ABOUT GREEN DAY
Employment in green economy sectors, in the period between 2000 and 2016 has increased six-fold, reaching a peak in 2016 where across the EU-28 it generates EUR 746 billioninto the Union’s economy, employing 4.5 million people. And numbers are rising. Concerning employability, small and medium enterprises in Italy employ up to 68% of the active work[1]force, in Greece over 80%, in Estonia 55% in Hungary up to 53%, In Denmark up to 64%, according to Eurostat; which show us that there are grounds for initiatives and enterprise creation in each of our realities.
When it comes to youth unemployement in 2018, it is decreasing by an average of 5% across all participating countries, meaning that the grounds are fertile to establish enterprises. According to statistics, European governments invested an average of 4.5 billion EUR in 2017 alone, demonstrating an interest of the decision-making bodies to provide resources to this sector. As well, once being surveyed, environment appeared to be the top priority of concern for teenagers and young adults across Europe, accompanied by a growing pessimism concerning the future.
Also when the EU was preparing its 2027 youth goals, it emerged from the surveys that Sustainable Green Europe is a top concern for young people today. Also because, according to the EU Start-Up monitor, currently in Europe 12.8% of registered companies are youth start-up enterprises and 7.5% are in a an expanding and hiring phase. Therefore in this scenario we are going to implement GREENday – Youth Entrepreneurship, Environmental Start-Ups.
WHY
TRANSNATIONALLY?
As scientists and grass-root movements keep on reminding us, climate change and environmental problems are not challenges of one specific country or area but a challenge for the whole humanity: therefore it is important to start thinking transnationally.
Moreover, recent trends towards isolationism in many European countries are producing negative effects on society as a whole, and specifically on the environmental sector, as measures fail to be taken and implemented, best practices are not exchanged and cross-border initiatives risk to decrease.
Once again, it is up to the young people to set the example to the grown-ups and demonstrate the power, efficacy and efficiency of European youths working together, because if the challenges are the same, so must be the solutions.
Objectives

What should be addressed
The needs addressed are daily manifested by young people striking for climate, demanding environmental justice, and the concerns that youth in Europe and beyond have and are manifesting about the environment. Youths are asking governments and companies to act because they need a future to believe in. However, as life and studies go on, comes a reality check where employment is of course necessary and one distances oneself from the causes they believe in, for the sake of stability in life. This project wants to create a win-win scenario: promoting and sustaining the existing activism and dedication to a rightful cause, while looking after one’s own employment and income by fostering the creation of green start up enterprises, through an envisaged European support system, made of community events, capacity building, networking and replication of the initiative.
Results & actions
- Up to 25 business plans created and supported and minimum 15 green start up enterprises are created.
- 3 international trainings are implemented across the partnership to build entrepreneurial competences, administrative and business skills, marketing and advertisement knowledge and, most of all, entrepreneurship, confidence and self-coaching attitudes, as well as motivation to pursue one’s plan, for youth workers from within our partnership.
- 6 intellectual outputs are created in order to provide further knowledge to the participants and to allow a budget free replication of the activities; namely an introduction to green economy possibilities and opportunities, guide to youth green entrepreneurship, workbook tools on business administration, handbook on marketing and branding, MOOC on setting up a Green Enterprise and an online brochure presenting the project’s activities and goals. Each output is disseminated in a targeted, accessible and transparent way as widely as possible.
- 4 transnational meetings for the board of directors of the consortium of partners to develop and monitor project strategies and tactics
- To engage with the local business sector, specifically green and social enterprises, local public bodies and public authorities, local young people and local youth organisations are reached to participate directly into the multiplier events. As well the community develops initiatives and EU supported projects to ensure both ownership and continuation.
- Minimum 20 participants attend 2 of the EcoSummit congress of green startups in Berlin, in 2021 and 2022
- Minimum 25 participants identify a green/ethical enterprise where to carry out a job shadowing for 21 days.
- Minimum 5 communities across Europe offer cross-sectorial support to the young green entrepreneurs in knowledge and in kind, from the private, public and third sectors.
- Minimum 250 people undertake the foreseen MOOC in each of our realities during the project life
- Creation of innovative training methodologies to be applied to green entrepreneurship for marginalised and disadvantaged youth through non-formal education
- To create literature, toolkits and handbooks which will be translated from English to all the project’s languages and disseminated to stakeholders who will find it useful.
- Minimum 500 young people across all involved communities are informed concerning EU opportunities for mobility, education, employment and entrepreneurship
- Minimum 35.000 people are reached via different medias, both social as well as outlet media invited to the events
- 5 state authorities will endorse this initiative, including ministries of youth, ministries for the environment, as well as national and European bodies dealing with youth, rural development and environment.
- All the project outcomes, outputs and results are handed over for continuation’s sake to the beneficiaries’ start-up enterprise