The project is a response to the situation in which young people find themselves, not only in Slovenia, but throughout Europe. The Pomurje region is one of the least developed regions in Slovenia. It is characterized by depopulation, aging, low fertility and high mortality rate, the outflow of young professionals from the region and the highest rate of registered unemployment in the country. A high proportion of brain drain is also detected, as young people are looking for jobs and a better future outside of the region and the rural area. The project aims to improve the situation of young people in rural area, i.e. their social and economic situation. The project sees the solution of this situation in the concept of social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship represents a concept of sustainable economy, characterized by a resistance to market shocks, a great potential for social integration and employment and the perfect adaptation to local challenges. Social entrepreneurship strengthens social solidarity and cohesion, encourages people's involvement and volunteering, strengthens the innovative ability of a country to address social, economic, environmental and other problems, provides an additional range of products and services in the public interest, developing new employment opportunities, provide additional jobs and social integration and professional reintegration of the most vulnerable people in the labour market. Encouraging young people to develop entrepreneurial ideas and supporting them by taking first steps to social entrepreneurship can be an effective in reducing youth unemployment and creating new employment perspectives, not only at the regional, but also at national and European level. The project combines the innovative model of the so called “Living Lab”, a structure of non-formal mentorship and the usage of modern technologies with the purpose of informing and educating in terms of social entrepreneurship and the detection and exploitation of potential in rural areas. Within the project’s framework a “Living Lab” will be constructed the purpose of which will be channelled towards experimentation and co-creation of social innovations. At the same time it will represent a place for young people and will be suitable for teamwork, individual work, meetings, gatherings, etc. The “Living Lab” will host different workshops and events that will be open to general public. In connection with this concept we will organize different non-formal events regarding entrepreneurship and the development of rural areas that will be appealing for young people and will offer them knowledge and motivation for socio-entrepreneurial engagement. We will organize monthly informal events where young successful entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs will in a relaxed atmosphere present their company or social enterprise and their entrepreneurial journey. We will organize a Festival of social entrepreneurship. Within the Festival of social entrepreneurship we will organize an international conference and a market. At the conference young people will present the intellectual results of the project: the manual and the mobile application. The festival will include representatives of local, national and international authorities (from the partner countries), entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, representatives of employment services, development agencies and the interested public, especially young people. The market will be organized as an open event where young social entrepreneurs from Slovenia and other partner countries will present their social based companies. This will be a great chance for promoting social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurs as well as the potential of rural areas, networking and for dissemination of intellectual project results.
Project was established as a response to the difficult situation many young people found themselves in, not only in Slovenia but also across Europe. Pomurje region is one of the least developed regions in Slovenia and it is highly impacted by the outflow of young professionals from the region and by the highest unemployment rate in the whole country. One can also observe a high rate of brain drain (the emigration of highly trained or qualified people from a particular country), as young people are looking for a job and a better future outside the region or rural areas. The project has contributed immensely to improving the position of young people in rural areas, including their social and economic status. They achieved this goal by introducing young entrepreneurs to the concept of social entrepreneurship as a possible way to improve their position, offering them the possibility of training in the field of social entrepreneurship, support and assistance in the development of entrepreneurial ideas and their realizations. Social entrepreneurship represents the concept of sustainable economy and it is characterized by a resistance to market shocks, excellent ability to adapt to the challenges in local environment and great potential for social integration and employment.Social entrepreneurship strengthens social solidarity and cohesion, promotes involvement of society and volunteering, strengthens the company's innovative ability to solve social, economic, environmental and other problems, provides an additional supply of products and services that are in the public interest, develops new employment opportunities, provides additional jobs and social integration and vocational reintegration of the most vulnerable groups of people in the labor market.Encouraging young people to develop their own entrepreneurial ideas and supporting them when they take their first steps into social entrepreneurship can be an effective approach of reducing unemployment among young people and also creating new employment perspectives not only on a regional, but also on a national and European level. Project combines the innovative model of the so called "Living and Virtual Lab", a structure of informal mentorship and the use of modern technologies for the purpose of raising awareness and educating young people on the subject of social entrepreneurship and the detection and exploitation of its potential in rural areas. Within the project’s framework a “Living Lab" was created for experimentation and co-creation of social innovations. It represented a meeting place for young people, it was suitable for teamwork, individual work, meetings, gatherings, events, and a place to develop new ideas. Entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs presented their enterprises and their entrepreneurial path to young people. Various workshops and events were held at the "Living Lab" and were open to the general public. With the help of these workshops on the topic of social entrepreneurship and rural development, young people were able to acquire new knowledge and motivation for entrepreneurial and social-entrepreneurial engagement. More than 250 young people were involved in the activities of the project, who got the opportunity to explore the potential and possibility offered by venturing into social entrepreneurship. The final event of the project was represented by the Festival of social entrepreneurship, whose purpose was raising awareness on the intellectual results of the project. It combined an international conference, a round table (Opportunities, challenges and Dangers of Social Entrepreneurship in Rural Area) and a marketplace. Young people presented the manual “My Idea, My Future: First Steps to Social Entrepreneurship” and the mobile application “My Idea, My Future.” The event was attended by local and national law makers, entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, representatives of various organisations, development agencies and an interested general public, which was mainly represented by young people. The aim of the festival was to promote social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurs, to present the potential of opportunities in the rural area, networking and presentatin of intelectual results. Manual and mobile app represent long-term benefits for young people on an international level, as they offer an interesting insight into the field of social entrepreneurship in an interesting way. Manual is available for free in the Slovenian and English language on the website www.myideamyfuture.com. Mobile app is available for a free download in the Google Play Store and App Store. Project partnership was composed of organizations from Slovenia (RIS Dvorec Rakičan, coordinator), Italy (CESIE) and France (ADICE). Cooperation on international level was an important contribution in terms of transfer of knowledge, experience and creation of long lasting partnerships.