What We’ve Built

U-SOLVE

    Urban sustainable development SOLutions Valuing Entreprenership

    The implementation of the United Nations ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ in urban areas is of crucial importance to make our cities sustainable, livable and resilient over the long term. Vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems can bring a valuable contribution in designing innovative solutions that have a positive impact against the negative effects of climate change. To ensure potential entrepreneurs, especially young people, can turn ideas into actual businesses, an enabling ecosystem, supported by public authorities, is needed. U-SOLVE intends to enhance support to young entrepreneurs in urban areas with focus on the environment and sustainable development. The project will create experimental pathways for place-based strategies, suitable for the Mediterranean countries, where the entrepreneurial energy is oriented towards sustainable and integrated territorial development.

    The general objective of the Programme is to foster fair, equitable and sustainable economic, social and territorial development, which may advance cross-border integration and valorise participating countries’ territories and values. The strategy is based on the following two overall objectives:

    • Promote economic and social development
    • Address common challenges in the environment

     

    KEY INFORMATION
    Acronym:U-SOLVE
    Full title:Urban sustainable development SOLutions Valuing Entreprenership
    Thematic objective: A.1 Business and SMEs development
    Priority: A.1.1 Start-ups and recently established enterprises
    Countries: Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt

    PROJECT DURATION
    Start date 15 October 2020
    End date 14 April 2023

    FINANCIAL DATA
    Total budget 3.5 million
    EU contribution 3.2 million
    Project co-financing 10%

     

     

    Objective
    To create a model of urban development based on innovative entrepreneurship, addressing sustainable development challenges, boosting urban business ecosystems and creating jobs in emerging social and environmental markets

    What will be improved?
    U-SOLVE will establish a supporting process devoted to young and women innovative entrepreneurs with both local impact and high growth potential, to boost the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in urban contexts. The impact on income generation for start-ups will be substantial, with a minimum of 20 new business contracts signed. As a consequence, the project is expecting to generate at least 40 new jobs in the supported start-ups. Moreover, the network of urban hubs, to be generated by the project, will represent a powerful tool, at Mediterranean level, where local policy-makers, knowledge providers, development agencies, innovators and impact investors will act as a community for change, producing economic value within a sustainable development framework. Over a mid-long term perspective, the project will contribute to the shift to an integrated, impact-oriented approach to entrepreneurship, where the local and global dimensions of new business are connected to the sustainable development paradigm.

    Who will benefit?
    420 young and women entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs
    30 start-ups operating in urban contexts
    Local urban populations

    Expected achievements
    7 roadmaps and methodologies to enhance create urban ecosystems
    120 start-uppers trained to strengthen the scaling-up potential of their business ideas
    30 start-up companies addressing environmental issues with innovative ideas that can be turned into new services or products
    6 urban hubs set up as incubators for entrepreneurs
    7 strategic documents on urban entrepreneurial policy for sustainable development in the Mediterranean area

    Contribution to policy-making
    The interaction with decision-makers during the entrepreneurship ecosystem analysis and when establishing the project urban hubs will foster sustainable results at social, economic and policy levels. A full set of activities of the project is dedicated to produce policy proposals addressed to promote entrepreneurship as a tool for sustainable development in urban areas, with a direct involvement of public institutions throughout their elaboration. Finally, through a series of transnational workshops between responsible institutions in each participating city, a comparison among the strategies will be made in order to define a common policy at Mediterranean level.

     

    DISCLAIMER:
    This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union under the ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme. The content of this document is the sole responsibility of Consorzio Arca & e-trikala S.A. and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union or the Programme management structures.

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