Living Lab, organized by LAG Panagyurishte, Strelcha, Lesichovo, Bulgaria

The event was held at the office of the LAG Panagyurishte, Strelcha, Lesichovo on June 10, 2022. It was attended by three people from the LAG team and 6 interested parties – 2 representatives of municipalities – Strelcha and Lesichovo, 1 representative of the Vocational High School in Panagyurishte, 2 representatives of local NGOs working with young people and 1 employer. The project coordinator presented the project – the partners, the project activities and the expected ones were presented. Then, an individual Q-TEST, specially developed for the project, was conducted, during which each of the participants had to fill in their own scale regarding the most important problems that hinder the development of youth entrepreneurship in rural areas. After that, a discussion was held on the topic, and recommendations were made for the future implementation of the project. The event ended with a presentation of the Rural Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Panel and the upcoming international meeting. The Memorandum of Understanding was also presented, which aroused special interest among representatives of the two municipalities.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by 2 municipalities and 2 NGOs

The main conclusions after the discussions in all partner countries were:

• Young people should see role models – successful entrepreneurs who came from the same environment as them. In addition, the family environment is very important. Young people whose parents/relatives are entrepreneurs have an additional incentive to start a business. If they live among entrepreneurs, they will probably end up being entrepreneurs too.
• Encouraging many trips abroad so that young people can get to know other experiences, good practices and ideas.
• Teaching young entrepreneurs to focus on soft skills, – negotiation, critical thinking, resilience, this is everything behind knowing how to create your own business.
• Digitization enables young people to learn online. But the problem is that the villages do not have optical connections to ensure that young people can get a digital education.
• Creation of municipal councils for the promotion of (youth) entrepreneurship in the municipalities, in which representatives of relevant municipal directorates, municipal councilors, representatives of educational institutions (schools, universities), of local business organizations, student councils, as well as recognizable and socially engaged young entrepreneurs;
• Competitions for young entrepreneurs by municipalities, as they most fully reflect local characteristics and opportunities for starting a business
• Initiation of local mentoring programs with people from practice for students and high school students in order to stimulate entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial activity;

On this basis, the following project results will be developed. In the month of July, the International event will be held, where the participants in the Rural entrepreneur ecosystem will be determined and a Memorandum of Understanding and future cooperation will be signed.