Ecosys4you; Engaging entrepreneurial ecosystems for youth

Ecosys4you designs and implements a cross-country educational programme for young people with passion for entrepreneurship. We mobilise the flow of innovation resources in four dimensions: education, networking, market expansion, and people. Private, public and educational actors of three entrepreneurial ecosystems in the Ruhr (DE), Varna (BG), and Maribor (SI) regions co-create the programme. The activities add value to existing entrepreneurship education of the regional higher education institutions: based on our common competence, we establish and set up high quality cross-ecosystem activities for future entrepreneurs. The main activities are joint classes, mentoring, real-world challenges and internships at start-ups. Experience of founders and established entrepreneurs drive the programme’s design. Their benefit is the opportunity to enter new markets opened up by Ecosys4you. The programme is open to students and young alumni from higher education institutions, professional schools, graduates who wish to found a company, and other young people who want to discover entrepreneurial spirit. We expect to reach 200 young people, among them at least 80 women in 2 cohorts (2024-2025), and stimulate foundation of about 5-10 start-ups and innovations as a major outcome. Due to close collaboration with lecturers as well as organisational and financial measures designed in Ecosys4you, we assure a self-sustaining programme to continue after project finalisation.