From November 10 to 13, a training course for trainers was held in Kyiv for the first time, aimed at fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, including social entrepreneurship, among young people. The event was attended by 29 representatives from various regions of Ukraine — specialists in youth policy who work on developing key entrepreneurial competencies among young people. The Institute of Business, Economics, and Management at Sumy State University was represented at the event by Yana Kryvych, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing.
Over the course of four days, training participants actively improved their knowledge, abilities, and skills necessary for further work with young people. The programme focused on developing competencies in:
🔹 general understanding of self-employment, entrepreneurship, and social entrepreneurship, and their role in the economic recovery of communities;
🔹 organising entrepreneurial activities using modern digital tools, in particular SWOT analysis and CRM systems;
🔹 communication, cooperation, innovation and problem solving through design thinking methodologies, Lean Canvas, ‘problem trees’ and other tools;
🔹 entrepreneurship as a responsible influence, as well as the ability to map stakeholders and customers in order to find ways to solve community problems;
🔹 effective mobilisation of resources — financial (grants, loans, investments) and non-financial (mentoring, networking) in entrepreneurial activity;
🔹 motivating young people to develop independently, form business skills and create their own initiatives or social enterprises.
The event was organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine in cooperation with and within the framework of the flagship partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and the European Union, “EU4Recovery — Empowering Communities in Ukraine” and within the framework of the National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine, initiated by the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.
The participation of Y.M. Kryvych, PhD, Associate Professor, in the event contributes to the further development of entrepreneurial education at the Institute of Business and Economics of Sumy State University and opens up new opportunities for preparing young people to create their own projects and implement business ideas.