The European Union (EU) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) started the Ideation Bootcamp to help generate innovative business solutions to social challenges.  

As part of an EU-funded project to support the civil society organisations, the programme brought together around 70 social entrepreneurs, socially oriented businesses, and civil society organizations from Aghdam, Baku, Bilasuvar, Ganja, Goranbay, Goychay, Qazakh, Qusar, Lankaran, Masallı, Mingachevir, Neftchala, Shamkir, Sheki, Yardimli və Zagatala cities. The bootcamp participants represent diverse backgrounds ranging from fund-raising platforms to CSOs engaged in local development and working with vulnerable communities.  The primary goal of the ideation boot camp is to encourage creative thinking and generate innovative business ideas that bring income and help address challenges that are impeding the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The participants learnt about global practices in social entrepreneurship, and how to design   a viable business while tackling social issues. The workshops were delivered by                                               a multidisciplinary team of international and local experts, including  the master trainers who graduated from the project’s previous Training of Trainers programme.

The bootcamp participants improved their knowledge on generating social impact through an entrepreneurial approach and gained an opportunity to network and work collaboratively towards the SDGs. 

Selected ideas out of this Ideation Bootcamp will be a part of the project’s upcoming incubation and acceleration programme in which the best business plans will receive financial support. 

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The Ideation Bootcamp is organised by the ‘Developing innovation-driven and sustainable civil society in Azerbaijan’ project, funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP. The project aims to support an increase in civil society organisations’ capacities to engage in policy-making processes, help local development, and promote social entrepreneurship in the country.

Media contact:

For media inquiries, please contact Leyla Gurbanova, Communications and Visibility Specialist for UNDP in Azerbaijan at  leyla.gurbanova@undp.org. 

Gulnara Bayramova, Press and Information Officer at the Delegation of the European Union to Azerbaijan at gulnara.bayramova@eeas.europa.eu.

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