Ten young people from West Donegal are preparing to fly with Donegal Youth Service to the Azores this coming weekend to take part in a week-long International Creative Jam and brainstorm on innovative ideas to help the blue economy.
As part of the Interreg Atlantic Area co-funded project, ATLIC, the ten young people, who are all students at Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada, Árainn Mhór, will make the long journey to the Azores – sometimes referred to as the Hawaii of Europe – with Donegal Youth Service who have been delivering the ATLIC project in the county since 2023.
The project aims to encourage young people to think about improving the blue economy by coming up with their own innovative and potentially entrepreneurial ideas that will address issues that have been presented to them by those involved in the sector.
Donegal Youth Service CEO, Lorraine Thompson, who will also be making the journey to take part in the event said that the organisation is delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to young people in the county.
“We have been working with our project partners in France, Portugal and Spain for the last couple of years to bring this project to young people from across the Atlantic Area of Europe and give them the opportunity to work with experts, SMEs and organisations and come up with innovative solutions to improve the blue economy. It will also introduce them to the possibility of entrepreneurship as a career path”, Lorraine said.
Lorraine went on to explain the long term objectives of the project. “We hope to leave a legacy of a blue economy innovation community of young people across the Atlantic Area, and the project has already seen some amazing ideas developed”, she said.
“The project is for young people aged 16-30, and the group we will be bringing to this year’s creative event will be the youngest of those gathered. They have shown great interest and enthusiasm for the project and were keen to put in an application to attend the event when we offered them the opportunity. It will be a great experience for them to not only meet and spend three days working at the University of the Azores with many young people from France, Portugal, Spain, Madeira and the Azores, but they will also be mentored by experts and stakeholders from the blue economy sector, who will also go on to judge the presentations of the solutions the young people come up with at the end of the event.”
Speaking of what has still to come for the project, Lorraine said, “We’d like to thank Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada who have welcomed the project into the school and we think it is a great opportunity for everyone involved that we are able to deliver this project to, and work with, young people who live in coastal communities. They have shown that they are very passionate and already knowledgeable about issues that need addressing in those unique communities. When we get back from the Azores we will then be entering into the Innoblue Labs stage of the project where the young people will continue to work on and develop their ideas that could possibly go on to be scalable projects, services or even small businesses, and we’re very excited to see what the future holds for all our budding young entrepreneurs.”