With a focus on boosting entrepreneurship in the Federal District, the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and the Ideias do Futuro Institute launched, this Tuesday (02), the district stage of the Young League Challenge. The initiative aims to stimulate innovative projects capable of presenting relevant solutions for society, schools and the country.
The launch of the district stage of the Young League Challenge took place at the Santa Maria Technical School, with the presence of the president of Sebrae Nacional, Décio Lima, the superintendent of Sebrae in DF, Rose Rainha, and the Secretary of Education, Hélvia Paranaguá. The second edition of the initiative will include projects by young people from Elementary, Secondary, Professional and Higher Education interested in developing their skills in creativity, innovation, planning and leadership.
The objective of the action is to support the creation of solutions to problems faced by schools and communities in which students are inserted, involving analogue and digital technology. To participate, students must come together in teams made up of two to five members, always with the support of a mentor teacher, and fill out the electronic form available on the Desafio Liga Jovem website by June 7th.
For the superintendent of Sebrae-DF, Rose Rainha, the initiative benefits everyone, from students to the community: “The Young League Challenge is a way of bringing these young people to talk about business and entrepreneurship. Young people sign up as a group, so it’s a team thinking about the same problem and developing solutions for our society. It’s a challenge that goes all over Brazil so that we can also learn about ideas from other places in our country.”
Participants participated throughout the year in a training trail with in-person and online activities. At the end of the initiative, students will receive a certificate of course completion and the best projects will be rewarded with the delivery of smartphones, notebooks, tablets and purchase vouchers, in addition to participation in national and international technical missions.
Sebrae for Brazil
The president of Sebrae Nacional, Décio Lima, highlighted that the visit to the DF is part of the Sebrae Pelo Brasil Project, which aims to provide the opportunity to get to know local potential up close and discuss challenges and strategies for promoting entrepreneurship, job creation and income, and reduction of inequalities in different regions of the country.
“The visit to DF is a recurring event that I am doing in all Brazilian states. Sebrae Nacional is an entity that covers the entire territory of Brazil. We have an extraordinary construction produced in the reach of the entrepreneurial spirit, of training, of the construction of what is fundamental for those who want to undertake in the management of their business, in addition to guaranteeing a good environment for those who want to produce their creativity and transform it into income”.
During the visit to the Santa Maria Technical School, authorities also learned about three ideas from students from the Youth Entrepreneurship Center (NEJ) project. The institution, opened last year, works in partnership with Sebrae-DF and the DF Education Department. The Secretary of Education, Hélvia Paranaguá, emphasized that the collaboration between the Government of the Federal District (GDF) and Sebrae has also been working in other actions since 2020.
“I always say that public education is not carried out by the government alone. We need these partnerships, it is important that the third sector works together with the state to offer quality public education. We began the partnership with Sebrae in 2020, and currently more than 450,000 public school students have already attended Sebrae classes, lectures and training. In technical schools, this teaching goes further, because it is a course focused on entrepreneurship. Sebrae also offered a postgraduate course for public school teachers, and 555 have already taken it and graduated, and now, we have over 700 educators interested in the course”.
Revitalization of the City Park Exhibition Pavilion
The project to revitalize the Parque da Cidade Exhibition Pavilion, which is in the negotiation phase between the GDF and Sebrae, was also presented to President Décio Lima during a visit by the Sebrae Pelo Brasil Project. With this initiative, the institution aims to strengthen the tourism, events and gastronomy sectors.
Sebrae’s idea is to completely revitalize the space and bring major national and international fairs to the population of DF. The project was presented to Decio by Sebrae’s strategy and public policy manager, Jorge Adriano: “So far the project is still a dream, we have studied a lot the potential of Brasília and how we can change the economic dynamics of Brasília a little. city that still depends heavily on the public sector. So, the strategy of bringing a creative economy hub to Brasília represents a lot of jobs and income for the city’s future”, said Adriano.
“We are still dreaming about what we can do with this space and what potential this space actually has. A space to hold events is the first idea that comes to mind, but what else can be done, what is the total potential and how can we better explore the Parque da Cidade Exhibition Pavilion. So, we are currently trying to imagine how we can use the space and talking to the government. We want to integrate Sebrae Nacional and GDF in this proposal”, added Adriano.
