Deadline: 26-Sep-21
The Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) has launched the second Call to Support Young Social Entrepreneurs.
The six Local Incubators based in the Western Balkans are looking for young people from 18 to 35 years old from the region in a group of a minimum of two persons who are motivated to learn about social entrepreneurship and be involved in a regional program. They should be ambitious and committed to develop a concrete idea with social impact and ready to learn from other actors in the region. Participation in the RISE project develops young people’s skills and contributes to their employability.
RISE (Regional Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs) aims to enrich the Western Balkan social entrepreneurship ecosystem and enable young people to develop innovative societal solutions thus contributing to reconciliation and cooperation in the region. A positive change in the Western Balkans is possible while stability and prosperity can be achieved only by fostering reconciliation and cooperation in the region.
The RISE project is developed and monitored by a consortium composed of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), GROUPE SOS Pulse, South East European Youth Network (SEEYN), Institut Francais, and the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ), and implemented by six local incubators: ARNO, Balkan Green Foundation, Nesto vise, Smart Kolektiv, IEC Tehnopolis and Yunus Social Business.
The general objective of RISE is to foster reconciliation in the Western Balkans through the promotion and strengthening of social entrepreneurship in the region. The project opens new spaces of reconciliation for the youth of the Western Balkans, through a regional program to support social entrepreneurship.
What do they offer?
- They will support a new generation of regional changemakers to RISE up and help solve problems in their local communities. This is why they developed their supporting programme, the RISE Journey, which consists of two phases: Ideation and Incubation Chapter.
- For the first phase, Ideation Chapter, 36 RISE Ventures from the region are going to be selected for a 4-month-long ideation process (6 from each – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia). The Ideation Chapter will help you build your ideas from scratch to a solid project, while being supported by experts and mentors, covering all of the important subjects in social entrepreneurship.
- After building up your idea, you will have an opportunity to pitch your idea on the Demo day, and get a chance to be financially and practically supported to implement your ideas towards a positive impact on the community. In total, 12 teams will be selected, two per Local Incubator.
Eligibility Criteria
Young people from 18 to 35 years old from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, speaking English well enough to actively participate in an international program, in a group of a minimum of 2 persons that have:
- Availability to participate in a program with 4 hours of active participation per week and meetups during 4 months ideation phase, whether these are in online or offline format.
- High motivation to learn about social entrepreneurship and to be involved in a regional intercultural program
- The ambition to develop a concrete idea with social impact
- The willingness to learn from other actors in the region
- At least, have identified a social/environmental issue they want to tackle
- At most, worked on their idea on a small scale / at a personal level, without having engaged in a real business activity yet.
- The idea impact is regional or local
For more information, visit https://www.rycowb.org/?p=11415