Regional Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs (RISE) Phase 2, is a continuation of the ‘WB6 Lab project’, which intends to open new spaces of reconciliation for the youth of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) through social entrepreneurship.  

The project is implemented by Balkan Green Foundation in cooperation with the Consortium consisting of GROUPE SOS Pulse, RYCO, SEEYN, and the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO), and supported by the Agence Française de Développement, Erasmus + Programme and Regional Youth Cooperation Office.

The project focuses on the implementation of a regional program of support for social entrepreneurship ideas for young people. The program is composed of an ideation phase and an incubation phase, aiming to enable project leaders to develop innovative solutions to the challenges faced by their communities. This way, it empowers young people to become actors of change within their community(ies) by developing solutions with high social and environmental impact, and confronting them at the regional scale. The program is implemented three times in three cycles called “RISE Journeys”.

Over the RISE project, partners will work together towards the capacity building of 6 local incubators (VET providers). Partners will co-construct several innovative pedagogical tools and materials on social entrepreneurship and on interculturality. Capacity-building activities will be organized to improve the knowledge, technical and pedagogical skills of VET trainers and coaches and enable them to enroll high quality and innovative social entrepreneurship support programs fostering reconciliation and the building of a common future in the region. This, in return, will contribute to a better alignment between VET structures and the emerging social entrepreneurship market in the country. Further by implementing the project throughout all of the Western Balkans, by fostering mobility and by sharing and showcasing the results of the project, the project intends to foster cooperation within the region and strengthen the regional ecosystem.