Happy Entrepreneur
Following the success of the project ImprendiTO, Turin Hub was interested in scaling up its impact in the area of education for entrepreneurship to address the problem of the mismatch between the demands of the local job market and the expectations of young people entering it.
The goals, vision and needs of the Turin Hub happened to be aligned with the “Coca Cola Challenge for the Global Shapers Community” announced in 2014 offering several grants of up to 50,000 euro. Turin Hub designed a project specifically for the competition, carried out two pilot programmes, and made it into the final selections.
The concept of the project consisted of two interdependent pillars:
- Interactive business games facilitated by Shapers on the “Happy Entrepreneur Roadshow”
- Building an educational digital platform with simple games stimulating entrepreneurship.
Within the two pilot programmes, Shapers tested their concept of the game starting from the famous “Marshmallow challenge” (in the classic version, it requires small teams to build the tallest free-standing structure possible in a limited time using 20 sticks of spaghetti, 1 m. of a tape, one 1 m. of string, and one marshmallow). The game’s format included food and Coca-Cola drinks, adding up to the budget of around 50 euros per class.
The pilot programme was tested with two groups of 40 students each, totalling 80 students aged 18-23. 10% of the participants reported that the activity has significantly changed their understanding or perception of entrepreneurship.
Although the ideas for the roadshow and the digital platform did not turn into reality, being shortlisted in a competition for the 50,000 euro grant marked a major breakthrough for the Hub, consolidated the team, and helped it design other impactful projects.