This week, students from 9 countries participated in the Social Innovation Relay (SIR) 2024 Final, organised by JA Europe in partnership with the NN Group. The SIR helps secondary school students think and act like social entrepreneurs. They create business solutions to address social needs, providing hands-on skills and entrepreneurial expertise.

We are thrilled to announce this year’s winning teams:

School Buddy from Greece

School Buddy is a platform for the exchange and donation of educational material, providing schools, students and teachers with the necessary assets and resources. It enhances the educational process and reduces social inequalities. This business idea is unique due to its social and ecological impact. The platform also ensures the quality of materials and proper distribution among schools, while constantly looking for ways to secure sponsorships and other resources.

ECA from Spain

Nowadays, youngsters lack the capacity to identify and manage their emotions. ECA offers the solution to this problem, by providing a fun and interesting way to learn emotional intelligence either alone or with friends. But ECA doesn’t only do this. It is also a tool to learn culture, because of the paintings related to the emotions in each card. Our deck can be used in all types of situations, ranging from a psycologist’s office to a highschool class. ECA, COLOUR YOUR EMOTIONS!

The Patterns of Aid from Poland

The Patterns Of Aid is a company that will create patchwork quilts and pillows from use materials to donate them to homeless shelters and sell through our website. We want to employ homeless people who are ready to work and Ukrainian women. Materials will be obtained from used clothes collections at schools. We intend to promote our activities using social media accounts, website and posters. We will donate 7% of our total income to foundations and shelters for homeless people and UNICEF.

Congratulations to all students involved!

The judges

The 2024 jury was composed of

Shervin Fekri, International Programme Manager, Corporate Citizenship at NN Group

David Halabisky, Project Coordinator, Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurship at OECD

Alexia Vasilaki, Co-Founder of Drug and Drop, Forbes 30 under 30 list, JA Greece Alumni

Emiel Pieters, CFO of NN Hungary

“As a JA alumna, I know firsthand the important value these experiences bring. The winning teams at the Social Innovation Relay showcase the remarkable impact and creativity of young minds addressing social issues. These initiatives not only provide students with entrepreneurial skills but also inspire them to envision and create a better future, driving positive change in their communities.” Said Alexia Vasilaki, Co-Founder of Drug and Drop, Forbes 30 under 30 list, JA Greece Alumni

Gen-E 2024

Discover these winning teams and more in the Gen-E 2024 Virtual Expo on www.gen-e.eu

JA Europe

JA Europe is the largest and leading organisation in Europe dedicated to inspire and prepare young people to succeed. For over 100 years, JA Worldwide has delivered hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial health. In the last school year, the JA Europe network provided over 6.6 million learning experiences for youth in online, in person and blended formats. For two consecutive years, JA has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for its global reach, youth economic empowerment delivery at scale, and ability to find unity in diversity.

In 2022, NN and JA reached 13,962 students with the help of 232 NN volunteers and 491 teachers across 10 countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, The Netherlands and Turkey).