New Course on “Innovation & Youth Entrepreneurship In the Mediterranean Agro-Food Sector”

• It aims to empower the younger generation and improve their employability opportunities by promoting their active involvement in the economic development of their regions.
• Students will be able to improve entrepreneurial culture, to contribute to the design, development and implementation of innovative projects, to launch new business initiatives (start-ups), to provide consultancy services for innovation processes and methods (innovation brokers).

Startup and Business management, Agro-food innovation, Social Innovation in agribusiness,

12 participants will be selected from graduate students, young researchers, extension agents, civil servants, professionals in agriculture and rural development coming from the Mediterranean region (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey,) and from some Sub-Saharan countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea).

The master course will balance face-to-face lectures, teamwork and practical work oriented to the elaboration of innovative and entrepreneurial projects, from the design to the validation of innovative solutions, prototyping and market testing, using the technological facilities available at MEDAB (experimental fields, laboratories, fablab) and in close collaboration with agro-food enterprises.

Start-up creation in the agro-food sector will be the major areas developed in the course. Students will use the most innovative techniques and tools that are used in the fields of service design, design thinking, trend-watching, lean start-up, growth hacking and brand identity, which are capable of creating memorable and successful experiences and start-ups.