GTL – Green Tec Labs

Background

The target regions (Athens and Crete in Greece, Andalusia in Spain and Nitra in Slovakia) are experiencing a comprehensive structural change as well as a structurally weak labour market. The development of new services and business ideas has the potential to create new, green jobs while at the same time supporting consumers in the use of climate-friendly technologies. To advance this process, it is essential to support young people in these regions in shaping structural change into new labour markets.

Active participants collaborating in a Workshop. Photo: (c) FIAP

Project

To achieve this, the project supports green start-ups and project ideas, addressing creative young people with technical competences who are interested in or motivated for green ideas. It particularly encourages young women to develop and implement green business ideas.

The project establishes local, mobile and virtual labs which offer competence development and technical expertise for entrepreneurship. This includes support in developing business ideas and professional ‘green’ competences, in legal issues and innovation management, as well as in developing green proposals for funding programmes. Furthermore, the labs offer training in network management, including knowledge exchange, cluster formation, co-creative cooperation management and peer coaching through existing green enterprises.

Another measure implemented by the project is to set up a transcultural “GreenTecLab” in form of an interactive, virtual coworking platform. The platform features virtual conferences, meetings, training courses and individual consultations in order to establish a network and knowledge exchange between and among the European partners and potential founders in the target regions.