During the year two events for young entrepreneurs were held: the Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program with 60 young participants for three weeks, and the Youth Idea Accelerator for interested youth during the autumn break. Ida Holmer is a young student at the School of Economics and Management (Lund University) and was a supervisor at both events. "The most important thing about education in entrepreneurship is that the participants develop a new ability and a different way of thinking," she says.
The Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program is an opportunity for young people to develop ideas, test, and package what they have learned for three weeks with the help of supervisors and jury members from the support system. During the summer of 2020, the number of available spots at the program increased from 20 to 60 and the aim is for young people to be able to create their own jobs and improve their future prospects. One of the supervisors was Ida Holmer, a 22-year-old student with her eyes set on a master's degree in business administration. She has already had the opportunity to work with the Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program in both eastern Göinge and Lund, as well as with entrepreneurs from the Dream Team of Giffoni Innovation Hub, Italy.
– It's fun working with young entrepreneurs, says Ida. In my opinion, the most important thing is not that they need to have a specific idea or even that they should become entrepreneurs – but rather that they develop a new ability and a new way of thinking. At the entrepreneurial programs they develop knowledge, which they don’t get in school, and it is about learning to be able to make more concrete what they want to do, to go from idea to action, how they can find help, and in general to question what is possible.
During the autumn break, both summer holiday entrepreneurs and other young people with ideas could join the Youth Idea Accelerator and receive help with idea development.
– It was like the Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program but shorter, says Ida. Many young people have ideas that they have been thinking about for a long time, but it is not until they have the opportunity to test that the ideas can improve. Here young people had the opportunity to learn pitch techniques and sales, but also what they can do to find a solution or to put forward proposals.
Why do you work with entrepreneurs?
– It is a job that gives me a lot. For example, I follow several entrepreneurs I worked with via social media. What I mostly notice is that there is a drive in them and that they often come up with new ideas. I would like to think that they have obtained that approach, that they can do something about things, from the Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program.
The Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program is run by the municipal office, together with the office of Social Administration and the office for Culture and Leisure Administration.
Over the span of three weeks, 60 young people split into four groups had the opportunity to learn about developing ideas, test, and package what they learned with the help of supervisors and jury members from the support system. The aim was for the youth to be able to create their own jobs and improve their future prospects.
– 60 participants and three internships from last year's Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program was a participant record, says Jimmy Sok, responsible for the Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program. We were also in four different places - Stenkrossen, Stora Södergatan, Ideon and ComUng. It went very well, and 87 percent answered that they would like to continue working with young entrepreneurship.
The Youth Idea Accelerator is an autumn break program for young people/young adults between the ages of 12-25 who have ideas that they want to develop. The youth received ideas coaching from experienced business and project coaches on site at the Hedda Andersson upper secondary school’s premises. Further to this, there were interesting guests and lecturers on site. The event was carried out by Lund municipality's department for Sustainable Growth, Culture & Leisure Administration, the Social Administration, Ideon Science Park and Hedda Andersson upper secondary school.
– It was great to see that many from the Summer Holiday Entrepreneurs program had continued developing and continued in the accelerator, says Lotta Wessfeldt, Ideon Science Park. Many of them had really sharp business ideas and have come a long way. We have a good network in Lund to help them with valuable contacts. It will be really great to follow them in the future.
Translation: Ben Dohrmann
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