As a part of InDigiSE project we were able to meet locals of Kuldīga region in a truly inspiring event “How to foster youth engagement in social entrepreneurship?”. It took place on 14th June, 2022 in Alsunga and gathered local activists, youth workers and other representatives from NGOs. The event proved to be very beneficial for the attendees as it opened eyes to the variety of benefits that social entrepreneurship as a skillset could bring to the individual development of youngsters, and gave space for discussion on local struggles and potential solutions.

Alsunga is a rural town, and the life there poses typical challenges for youth. Especially now, after the years of Pandemic, the engagement of youth in any type of activities has fallen, and so has their interest in socializing in-person. Taking into consideration the low number of youngsters in this region, specialists involved in any type of youth education have great difficulties in motivating them to move away from screens and participate. Additionally, youth is driven by instant gratification, and many offered activities require a smart and strategic approach to foster their involvement.

These are just a few of the reasons why Social Innovation Centre decided to bring this workshop exactly to Alsunga. During discussions with the participants, these considerations proved to be correct, and the locals were able to identify the potential solutions in a common circle. But that was just the final (and most interactive part) of the event which was focused on presenting the outcomes of InDigiSE project.

Besides offering this especially useful time and space for community members to talk on important issues, the whole afternoon was structured moving from more general information towards a very specific, local perspective. Starting with a presentation of Māra Skuja on the situation about youth entrepreneurship in Latvia, the conversation moved on to explaining potential solutions for involving youth. With great interest the participants learned and then evaluated in groups the following tools:

• guidelines “How to stimulate social entrepreneurship via non-formal and informal learning methods”
• handbook on Social Entrepreneurship Innovation Camp Methodology
• open educational resource Socialenterprisebsr.net

As a conclusion, the whole event proved to be a great inspiration for all the participants, as many of them were new to the topic of social entrepreneurship and the benefits it brings in the development of skills for youth. Leaving the event, some of the questions still remained open, but everyone was motivated to look into opportunities that our offered approach might bring.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The publication has been developed under the INDIGISE project funded by Erasmus+ programme. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.