Young people in Narva offered ideas to implement green transition in the region

As part of the Ida-Viru County Entrepreneurship Week, on 6 October, Narva College hosted an idea competition for young people to come up with ideas for implementing the green transition. The best idea was that of the students of Narva Upper Secondary School: using textile waste from the sewing industry to make toys for pets.

In 2023, the Association of Local Authorities of Ida-Viru County adopted the county's climate and energy plan, giving a boost to making the region's living environment healthier and more sustainable. The competition gave young people the opportunity to propose ideas to address the challenges outlined in the plan. The best ideas will be included in the climate and energy plan.

In the competition organised by the Ida-Viru Entrepreneurship Centre, University of Tartu Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies and University of Tartu Narva College, students from upper secondary schools in Narva proposed several ideas for start-ups, such as 

• a reusable food box containing flower seeds so that flowers can be grown from the material after the disposal of the box (School for adults of Narva); 
• a clean-up initiative in the form of a party (School for adults of Narva); 
• an ecological pocket-sized bin (Narva Estonian Upper Secondary School).

The first prize went to the idea of students of Narva Upper Secondary School to use textile waste from the sewing industry to make toys for pets.

On 3 November, Narva College will host a green transition entrepreneurship competition for young people, this time involving all schools in Ida-Viru county.

Organisers' thanks go to 

• Arti Henri Lukk and Sten Ingerainen, founders of the student company Seif Design, for inspiring students in brainstorming and for evaluating the submissions; 
• Eliise Lehtsaar from the student company Bymossy for her inspiring presentation; 
• Iti-Jantra Metsamaa, Project Manager of the Education Cluster, for her interesting presentation and interactive work with the participants; 
• Olga Kurdovskaja, Startup Incubator Narva Hub Program Manager at Tehnopol, for mentoring the participants; 
• Representatives of youth councils of Kohtla-Järve, Narva and Toila.

Special thanks go to UT students who supervised the teams: Aleksandr Bruskin, Vladlen Pokrova and Kristina Nurmetalu from Narva College and Anna Solovjova from the Institute of Psychology.