Lisa Van den Bossche attended the EntrecompFood closing conference in January where she learned about their approach to stimulate entrepreneurship and shared the learnings from our COCOREADO Ambassador trainings.
Entrecomp Food aims to increase the entrepreneurial competencies of young people in the agri-food sector. Dana Adriana Puia Morel from DG Grow kicked off the conference by stating that we all, even EU commissioners and scientists, should bring an entrepreneurial mindset to the table.
The Entrecomp Food project approached this challenge from different complementary angles with scientists, educators, practitioners, students and young entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship as a competence is defined as the capacity to act upon opportunities and ideas to create value for others. The Entrepreneurship competence framework allows you to measure this competence and its evolution over time. But the best way to simulate the development of this competence is by doing it. Françoise Gorga proudly presented the Ecotrophelia award, where students develop a new and sustainable food product. The presentation of the international winner of this award ‘Sauces Papillon’ was the absolute highlight of this closing seminar.
How can we stimulate and support young entrepreneurs like Mathis Pellerin from Sauces Papillon? Miguel Angel Moya from Andalucia Emprende developed a visual map of the entrepreneurship pathways along with the appropriate tools to support entrepreneurs every step of the way. To reach a broad audience they developed an Entrepreneurship Escape game that can be played online or physically.
But Entrecomp did not stop there, at the Biotechnical Faculty of Ljubljana University Entrepreneurship was incorporated into the food safety course with impressive results. All these tools; knowledge and network will not be lost after the end of this project thanks to Bantani Education, a non-profit that features an extensive digital platform and networking community. But also the Agri-Food Pact for Skills will contribute to this aim.
Presentations from related projects and organizations such as FIELDS, EIT Food, EQVEGAN, FOODPaths and COCOREADO ensured wide dissemination of the results. Lisa presented the Collaboration framework that was used to support the COCOREADO ambassadors in the development of their seed initiatives. Can we continue on this entrepreneurial vibe and valorise all these tools, experiences and knowledge to the benefit of food change-makers?