The project aimed to support the transformation of societies into more supportive environments for social entrepreneurship, empowering young people to develop entrepreneurial competencies, launch social enterprises, and address community challenges. The overall goal was to contribute to the creation of economically active and socially cohesive communities led by youth. Specifically, the project sought to: 1) develop an innovative assessment framework, Social Enterprise Barometer, to evaluate local conditions for social entrepreneurship and help young people strengthen their entrepreneurial skills leading to social business creation; 2) raise awareness among stakeholders from youth, business, education and social sectors about the importance of cross-sectoral cooperation in fostering youth-driven social change; and 3) equip young people and sector representatives with knowledge on using this place-based and evidence-based tool to identify opportunities and activate local resources for building supportive SE ecosystems.
The project addressed the need to develop supportive ecosystems for social entrepreneurship that empowered young people and strengthened their entrepreneurial competencies. It built on the partners’ experience in tackling youth unemployment and fostering youth engagement through the social economy (a sector with high potential but limited evidence on youth-inclusive SE ecosystems in North Macedonia, Serbia, and Bulgaria). Despite recent investments, information on enabling environments, especially at the local level, remained scarce. The project responded to persistent challenges: a high share of NEET youth, low youth participation in decision-making, the socio-economic impact of COVID-19, and weak local support systems for emerging social enterprises. It developed the open-source framework ‘Social Enterprise Barometer’, an innovative tool to assess and enhance youth-focused SE ecosystems. Insights gained from the Barometer support governments, the private sector, and educational institutions in creating opportunities for young social entrepreneurs to launch and grow enterprises, empower marginalized groups, and engage citizens in generating social value, ultimately improving youth well-being and building resilient communities.