Ecoprise, sustainable entrepreneurship creates virtuous ecosystems

Wednesday 15 January 2025

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Sustainable entrepreneurship and local regenerative development are now a key opportunity to respond to the global challenges of the environmental and social crisis. In a world that is seeking to move beyond traditional patterns of economic growth, approaches that integrate people’s well-being, the health of the planet and economic prosperity are needed. Sustainable entrepreneurship does not just minimise negative impacts on the environment, but also promotes solutions that regenerate and strengthen local communities, creating a virtuous circle of well-being and innovation. In this context, local regenerative development emerges as a concrete response, focusing on practices that not only preserve but also enhance natural and social resources, promoting a balanced coexistence between man and nature.

ECOPRISE has developed two key results: the Ecoprise Prototype and the Skillset of the Ecoprise Designer. The Prototype presents an innovative model of social entrepreneurship inspired by ecovillage design and permaculture, accompanied by the professional figure of the designer Ecoprise, an expert/ a able to support the birth of eco-companies in diverse contexts. The Ecoprise model is innovative and sufficiently flexible to ensure its repeatability in different contexts, and incorporates practices of eco-villages in the fields of environmental regeneration, social, economic and cultural – according to the Regeneration Map of Ecovillages – and recognizes the benefits of adopting an ecosystem approach to the development of social entrepreneurship that promotes the creation of networks and alliances rather than focusing on a single business, and/or on the work of entrepreneurs.

The Skillset of the Ecoprise Designer, on the other hand, outlines the skills needed for this professional figure, providing the tools to encourage the development of local enterprises that promote coexistence between man and nature. The aim of these two handbooks is therefore to provide concrete tools and a theoretical guide for promoting sustainable entrepreneurship and local regenerative development based on the findings of the SWOT Analysis conducted in previous months by the project partners. The SWOT analysis aimed to identify valid and applicable regenerative and sustainable practices, relevant skills and knowledge and the circumstances that the Ecoprise designer can adopt and/or recreate. It also highlighted the opportunities and potential risks associated with them. Thanks to the SWOT analysis, it was possible to draw up an innovative framework of the skills of the Ecoprise designer aimed at promoting the training of entrepreneurs already established or aspiring to become “eco-entrepreneurs”, and thus able to apply more sustainable approaches to their professional practice, focusing mainly on regenerative actions and approaches.

Building on the prototype and skillset of the Ecoprise Designer, the Ecoprise Design course will be developed in the coming months within the project, an international cross-sector study programme inspired by the Ecovillage Design Education and aimed at future ecodesigners, which through the identification of relevant learning outcomes will pave the way for its recognition at European level. The course will be integrated into existing training curricula from vocational training providers and universities partners of the Ecoprise project.

Would you like to learn all the latest news about Ecoprise? For more information about the project, the Prototype and the Skillset for the Ecoprise Designer, contact Simona Palumbo: simona.palumbo@cesie.org, check the Ecoprise website or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn e Instagram.

About the project

ECOPRISE – Future-oriented social entrepreneurship through Ecovillage Design is a project funded by Erasmus+ KA2 Partnerships for Innovation- Alliance 2023.

Partners

For further information

Read more about the project, visit https://ecoprise.eu/ and follow us on FacebookLinkedIn and Instagram.

Contact Simona Palumbo: simona.palumbo@cesie.org.

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