The two-year-long ESI Student Innovation Programme will come to a close in December. Its goal was to develop competencies in socially responsible and environmentally sustainable business practices among future entrepreneurs. A total of 801 students from 16 educational institutions took part.
Over the course of the two years, courses, incubators, webinars and other activities were carried out with the aim of developing students’ skillset, confronting them with real industry problems, providing access to leading professionals, as well as offering cutting-edge training to equip them with insights into strategic priorities at national and European Union levels.
The programme was divided into four thematic blocks, where students were exposed to different aspects of entrepreneurship – education, incubation, inspiration and post-incubation support. As most events were organised in English, 31% of the participants were foreign students.
As part of the education block, participants could participate in 12 short courses with a combined academic weighting of 39 ECTS. Six business laboratories were implemented – two at SSE Riga, two at the Rezekne Academy of Technology, and two in cooperation with SEB Youth Lab. Additionally, participants could engage in several short courses: Inclusive Startupreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investing, Eco-innovation and Sustainability Management, and Platform Strategy for New Enterprises.
The programme was implemented by several leading higher education institutions in Latvia and the Baltic region – Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Art Academy of Latvia, Riga Graduate School of Law, Rezekne Academy of Technology, Institute of Solid State Physics at the University of Latvia, Techhub Riga, Riga Techgirls, Social Entrepreneurship Association of Latvia, Zero Waste Latvia, Latvian Startup Association, Civitta, Letera, SEB Latvija and Rimi Baltic.
The programme is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
