Press Release 3

A new set of specialized resources, the EPIC Toolkits, has been officially released to support the development of social entrepreneurship across the Western Balkans. These toolkits provide a practical roadmap for young innovators and educators to transform social challenges into sustainable entrepreneurial ventures. You can access them directly at the EPIC Toolkit Portal.

A Comprehensive Approach to Social Innovation

The toolkits were developed to provide hands-on application of the EPIC Curriculum, utilizing non-formal learning methodologies to foster a social innovation mindset. The resources are tailored into two distinct editions:

• Toolkit for Youth: Focuses on developing core competencies such as leadership, ethical thinking, and opportunity identification. It guides young people through the practical steps of creating a Social Business Model Canvas and performing SWOT analyses to solve community issues.

• Toolkit for Youth Workers: Equips youth workers with advanced mentoring and counseling strategies. It emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence and social justice, helping youth workers provide structured support for young entrepreneurs.

Impact

The effectiveness of these tools was validated during pilot implementations, where they received high praise for their clarity and utility:

• Kosovo: 100% of youth participants found the content very clear and easy to understand. The training successfully engaged a diverse cohort, with 83% of applicants being women.

• Albania: The curriculum and tools allowed participants to engage with real-world social enterprises, such as New York Tirana Bagels. Consequently, 85.7% of youth worker participants expressed the highest level of satisfaction.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina: The toolkits provided the first structured exposure to social entrepreneurship for many, helping them move beyond the traditional “humanitarian” view toward a value-driven business approach.

Sustainable Skills for the Future

Even in regions lacking a formal legal framework for social enterprises, the EPIC Toolkits empower participants to operate effectively by focusing on the European EntreComp framework. By bridging the gap between social work and entrepreneurial action, these resources ensure that the next generation is ready to lead sustainable, community-focused innovation.

Get in Touch: For more information about the EPIC project and to stay updated on our activities, please visit our website epic-project.eu or contact us at epic-project@kmop.org.