Global Entrepreneurship Week in Russia – At a Glance
During the week of November 17-23 Junior Achievement Russia (JA Russia) was hosting the very first Global Entrepreneurship Week. With support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation, The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of The Russian Federation,The Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the All-Russia Small and Medium Business Association “OPORA of Russia” and other partner organizations, JA Russia held more than 8,000 events in 58 regions of the Russian Federation with participation of more than 368 500 students and 12 000 entrepreneurs. And we are still counting!
We are thankful to all the participants and partners whose interest and support made the very first Global Entrepreneurship Week in Russia really successful.
A week long series of events organized across Russia throughout the week of November 17-23 2008 included:
The Day of Entrepreneur at the Russian school. A nation-wide campaign jointly organized by JA Russia and Small and Medium Business Association “OPORA of Russia” to bring together high school students and successful entrepreneurs. Small and medium business owners across Russia visited schools and met youth to inform, motivate and engage them to explore their potential as self-starters and give them insight to what it might be like to run a business. We have found that such visits have tremendously valuable impact. They add a current, real-life aspect to business education delivered through JA programs and help in the most effective way prepare young people for the world of work.
Junior Achievement Job Shadow Day - A supervised work site experience providing JA students an up-close look at what “real job” is like and how the skills they learn through JA programs are put in use in the workplace. Job shadowing gives youth a clearer focus for the future and helps make better informed choices about career fields. A key to the success of Job Shadow Day is the commitment of companies to involve their employees to provide students a supervised work site experience in an enriching, meaningful way that has a tremendous impact on the lives of the students who shadow them.
Master classes - The most successful Russian entrepreneurs presented master-classes for groups of JA students sharing their success stories and answering students’ questions on how to start business and become successful.
Round Tables and Conferences coordinated by JA Russiaduring the week of November 17-23 brought together young people, business people and educators throughout Russia. The major theme discussed was development of entrepreneurial culture, the importance of encouraging the enterprising spirit and building the infrastructure of support for development and growth of Russian small business and middle class. Many networks and new partnerships have being established through such events and the participants will spread the message of enterprise culture across Russia through numerous of activities and events.
JA-YE Company program Trade Fairs held during the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Syktyvkar (Komi Republic) and Kostroma city provided young JA-YR entrepreneurs to demonstrate their business projects and skills acquired through running a mini-company as part of their school education, under mentorship of their teachers and business volunteers. These events are raising awareness and support from government and private sector and help to prove the value of the youth entrepreneurship education to policy makers.
Youth Entrepreneurship Forum in Kazan (Tatarstan Republic) and Youth Financial Literacy Forum in Moscow organized within the Global Entrepreneurship Week provided business, education and government leaders with opportunity to contribute their experience and expertise in encouraging entrepreneurship and giving JA Russia’s students the essential knowledge and skills they need to build their careers and financial lives to attain success and achieve their goals. Making communities in which they live better off and to succeed in a fast changing economy.
JA-YE Innovation Camps that provided time and space for young people to exercise their creativity and develop action-plans to make their ideas happen. Participants were challenged by a task they need to consider within 24 hours and come up with solutions suggesting new or improved products or doing things better or faster or completely differently. Through participation in innovation camps students displayed their creativity, developed enthusiasm and self-confidence, learned how to work in a team, became more willing to take responsibility and to use their initiative. JA Russia's business partners supported innovation camps across Russia through delegation of employees as volunteering consultants and jury members.
The Moscow Innovation Camp Finale in Moscow showcased teams-finalists who presented their innovative enterprising ideas at the Central House of Entrepreneur. A panel of judges –representatives of business community committed to entrepreneurial education of youth evaluated presentations and gave their comments on the ideas and business plans of young entrepreneurs and innovators. The team-winner was “Compass” Company from Moscow School № 1229 who introduced their idea how to reduce urban transport pollution. Dennis Cheek, Vice-President of Education, Kauffman Foundation, one of global founders of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, addressed the attendees of Innovation Camp Moscow Finale and shared the global picture of events held during the Global Entrepreneurship Week around the world featuring a growing entrepreneurial movement connecting young people in networks to generate bold new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things.
HP Responsible Business Competition - a 'signature program' of HP - JA-YE partnership, designed to provide students a good understanding of the role of business in a national and global economy, the commitment of business to operate in an ethical manner, the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in action, the relevance of being informed citizens and exercising the rights and obligations of citizenship at local, national and global level. The Project that includes Online Quiz and Ideas Contest was one of the highlights of the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Russia. The results of the HP Responsible Business Ideas Contest will be announced on December 23 2008 on JA Russia web-site: www.ja-russia.ru.
JA-YE Online Challenge on November 17-19 2008 encouraged JA students to come up with innovative ideas that contribute to the “passive house” concept. Teams were working on the innovative low-energy consumption proposals through generating ideas, identifying their target markets and competitors, estimating costs, profits and possible impacts of bringing their ideas to life. A group of experts comprised of entrepreneurs is evaluating the contest participants’ proposals – the results will be published on JA Russia site www.-ja-russia.ru on December 18 2008.
Awards in special nominations “In Recognition of Young Entrepreneurial Spirit” were received at the ceremony of Ernst & Young renowned 'Entrepreneur of the Year' award by five JA Russia’s graduates – winners of JA-YE competitions who currently joined the world of business. Within the Global Entrepreneurship Week campaign its global sponsor Ernst & Young also supported a master class designed to encourage JA Russia students to implement their entrepreneurial ideas into practice.
Conference “Youth Entrepreneurship Initiatives” - a raising awareness and networking event, co-hosted by Junior Achievement and Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, was dedicated to celebration of enterprising initiatives of the Russian youth. During the Conference winners of the JA Russia Company program competitions presented their projects. Speakers at the conference provided the inspiring snapshot of entrepreneurial and social enterprise endeavors of young people.
Conference “The Role of Entrepreneurship Training in Fostering Self- Employment and Business Growth” co-hosted by Junior Achievement Russia and Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation was organized with a purpose summarize the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Russia and also to demonstrate how full-scale early-stage non-stop education in entrepreneurship makes an effective contribution to fuelling entrepreneurial culture as an important means and a pre-condition to fostering business growth, competitiveness and innovation. The Attendees at the Conference offered examples of activities held in the regions of Russia within the Global Entrepreneurship Week and discussed further steps on connecting and inspiring young people across Russia and around the globe to give youth a more prominent place on the entrepreneurship agenda and improve next generation’s chances to have rewarding entrepreneurial careers.
The Finale of JA Russia – GTTP “Responsible Tourism Development” Challenge. As part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week JA- Russia organized the Finale of “Responsible Tourism Development” Challenge” –jointly developed by JA Russia and Global Travel and Tourism Partnership (GTTP). “Responsible Tourism Development” Challenge was focused on delivery of the essential life skills to youth through social enterprise projects targeted for and used by youth at the community level. The Challenge Finale highlighted cases developed by teams of students on anticipated community problem, proposed solutions and interventions presented to local communities. Young people demonstrated creative, enterprise and can-do qualities contributing their ideas to achieve innovation solutions for responsible tourism development. The winning team from Kaluga presented their case “The Fresh Perspectives for Nikola-Lenivets Village” at the GTTP Teacher/Student Conference, held in Nice, France, November 16-20 2008.
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