IGNITE – Promoting social entrepreneurial mindsets
for a sustainable future for young people.
About Us
The IGNITE project aims to empower young people to become social entrepreneurs who drive positive change in their communities. Some of the project themes include innovation, inclusion, sustainability, and climate action.
The IGNITE project offers a digital hub, interactive training modules, simulation games, and a comprehensive handbook, all designed and tailored to be used by youth workers, trainers, and educators working with young people. These resources are intended to be creative and engaging. They serve to encourage young people to build their skills in new and non-formal learning environments.
The IGNITE project is dedicated to empowering young people and youth workers by equipping them with the skills, knowledge, and resources needed in the field of social entrepreneurship. Our mission is to promote youth employment and self-employment by offering opportunities to develop innovative ideas and create a lasting social impact within their communities through the IGNITE Youth Labs initiative.
Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, IGNITE commenced in January 2024 and runs until December 2025. IGNITE is currently being delivered by a team of seven organisations from France, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal. Together, we are committed to supporting the next generation of changemakers.
Learning Materials
The IGNITE project addresses key areas including entrepreneurship, youth employment, climate action, and social inclusion. To support these goals, IGNITE provides a range of educational resources and training opportunities tailored for youth workers and young people. There are two primary training programmes: the IGNITE Social Enterprise Skills Programme and the IGNITE Social Economy Coaching Programme. In addition, the IGNITE Digital Hub offers additional tools such as simulation games, a tutor handbook, and a youth lab toolkit. These resources are designed to equip participants with valuable skills and competencies, enabling them to create social impact and explore their innovative ideas.
Project Partners
Petra Patrimonia Corsica
France
Petra Patrimonia Corsica
France
“Petra Patrimonia Corsica (PPC) is a cooperative established in 2013 to promote entrepreneurship and contribute to territorial cohesion, with branch offices in several regions, including Corsica, Guadeloupe, Guyana, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. PPC is organized into 3 main departments:
*Folia: fosters innovation in the agricultural sector,
*Patrimonia: focuses on construction, heritage restoration, and traditional restoration techniques,
*Maritima: supports the preservation and revitalization of maritime heritage, helping fishermen develop complementary activities like pescatourism.
The cooperative enables project leaders to test the economic feasibility of their ventures while developing entrepreneurial skills and gaining experience in managing their own businesses. This approach promotes accessible business creation and supports social and economic innovation.
Key activities include:
*Coaching for business creation and recovery,
*Testing phases for economic activities (6-18 months),
*Individual project monitoring (accounting, management, funding support),
*Post-creation follow-up and business incubation,
*Financing for social and solidarity economy initiatives.
As a certified training center with Qualiopi accreditation, PPC offers innovative training materials and comprehensive business support. The cooperative is a member of networks such as Scop and RENETA and collaborates with leading business support organizations. PPC also offers the EQF 6 “”SME Entrepreneur”” certification, which focuses on practical entrepreneurial skills development, incorporating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles into its approach.
”
Open Education Hub
Belgium
Open Education Hub
Belgium
The ΟPEN EDUCATION HUB is a non-profit organization based in Brussels, aiming to empower vulnerable and disadvantaged groups (young students, unemployed individuals or migrants) to become scholar and open-minded learners through tailored mentorship programmes, upskilling trainings and language courses.Part of our mentorships are offered to young, disadvantaged target groups of unemployed living in Belgium free of charge.The aim of the Open Education Hub is to bridge the gap of skills availability between the different groups of job seekers in Brussels, a city where there a variety of cultural, religious, language skills and an immense differentiation among skills offered from different EU and non-EU nationalities.
- Phone:+1 (859) 254-6589
- Email:info@example.com
Mindshift Skills Hub
Portugal
Mindshift Skills Hub
Portugal
“Founded in 2017, Mindshift is a consultancy company with a national presence in Lisbon and Castelo Branco. With a strong focus on skills development, Mindshift’s main business areas are: #consulting services; #project design and management; #bespoke mentoring, coaching, training, and skills development programmes; #didactic digital tools; #dynamisation of professional working groups. Mindshift fosters strategic collaboration with local, national and international partners based on a culture of value creation and sustainability. Its multidisciplinary team is strongly committed to ESG practices and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our strategic areas of action are: #upskilling and reskilling; #digital talent; #sustainable development; #entrepreneurship and creativity; #women empowerment; #inclusion and employability.
www.mindshift.pt
www.facebook.com/mindshift.skills.hub
www.linkedin.com/company/mindshift-skills-hub
geral@mindshift.pt ”
The Rural Hub
Ireland
The Rural Hub
Ireland
The Rural Hub is an Irish association founded in 2012 that provides specific training programmes in order to support and aid members of disadvantaged communities. Alongside this, they specialise in education, e-learning, media production, development, research, and strategic planning. The Rural Hub aims to support greater community involvement and enhance social inclusion by focusing on growing isolated communities. By working on national and EU-funded projects, this association has supported local youth groups, migrant communities, senior adults, and individuals who have been absent from education to re-engage with service providers and mainstream education. They work with these groups, using creative approaches and the testing of digital media resources to support greater social cohesion among local communities in County Cavan. They have a developed network of county-wide stakeholders who support their work on a thematic basis. Through their community-based office, they deliver informal adult and youth education programmes through their Social Mornings and Educational Afternoons programmes; and through their ‘youth into digital media’ programmes they run in their Digital Media Zone (DMZ) in Virginia, Cavan. The Rural Hub delivers a range of diverse programmes to support the next generation of creative individuals to build and sustain successful careers.
CO&SO
Italy
CO&SO
Italy
“CO&SO is a consortium located in Florence which includes 24 cooperatives working in the social, educational and cultural field. It provides services to the associated. The main services are: administration, monitoring the calls and as a consequence submitting projects most on public procurement aimed at providing services in the different social fields, offering European opportunities in order to promote innovation in the cooperatives in terms of improving employees’ competences and services, quality certification, communication. CO&SO is also a Training Agency accredited by Tuscany Regional Authority to develop training both funded or on demand and more than half of its training services (both face-to-face, online and blended) is provided to disadvantaged target groups.
CO&SO operates in various areas of interest: youth, education, training, culture and tourism, social inclusion, job insertion, health and care, green.
In CO&SO there is a dedicated department just working on European projects planning and management with very skilled staff who has more than 20 years of experience in the field.
Furthermore, since 2021 CO&SO, in accordance with the European Green Policy, has started planning new green oriented activities by participating, as Coordinator or partner, in EU projects aimed at supporting the environment through the improvement of the Green skills of different target groups.
Website:
www.coeso.org
”
The Social Innovation and Cohesion Institute (Fifty-Fifty)
Greece
The Social Innovation and Cohesion Institute (Fifty-Fifty)
Greece
“The Social Innovation and Cohesion Institute, or Fifty-Fifty, is a civil society organization based in Thessaloniki, Greece. It focuses on promoting social inclusion and lifelong learning through non-formal education, targeting mainly young people, adult learners and professionals. The Institute’s mission is to promote social innovation and cohesion by equipping individuals, communities and institutions with the skills and knowledge needed to address societal challenges. Through various projects, Fifty-Fifty emphasizes entrepreneurship development, human rights awareness, intercultural dialogue and European values. Its activities cover local, regional and European contexts, with the aim of creating a European area of skills and qualifications.
Fifty-Fifty has a significant track record in implementing European funded projects in areas such as youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, digital learning and active citizen participation. The organization works closely with public and private bodies, including NGOs, educational institutions and municipalities, both in Greece and across Europe. With a dedicated team of professionals, it has carried out numerous workshops, seminars and initiatives to strengthen entrepreneurship skills, promote volunteerism and support youth participation in society. The institute is particularly active in transnational programs under Erasmus+, with accreditation in youth mobility and extensive experience in managing collaborative projects contributing to social change and cohesion.
”
Skills Elevation Berlin FHB
Germany
Skills Elevation Berlin FHB
Germany
Skills Elevation FHB (Germany), based in Berlin, are industry leaders in the development, piloting and roll-out of innovative digital media learning formats and their application in a range of educational settings. These formats include online learning, mobile & blended learning resources, gamification and challenge-based learning and modular training materials for virtual learning environments. Skills Elevation FHB believe in empowering and upskilling educators, teachers and trainers who work with disadvantaged young people, youth not currently engaged in employment, education or training (NEETs), and marginalised adult learners who are seeking to re- engage with learning.
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Funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of the Agence Erasmus+ France Jeunesse & Sport (Agence du Service Civique). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for this. Project Number: 2023-2-FR02-KA220-YOU-000181160
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