en 
es
Jovesolides Colombia has signed a collaboration agreement with the university UNICOLOMBO in Cartagena, Colombia, with a view to facilitating the exchange of experiences and good practices in social entrepreneurship and the identification of social needs in education, research and training at university level. As a result of this agreement, the InnovaT project is now being implemented in Colombia.
Recently Cartagena de Indias was once again host to one of our young social entrepreneurship laboratories, the main goal of which is to use social innovation to promote young entrepreneurship. Having carried out a first round of laboratories with young people from the communities of Boquilla, Tierra Baja and Puerto Rey, this second round began last October. This time the participants will delve deeper into the learning and personal growth opportunities that social entrepreneurship allows, from reflection to learning, as well as the replicability of these activities in other organisations or youth groups.
A total of ten laboratories will be run in pursuit of this goal, alongside additional support activities, as facilitating tools. The workshops will allow 40 young people to get trained in the Creative Solutions for Social Problems (CSSP) method, to boost their skills and abilities in social entrepreneurship.
Jovesolides Colombia believe that “focusing the project on the UNICOLOMBO community is sensible, since its student population has scant economic resources and is often vulnerable to social exclusion (the displaced, minority ethnicities, afro-Colombian and people with disabilities)”. A spokesperson further adds that “by choosing young people from diverse vulnerable sectors of the city of Cartagena, our interventions are not limited to a specific community and its particular needs, but rather simultaneous actions are being carried out throughout the city. This way, each young person collaborating in the project becomes a “multiplier” of the knowledge they acquire through the implementation of the CSSP method in their neighbourhood, community or sector”.
The young participants in the project were selected from among the 10 academic programmes offered at UNICOLOMBO, prioritising those from the vulnerable communities of Cartagena and surroundings towns. Aracelly Peña Serrano, president of Red Jovesolides and CEO of Jovesolides Columbia, tells us: “The idea is to bring the project into contact with young undergraduate students. It is an initiative of Jovesolides Colombia created as a means of better attending the needs of young people in the towns surrounding Cartagena”.
UNICOLOMBO is a university institution aimed at providing an all-round education to bilingual professionals who will ultimately work in the service of society, with a commitment to respecting and upholding ethical values and the Caribbean cultural identity.
The project began in October and will run for six months. It is being led by Fundación Jovesolides Colombia, with the support of the Joves Solidaris groups in Spain, including Jovesolides and the University of Valencia. InnovaT, which forms part of the key action to promote capacity building in the field of youth in Latin American and European countries, is funded by SeDI and the European Union.
