PiNA implemented a 6-day training on green entrepreneurship for youth which was held between November 22^nd 2016 and December 1^st 2016. The training was part of the Greentrepreneurship project and was conducted in cooperation with the Employment Service of Slovenia (Zavod Republike Slovenije za zaposlovanje). Seven young people attended and successfully completed the training, which aimed at developing their skills, knowledge and competences to improve their productivity, innovation and employment opportunities in the field of green entrepreneurship.

The workshops included the process of developing innovative, green and/or socially responsible business ideas; verifying the potential of those ideas; developing a product or a service; developing a business model according to the Lean Canvas model; prototyping; and preparing effective presentations (pitching).

Participants gave very positive feedbacks on the workshops. They particularly highlighted the non-formal education methods on which our work was based upon; the opportunity to interact with other young people; and new useful tools and approaches which they tried out in practice as they can be applied to their future (entrepreneurial) path.

Orange Fiber is an innovative green startup based in Italy, an example of a sustainable and competitive business, respectful of the local resources.

Can we make a textile from citrus waste? This is the question that came to the mind of two Sicilian girls and brought them to develop one of the most innovative green startup in Italy.

Orange Fiber is a textile made by extracting the cellulose from the fibers that are discarded from the industrial pressing and processing of the oranges. The fiber, through nanotechnology techniques, is also enriched with citrus fruit essential oil. The result is a vitaminic textile that nourish the skin like a not greasy body lotion. This innovative idea has the potential to bring sustainability inside the textile industry, tackling the environmental issue of the citrus waste production and bring job opportunities in a disadvantaged land.

Everything started in 2011. Adriana Santonocito, specialized in design and innovative textile and Enrica Arena, expert in communication and marketing, were students in Milan when they invented Orange Fiber. Adriana, for her thesis, was conducting a research on a sustainable and vitamin-enriched textile from citrus waste. Enrica, her flatmate at that time, embraced the idea adding to it her communication and marketing expertise. The thesis became a project at the Polytechnic of Milan, after the feasibility study the team patented Orange Fiber. With the financial support of Trentino Sviluppo and the help of two business angels and a lawyer, Orange Fiber officially became an innovative startup based in Catania and Rovereto in February 2014. In September 2015 was presented the Orange Fiber prototype in the occasion of the Expo Gate of Milan.

Orange Fiber has special connection with the Sicilian territory. It is not only the place of origin of the two co-founders, but also the location candidate to establish the production of their sustainable textile. The citrus sector is suffering and in general the labor market is stagnant, especially for young people. The project potentially can have important positive social and economic effects for the island.

From an environmental prospective it is not less interesting. Sicily has a massive production of citrus and consequently a production of waste materials from the industry, up to 700 tons per years. Orange fiber is offering a solution to the problem of reducing the amount of this materials.

As far the idea has won several awards at national and international level such as the UNECE Ideas for Change Award in April 2015. Also the future is promising. The possible uses of the fiber are varied and the presence in the market, from cosmetic textile to home textile, until develop their own fashion line, is relevant. Orange Fiber has many characteristics to succeed. Great strengths are the innovative and sustainable approach applied to the textile and fashion industry, the respect and valorization of local resources and the internationalization of the products able to spark interest of the biggest fashion brands.

www.orangefiber.it

A group of young people and trainers are working hard to develop green business ideas and organize an informational campaign on green entrepreneurship in Palermo.

During these months in the city are taking place a series of thematic workshops on topics related to green entrepreneurship held by the Italian trainers trained in Beja the last February. The programme is very rich and in addition to providing theoretical inputs, it is based on practical activities and on a non-formal approach. Besides it is structured in two macro activities: the development of green entrepreneurial ideas and design and organisation of an awareness addressed to the local community.

The first workshop started with a presentation of the programme, of the participants and of the trainers. These last had the opportunity to tell their experience of international training course in Beja. The afternoon continued with team building activities and thematic sessions dedicated to: green ethic and sustainability, green entrepreneurship definition, leading innovation and strategic planning.

The second workshop was dedicated to marketing and branding and to a brainstorming of ideas for the informational campaign. During the first part of the workshop, the participants generated crazy ideas to reinvent and sell common objects such as a cup or tape. Then, for the informational campaign they proposed to organize a mix of activities in a public space in the city centre of Palermo, including games to actively involve citizens and the exposition of project ideas developed during the workshops.

In the next meetings participants will visit the local business Monsù (http://www.monsu.it/en/), which produces ice cream with local products. Monsù adopted sustainable solutions for its production process such as: the use of renewable energy, the use of biodegradable materials for the packaging and the reduction of waste at minimum.

After taking inspiration and motivation from the local entrepreneur, the team will focus on the development of business ideas. The trainers will guide the participants in the creation of business models, they will share ideas on how to improve the original ideas and finally find the best way to present the idea for the International Youth Exchange in Slovenia. At the end of November, in a public square of Palermo, the local informational campaign will take place to sensitize citizens about green entrepreneurship.

The trainers are demonstrating that they have learned fundamental concepts and are able to apply non-formal methods to transmit the green entrepreneurial spirit to local young people. From their side, the young people involved in the local activities, who have different backgrounds and ambitions, are showing to have an interest in acting in a sustainable way in everyday life and in their future careers. For sure this experience will not only be a way to learn concepts useful to became a green entrepreneur and to create a business model. It will be also a way to enrich young people own ideas through the exchange with their peers and to increase the sense of responsibility towards their local community around relevant topics such as sustainability.

Within the international project GREENTREPRENEURSHIP – Easier Done Than SAID PiNA prepared the third of a series of short video presentations of Slovenian good practices in the field of green entrepreneurship.

The video shows the development and philosophy of the Cooperative of organic producers of Slovenian Istria, a social enterprise. This is the first attempt to create a cooperative of organic producers in the Slovenian Istria and the first brand of local organic food in the region, which in 2015 won the contest for the Best idea of social enterprise.

The cooperative operates according to high ethical principles and the principles of fair trade. Its purpose is to connect organic producers, with the aim of promoting economic and social benefit of members of organic production, social entrepreneurship, green economy and sustainable development of the local environment.

Production: PiNA

Watch also:
Video 1: Natural Cosmetics Renčelj
Video 2: Solar biological dried sanitation system – mOBILNO to go

The goal of the project GREENTREPRENEURSHIP – EASIER DONE THAN SAID is to develop skills, knowledge and competences of youths in order to improve their productivity and employability in the field of green entrepreneurship.