The Global Youth Forum Cooperative Entrepreneurship 2020 (GYF20) offered the perfect context for the talented Global Cooperative Entrepreneurs youth ambassadors to pool knowledge and skills and outline together the future of the cooperative entrepreneurship.
Framed within the ICA-EU Partnership on international cooperative development (#coops4dev?), the Global Cooperative Entrepreneurs programme (GCE) is an experimental mentoring programme offering support to youth entrepreneurs wishing to set-up a cooperative. The programme is implemented through innovative partnerships between cooperative and youth organisations in 8 countries, namely, Colombia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sweden and Poland. The GCE programme is inspired by Cooperatives Europe’s CoopStarter 2.0, an Erasmus+ funded project.
Following the four regional trainings of youth ambassadors - in Kampala (Uganda), Kozhikode (India) and Bogota (Colombia) in November 2019 and in Stockholm (Sweden) in January 2020 -, the GCE programme has entered full-scale implementation. All four regional trainings were facilitated by GCE mentors and followed the same structure, that allowed youth ambassadors to learn about the principles of cooperatives, about innovative thinking and problem-solving processes and about organising successful crowdfunding campaigns and multiplier events, among other insightful activities and sessions.
To continue the skills development and networking, some of the GCE youth ambassadors from Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe attended the Global Youth Forum Cooperative Entrepreneurship 2020 (GYF20) in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The GYF20 was an excellent opportunity for GCE youth ambassadors to further their entrepreneurial journey by attending interactive sessions facilitated by trainers from all around the world. They also had the chance to exchange ideas and build new connections with GCE youth ambassadors from other regions, and interact with the rest of participants with whom they share a common interest in cooperative entrepreneurship.
After the intensive week in Kuching, the GCE youth ambassadors will return to their respective communities with new perspectives and skills on how to start up their own cooperative. These entrepreneurial projects will hopefully create more jobs for fellow youths and sustainable impact in their local communities.
All in all, the GYF20 has definitely been a catalyst for entrepreneurial motivation and growing a global GCE community.
Follow the upcoming insights about the GYF20 on the ICA website and social media channels.
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