CB0600324 – HeritageHunters&Business - Using the Local Nature and Cultural Heritage for Entrepreneurship ( Kohaliku looduse ja kultuuripärandi kasutamine ettevõtluses)

General

Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation (lead partneris the lead partner, overseeing project coordination, management, and cross-border collaboration. It brings strong expertise in regional development and cultural heritage and ensures effective implementation across both countries.

Viljandi Culture Academy develops and delivers the entrepreneurship training program, including curriculum design, mentorship, and outcome assessment, ensuring high-quality and relevant capacity-building activities.

The Municipality of Imatra organizes local activities in Finland, engages stakeholders, and promotes the project regionally, leveraging its local networks and knowledge to ensure strong community impact.

The Finnish Wilderness Heritage Museum Foundation integrates cultural and natural heritage into the project, co-designs training modules, and explores heritage-based entrepreneurial opportunities through its interpretive expertise.

Project manager: Ederi Ojasoo, ederi.ojasoo@gmail.com

Project aim:

To empower young people in the border regions of Imatra (Finland) and northeast Estonia (Lake Peipsi area) by providing entrepreneurship training that leverages local nature and cultural heritage, with the goal of reducing youth unemployment, preventing migration, and fostering sustainable, culturally rooted economic development.

Summary
In the border regions of Imatra (Finland) and northeastern Estonia, youth unemployment rates are significantly higher than national averages, with limited job opportunities and low wages driving young people to leave their communities. This project addresses the lack of employment and self-realization opportunities for young people in these areas. By providing entrepreneurship training to 72 young participants, the project equips them with the skills and resources to start businesses rooted in local nature and cultural heritage. This approach fosters sustainable economic growth, encourages youth to stay in their regions, and helps preserve local identity and traditions.

Activities

Project includes 3 training programme to young people

The training program aims to equip participants with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to develope business ideas that are using unique assets of the regions—its landscapes, biodiversity, historical sites, traditions, and artistic heritage. This approach not only encourages sustainable economic development but also promotes the preservation of local identity and cultural heritage in both Estonia and Finland.

Modules are:
- Introduction to nature and cultural heritage and entrepreneurship
- Identifying business opportunities
- Business planning and development
- Marketing and branding for cultural heritage in business
- Funding sources and financial management description
- Networking and mentorship in Estonia-Finland
- Cultural heritage preservation and presentation in Estonia and Finland
- Business establishing and sustainability