HUNGARIAN TEAM

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY

Title: Local follow-up activity/ Launching a Social Enterprise

Date: 2023 August 7th

Introduction: In our commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and social impact among the youth in our community, we organized a 50-minute follow-up activity that focused on the principles of Design Thinking and the Business Canvas Model. The aim was to inspire and equip 15 youths with the necessary tools to develop innovative social enterprise ideas that address local challenges. This report outlines the key components of the activity and highlights the participants' engagement.

Activity Details: The follow-up activity took place on the platform Zoom, with 15 passionate and enthusiastic youths between the ages of 16 and 25 in Hungary. The event focused on introducing Design Thinking, a human-centred problem-solving approach, and the Business Canvas Model, a strategic management tool used for business model development.

Activity Highlights:

Introduction to Design Thinking: The session began with a comprehensive introduction to Design Thinking principles. Facilitators emphasized the importance of empathy, understanding end-users, and framing problems in a way that promotes creative solutions. The youths participated in interactive activities to enhance their empathy skills and see issues from different perspectives.
Brainstorming and Ideation: Following the Design Thinking session, participants engaged in a lively brainstorming and ideation session. They formed small teams and identified social challenges prevalent in our community. Using Post-it notes and whiteboards, the teams generated diverse ideas on potential solutions.
Business Canvas Model Workshop: The second part of the activity introduced the Business Canvas Model. The youths learned how to structure their social enterprise ideas, focusing on key aspects such as value propositions, customer segments, revenue streams, and resources. Facilitators provided guidance and feedback to each team during this process.
Idea Pitching and Feedback: In the final segment, each team had the opportunity to pitch their social enterprise idea to the rest of the participants. This exercise allowed them to practice presenting their concepts and receive constructive feedback from their peers and facilitators. It also fostered an environment of collaboration and support.

Impact: The 40-minute follow-up activity proved to be an impactful experience for the youths. Several notable outcomes were observed:

Increased Confidence: Participants displayed growing confidence in their ability to ideate, problem-solve, and present their ideas effectively.
Social Entrepreneurial Mindset: The activity encouraged the youths to adopt a social entrepreneurial mindset, understanding that business can be a force for positive change.
Collaborative Spirit: The teamwork involved in brainstorming and the feedback sessions fostered a sense of camaraderie among the participants.
Inspiration for Future Ventures: Many participants expressed interest in further pursuing their social enterprise ideas, recognizing the potential for real-world impact.

Conclusion: The follow-up activity on Design Thinking and the Business Canvas Model has laid a strong foundation for empowering youth in our community. By equipping them with the tools of innovation and entrepreneurship, we hope to witness the emergence of socially conscious leaders who drive positive change. The social enterprise design workshop serves as a stepping stone towards building a more sustainable and compassionate future.

The First Offline Follow-Up Activity

The first offline follow-up activity was held on Thursday, August 10, 2023. There were 4 participants who were international students studying at the University of Pécs, Hungary. They were not Economics majors or young people interested in business or aspiring entrepreneurs. Therefore, at the beginning of the meeting I explained to them about entrepreneurship and the difference between entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Once they understood the concept, I explained what it takes to be a social entrepreneur and how to design a business from scratch to implementation of the idea. I provided them with paper and then gave them time to think about the social entrepreneurship they wanted. Then they were given the opportunity to share their ideas with others and critique each other's ideas. The last activity we did was to listen to their plans after the training and what knowledge they had gained from the day's activities. In addition, I also received input from them about the training activities that we have done so that it can be an evaluation in the future for me to be even better. Based on the evaluation results, they were very enthusiastic to take part in this training activity and for them all the material I conveyed was knowledge for them. They started to be interested in trying to implement social entrepreneurship after graduating. All participants are willing to stay longer in Hungary, especially to look for business opportunities in this country. If they are successful their next step will be to create new jobs in Pakistan, Tanzania, Nigeria and Kenya. They reasoned that if they returned to their countries before success, their future would be full of uncertainty. Therefore, the training was enough to open their minds that after completing their studies, becoming a social entrepreneur is worth considering.

The Second Offline Follow-Up Activity

We organized a second offline follow-up activity on the 13th August, 2023, with 4 participants. They were 4 international students of University of Pécs, Hungary, coming from Nigeria. They are all studying a different career, like Phisiotheraphy, Computer Science, Medicine and Marketing, so only one of the student's major was related to the topic of entrepreneurship. Because of the diversity of the student's major we decided to give a short introduction and expanation about entrepreneurship, and explained the main ideas about social entrepereneurship as well. After explaining the main concept, we implemented our 4 main activities throughout a 40 minute offline session.

Introduction to Design Thinking: The first activity was a comprehensive introduction to Design Thinking principles. Facilitators emphasized the importance of empathy, understanding end-users, and framing problems in a way that promotes creative solutions. The youths participated in interactive activities to enhance their empathy skills and see issues from different perspectives.
Brainstorming and Ideation: Following the Design Thinking session, participants engaged in a lively brainstorming and ideation session. They formed pairs and identified social challenges prevalent in our community. The pairs generated diverse ideas on potential solutions.
Business Canvas Model Workshop: The second part of the activity introduced the Business Canvas Model. The youths learned how to structure their social enterprise ideas, focusing on key aspects such as value propositions, customer segments, revenue streams, and resources. We provided guidance and some feedback to each pair during this process.
Idea Pitching and Feedback: In the final segment, each pair had the opportunity to pitch their social enterprise idea to the rest of the participants. This exercise allowed them to practice presenting their concepts and receive constructive feedback from their peers and facilitators. It also fostered an environment of collaboration and support.

After the session, we did a small survey by asking the participants, what are their future plans and would they consider becoming social entrepreneurs. The students were all open and interested to dig deeper in the topic of social entrepreneurship and discover their opportunities, how they could became social entrepreneurs in Hungary.

PARTICIPANTS' IMPRESSIONS FROM THE PROJECT:

Teréz Nádudvari:

I have participated in an Erasmus+ training about Launching a Social Enterprise in Porto, Portugal. From the 5th to the 13th of July 2023. Young people from nine different countries gathered together for one week to learn and develop themselves. I am very grateful to be a part of this opportunity. On the project, I learned a lot of new information about the topic, since I have had no experience in this, almost everything was new to me. It was very useful to hear other people's personal experiences and the lectures of our qualified trainers. Thanks to the training I was able to gain insight into a developed vision and goal, that I can use in the future. I enjoyed the most the non-formal education methods, we could have fun even though we learned a lot. At the end of the week, as a conclusion, we, the participants, also had to create our own Social Enterprise in teams. Together with my team, we created an organization that collects street dogs in dog shelters. I enjoyed this assignment the most because we were able to use what we learned during the week step by step, and by the end of the training we could get a complete picture, it was a perfect ending. I am also grateful for my participation because I have met many great people from all over the world, made new friendships, and connections, and learned a lot from other cultures. Thank you for the opportunity Zsanett Függ and to our sending partner in Hungary.

Kata Csicsics:

I had a great opportunity to participate in an Erasmus+ training, which was about Launching a Social Enterprise. The training took place in Paredes, Porto, Portugal, from the 5th to the 13th of July 2023. The training group consisted of 36 participants from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Spain, and Portugal. I learned a lot of new information about Social Entrepreneurship and gained a lot of new insights from other participants, who have more personal experiences related to the topic, and through our well-qualified trainers, we had the chance to deepen our theoretical knowledge as well. I really enjoyed all activities throughout the week of the training, one of my favourites was the team-building activities, where we could get to know participants from other countries and discuss our ideas in smaller groups. I also liked the non-formal educational activities, because even though we learned a lot of new information, we could do it in a fun way. We had more activities about social entrepreneurship and a practical focus on the Business Canvas Model, which can be used in our future careers as well. We had our main assignment in a smaller team, where we had to work on creating a solid business plan, according to our interests, and with my team, we designed a website for supporting and helping unemployed youth to find job opportunities. I enjoyed the process of designing our whole plan because we could use the knowledge we gained throughout the week, and in the end, we had the opportunity to present our business to every participant. I feel grateful because I could participate in this project, and besides improving my knowledge about a current and important topic, I made new connections and met people from all over Europe, and I could broaden my horizons about European culture.

Anh Le Tran Tram:

I have successfully completed my training course as part of the Erasmus+ project in Porto, Portugal from 5/7/2023 to 13/7/2023. The focus of this course was on launching a social enterprise, and I am proud to share my journey with you. Throughout the training activities, I had the opportunity to go through the entire process of transforming an idea into a solid business plan. One of the most impactful techniques I learned was the application of design thinking techniques and business modelling. These methodologies enabled me and my team to develop a comprehensive business plan that is both innovative and impactful. I am particularly excited about the idea my team came up with during the course. We proposed the creation of an art program for teenagers struggling with depression or addiction to the Internet and social media. Our concept resonated with others, as we secured the second spot in the voting game.

I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Olga Kuznetsova for her exceptional facilitation and training delivery. Her clarity, professionalism, and expertise were instrumental in making this training course a resounding success.

Furthermore, I would like to extend my thanks to Zsanett Függ and our sending partner in Hungary, 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗽í𝘁𝘃á𝗻𝘆 𝗮𝘇 𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘁𝘁 𝘁é𝗿𝘀é𝗴𝗲𝗸 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘇á𝗿𝗸ó𝘇𝘁𝗮𝘁á𝘀áé𝗿𝘁, for nominating and supporting me for this program. The Erasmus+ project has provided me with invaluable knowledge and skills to pursue my entrepreneurial aspirations. I am excited to apply what I have learned and make a positive impact in my community and beyond.

Anjar Tri Laksono:

The Erasmus project on social entrepreneurship is of particular interest to young people in Hungary who still have the mindset of finding a job after graduation rather than setting up a business and becoming an entrepreneur. Many young people in Hungary do not know about social entrepreneurship comprehensively, they just know that social entrepreneurship means being an entrepreneur without aiming for profit. Of course, this mindset needs to be improved so that many young people in Hungary are interested in becoming entrepreneurs as well as addressing the social problems that are currently developing in Hungary such as unemployment, lack of employment opportunities for minorities, and disabilities. Therefore, after receiving training in Portugal, we disseminate the knowledge of social entrepreneurship to the youth in our community, hoping that they can also become agents of change for other youth and communities. The potential for young people to become entrepreneurs who are not only profit-oriented but also address social problems in their environment is enormous. Although many young people still do not know the concept of entrepreneurship comprehensively, the phenomenon of becoming an entrepreneur in Hungary is slowly growing. Minorities such as Romans and disabled people can take on this role so that they can sustain the economy of minority communities independently. In Pécs, there is a handicraft business with disabled employees. Although the profit generated is very small, this business is still growing in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Thank you to 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗽í𝘁𝘃á𝗻𝘆 𝗮𝘇 𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘁𝘁 𝘁é𝗿𝘀é𝗴𝗲𝗸 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘇á𝗿𝗸ó𝘇𝘁𝗮𝘁á𝘀áé𝗿𝘁 who has given us the opportunity to join the Erasmus program which is very extraordinary. Thank you to the organizer of this program 𝗡ó 𝗚ó𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 for providing us with valuable education.