Young entrepreneurs from across the world have until 18 October to register their teams for the Mondragon City Challenge, where they can win prizes for work on their cooperative business ideas across health, tech and climate.
The competition invites teams of 2-4 young people, between the ages of 16 and 24, to submit their ideas for cooperative innovation across three key areas: Technological and Digital, including digitisation and cybersecurity, Health and Social, including pandemic risks and health systems, and Energy and Climate, including sustainable and smart mobility.
Between November 2022 and February 2023, 20 qualifying teams will be given support from mentoring companies and tutors to develop their projects. The mentoring businesses will share with participants first-hand knowledge of how a cooperative enterprise works and the challenges it faces, and the tutors will provide ongoing support and insight from their experience in the cooperative sector.
The projects will be judged by a jury made up of professionals and technical experts from the cooperative movement, including the ICA culminating in a final event on 21 April next year. Prizes will be awarded across three categories: three teams from the 19-24 age group will win a 7-day trip to an international destination, three teams from the 16-18 age group will win a 5-day trip to Europe, and one other team will receive an “Originality Award”, for which the prize is an €800 cash prize.
To enter the competition, young people must put together a team of 2-4 people, select the challenge that motivates them from Technological and Digital, Health and Social, and Energy and Climate, and complete this registration form on the Mondragón City Challenge website.
The International Cooperative Entrepreneurship Competition is a public-private partnership between The Diario Vasco, Mondragón Town Council, the Basque Government, the Supreme Council of Basque Cooperatives, Konfekoop, MONDRAGON Corporation, Gipuzkoa Provincial Council and the University of Mondragón, aiming to encourage cooperative entrepreneurship and introduce young people to the cooperative business model.
2021 edition
The 2021 edition of the competition had 279 participants between 16 and 24 years old. They came from countries around the world, including Chile, Colombia, USA, South Korea, Mexico, Zimbabwe.
The winning team in the 16-18 years category was AG4 Project, who won a trip to Europe for their initiative to set up a cooperative to sell fresh farm produce to local residents in Tolosaldea. The winner in the 19-24 years category was the LUP project team, who was awarded a trip to South Korea for its project to develop a smart pocket magnifier for people with low vision. An €800 prize for originality was also awarded.
Photo: 2021 winners, credit: Tulankide
