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Social Enterprise and Natural Capital: an opportunity for young people and local communities

2020-2-IT03-KA105-0193702020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: IT|UK|BA|ME|BE|RS|AL|BG · Grant: €40,644
Social entrepreneurship / social innovationEnvironment and climate changeInclusion - equity

Objectives

The project "Social Enterprise and Natural Capital: an opportunity for young people and local communities" was developed to respond on the one hand to the need to facilitate processes of inclusion and new employment of young Europeans from disadvantaged backgrounds and on the other hand to the need to make youth work in the field more qualified and capable of intercepting the needs and requirements of the different target groups involved. This proposal represented the result of a long-term educational pathway undertaken by several organisations dealing with youth work as well as the direct follow up of previous ERASMUS+ activities (Capacity Building n°602658-EPP-1-2018-1-BA-EPPKA2-CBY-WB) carried out in cooperation with the ORA (Observe, Rethink, Act) European Network. Through a fruitful and intense fieldwork in close contact with the local community and its natural capital (green and protected areas, municipalities, cultural, environmental and youth associations, etc.), the multi-activity has created an educational, formative and experiential pathway based on the principles of Non Formal Education (NFE) capable of transferring to European organisations and their beneficiaries ideas and knowledge on how to develop social entrepreneurship within the framework of natural capital. Nature, understood in a broad sense as the set of founding elements of our society but also as the natural capital at our disposal, can serve as a fruitful playground within which to stimulate young people's concrete commitment,reflection on their social role and improve their entrepreneurial and employment opportunities in order to fully utilise their human capital in the process of development and socio-economic growth of the communities in which they live. The educational process directly involved 69 participants among trainers, facilitators, youth workers, managers of youth centres/organisations and also young users/peer educators mostly from the area of disadvantage belonging to different European countries (Italy, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Belgium). The project was composed of three different mobility in order to have the possibility with the Study Visit (Tornareccio, 05 - 11 March 2022) to get to know on the field examples of good practice realised in Abruzzo within different protected areas exploring the interaction between social enterprise, Natural Capital, youth inclusion and sustainable community development (Observe), through the seminar (Pecka - Banja Luka BH, 05 - 10 April 2022) to synthesize different experiences, good practices and methodologies, to reflect on their role as operators and to identify/define fields of intervention and common qualitative guidelines (Rethink), with the Training Course (Borrello, 13 - 21 September 2022) to improve the quality and efficiency of the activities implemented within the local communities and to increase the skills and capacities of the partner associations and their operators in the field by providing a set of learning/working modules on Sustainable Development and the use of social enterprise in relation to Natural Capital as tools for participation and socio-economic growth for young people and their communities (Act). Overall, the project increased the knowledge, skills and capacities of the partner associations and their operators by providing a set of learning/working modules on Sustainable Development and the use of social enterprise in relation to Natural Capital as tools for participation and socio-economic growth for young people and the communities in which they live. In addition, it enabled the direct involvement of young Europeans in the implementation of an educational path within three different Natural Capital contexts in order to encourage and strengthen their sense of active citizenship through a direct connection with the local community and protected areas in order to promote development that is sustainable, inclusive and participatory. It is also for these reasons that it was possible to plan future projects with the ERASMUS+ Programme in order to generate further possibilities of inclusion and personal development for young Europeans and their communities. All the results and materials realised during the whole project were collected within some information handouts and video - communication products as a further sharing/dissemination tool of the project.

Project partners (8)