The big bang of educational startup weekends in Dolenjska

An entrepreneur is not born, they are made. If they are created, to what extent can an individual be formed into an entrepreneur already at school? Schools around the world have been trying to answer this question with entrepreneurship programs for at least two decades. In Dolenjska, we are almost champions in this field, as 14 primary, 6 secondary and 6 tertiary educational organizations participate in school entrepreneurship programs. On Friday and Saturday, November 10 and 11, a big entrepreneurship boom took place in Dolenjska, as more than 150 pupils and students took part in the entrepreneurship weekends, which is by far the most so far.

This year’s startup weekends took place in 3 elementary school and 1 secondary school consortia. Startup weekends were organized by SPIRIT, a public agency, at Novo mesto Gymnasium, Stopiče Primary School, and Šmarjeta Primary School, and at the Podbreznik Business Incubator, the event was held within the framework of the PoMP – Support for young people in entrepreneurship project, which is funded by Norwegian Grants. All startup weekends were coordinated by the Novo mesto Development Center. The largest consortium took place at the Novo mesto Gymnasium, as there were 43 participants from 4 secondary schools working in 13 teams.

The teams spent the whole Friday and Saturday developing their business models, and at the end they presented them to the commissions. At the end of all startup weekends, the top 3 teams were announced. The goal of the startup weekends is not so much to reach the best places, as much as it is the first step in preparing for larger competitions, such as Junior Achievement, POPRI, or ScienceJam.

The PoMP project is supported by the Norway Grants within the framework of the Education, Scholarships, Apprenticeship, and Youth Entrepreneurship program. The project partners, the Primorska Technology Park, Development Center of Novo mesto, Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU, SAŠA Incubator, Technology Park Ljubljana, and Scientific Research Center Bistra, Ptuj, are aware that the development of entrepreneurship competence is key for the future, when the citizens of Europe will be faced with many serious challenges.  With the project and pilot events, we are adding another pebble to the mosaic of efforts for a richer, greener, and more sustainable future.

Top teams by consortia: