The GREENOVATION Challenge, Sogn og Fjordane County Council (Norway)

Autumn 2015 – The GREENOVATION Challenge, a Junior Achievement Innovation camp in Norway gathering participants from Bulgaria, Romania and Norway

This autumn 2015, our Norwegian member Sogn og Fjordane County Council, visited Firda high school in Sandane, a village at the west coast of Norway.

“This was not just another day of school. Students from Bulgaria, Romania and Norway are preparing for the upcoming assignment about trends and challenges in the energy area. These students are part of an innovation camp with focus on sources of energy and how this field will develop in the future. For the next two days they are going to solve a given assignment in groups and present their solutions in front of a jury. At their disposal are mentors with expertise in renewable energy.”

The camp is a result of an initiative taken by Chairman of the County Council Aashild Kjelsnes and Holger Aasen from the organization Junior Achievement Sogn og Fjordane (Ungt Entreprenørskap in Norwegian).The project was developed after Euromontana’s European Mountain Convention 2012 that took place in Chambery and that was focusing on youth. The idea was to organize international youth camps in order to develop entrepreneurial skills among youths. Partners of the project were Romontana, a Romanian Euromontana’s member and Junior) and dedicated people from the partnering countries, the camp was realized in Norway this fall.

Judging by the feedback of participants, the camp has been a huge success both in terms of building knowledge, cultural exchange and social learning. The assignment provided students the opportunity to be innovative, to work in a team and to have fun while they learn. These students will be part of a working life that’s becoming more international each day, and the camp acknowledges this reality. It prepared students on how to cooperate with people from a different culture and on topics that are of global concern.

Working with this innovation camp has led the partners to submit an application for another Erasmus+ project, where Greece and Latvia are also invited. Each of the five countries were represented by Junior Achievement. The new project focuses on strengthening green entrepreneurship among teachers. The application has been approved and the project will begin this fall.

“Based on the good experience we’ve had until now we look forward to continuing the collaboration with our partners and are excited to see where it leads us,” said Jørn Helgheim from Junior Achievement Sogn og Fjordane and the host of the Norwegian camp.

More details on the project are available here.