Project name: SING – Synergos innom nordens gröna bälte (synergies within he green belt of the north)
Project period: 01.01.2024 – 31.12.2026
Partner organization: Coompanion
Project workers from KBT Vocational College: Preben Hegland, Karl Johan Johansen, Roger Santokhie and Silje Jørgensen
The project is funded through the Interreg Sweden-Norway program and the European Union: the European Regional Development Fund. In addition, Trøndelag County Municipality has contributed co-financing.
Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Mid-Norway and Mid-Norrland
The goal of SING is to improve sustainable growth and competitiveness for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to create new jobs in such companies. The project will work to strengthen the entrepreneurial knowledge and abilities of entrepreneurs in the border region, particularly focusing on sparsely populated areas on both sides of the border. How can those living in the area benefit from each other across the border?
Both KBT Vocational College and Coompanion work on issues related to social entrepreneurship. By collaborating, Norwegian and Swedish environments can discover new solutions for knowledge transfer and cooperation between individuals and organizations within social entrepreneurship. This can lead to increased competitiveness and innovation capacity among SMEs in the region.
Joint Digital Learning Program and Networking
In SING, we aim to develop a digital learning program, facilitate networking, and enhance skills in social entrepreneurship for SMEs. We will disseminate and increase knowledge about business models tailored to social entrepreneurship.
The main goal of the project is to create a support structure that promotes and strengthens social entrepreneurship whose ideas are based on sustainability and social benefit. The project will contribute to a smarter border region with increased competitiveness and innovation capacity for established SMEs and individuals. We will achieve this through:
- Smart and inspiring solutions for knowledge exchange
- Collaboration
- Learning between individuals and organizations within social entrepreneurship
The idea is to help develop new business ideas that increase the resilience of companies in the border region of Trøndelag and Mid-Norrland. Through cross-border cooperation and the exchange of expertise between people and organizations within social entrepreneurship, the project can help develop and adapt tested methods with mutual learning to promote ideas/initiatives for resilient communities in the border area of Trøndelag and Mid-Norrland.
What do we aim to achieve in SING?
The project will work towards several outcome goals, which will have both short- and long-term effects.
Outcome Goal 1: Customized Learning System Across Borders
- Coompanion and KBT Vocational College coordinate and create a series of capacity-building learning programs tailored to common societal challenges.
- Materials produced in both Norwegian and Swedish.
- Developed methodology for mutual learning between social entrepreneurs for locally-led development and promotion of social entrepreneurship across the border.
- The learning programs increase entrepreneurs’ ability to take the next step in starting sustainable businesses and enhance established companies’ ability to develop new socially beneficial ideas. This can lead to increased entrepreneurship, greater diversity in the business community, and more individuals from underrepresented groups starting, running, and working in businesses.
Outcome Goal 2: Build Sectoral and Cross-Sector Networks Among Companies in the Border Region
KBT Vocational College and Coompanion coordinate and facilitate knowledge-raising events where decision-makers participate and identify common societal challenges that can be alleviated or solved through entrepreneurship and politically anchored strategies/action plans.
Outcome Goal 3: Develop and Validate a Digital Learning Program for Social Entrepreneurs
Here, we envision a hub across the border that facilitates learning programs modeled after the Social Enterprise Academy in Sweden and Scotland, where we have already established a collaboration.
The project is funded through the Interreg Sweden-Norway program and the European Union: the European Regional Development Fund. In addition, Trøndelag County Municipality has contributed co-financing.
This text was translated from Norwegian with help from the AI-tool chatgpt.