrepreneurs in Moldova and Ukraine” (in short, the EUnlocking project) organised a study visit to Germany for young social entrepreneurs from the Republic of Moldova.
The visit aimed to foster the best practice exchange among social entrepreneurs as well as equip these young people with new tools and concepts so that they can improve their own social business models.
During the visit, these young social entrepreneurs had the chance to meet several experts who talked to them about social entrepreneurship in Germany and its connection with corporate social responsibility, mechanisms and tax incentives. Moreover, they also had several visits to social enterprises in Cologne and interacted with some German social entrepreneurs about their social business models for lessons learnt and best practice exchanges.
Furthermore, the organisers also offered training on “Design thinking” in Bonn, which helped these young social entrepreneurs from Moldova to understand their service users, their profiles and behaviours, and to facilitate the identification of solutions to existing problems in the social economy sector in their country.
According to the survey after the visit, 100% of participants were either extremely satisfied or satisfied with the study trip.
One participant shared: “What I liked most is the presentation of best practice examples, discussions and face-to-face meetings with German social entrepreneurs in their working environment.”
The other one said: “Definitely the design thinking will be the best practice for my work in Moldova.”
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The EUnlocking project helps to foster the social entrepreneurial potential of young people in Moldova and Ukraine by establishing a favourable ecosystem for social enterprises, as well as by inspiring and supporting more young social entrepreneurs to develop and sustain their innovative solutions to the promotion of social inclusion and environmental sustainability across both countries.
The project is implemented by the Gustav-Stresemann-Institut (e.V) (GSI) – lead organisation (Germany), AXA Management Consulting (Moldova), ECO-RAZENI Association (Moldova), Egalite International (Ukraine), National Assistance and Information Centre for NGOs in Moldova CONTACT (Moldova) and Pro NGO! e.V. (Germany). The project is co-funded by the European Union under its EU4Youth Programme.
Visible Impact is partnering with GSI and Pro NGO! to conduct several project activities.