Representatives of Smart Kolektiv, together with partners from the region, participated in the RISE Capitalization Workshop held in Paris on November 20–21. The two-day event, organized within the regional RISE program, brought together partner organizations from across the Balkans to summarize results to date, evaluate project achievements, and plan future collaboration.
The workshop was hosted by partners from Pulse SOS Groupe, who welcomed representatives of organizations implementing the program in their local contexts – ARNO (Skopje), Balkan Green Foundation (Pristina), Nešto Više (Mostar), IEC Tehnopolis (Nikšić), Yunus Social Business Balkans (Tirana), and Smart Kolektiv (Belgrade). Smart Kolektiv was represented by Tanja Vučetić and Lazar Tasić.
The first day of the program included the “Evaluation feedback” and “Your feedback and experiences workshop” sessions, dedicated to analyzing achievements and exchanging experiences among all project partners. Participants then visited a social enterprise in Paris – a restaurant employing migrants – followed by an informal program featuring a city tour and a Seine River cruise.
The second day focused on the project’s sustainability and future development through workshops titled “Perspectives and sustainability workshop,” “Success stories of RISERs and Alumni,” and “Capitalization workshop.” Smart Kolektiv representatives highlighted the successes of RISE participants from Serbia, including impactful social enterprises such as Women on the Way, Link in Bio, and Career Launch.
The two-day gathering unfolded in an inspiring atmosphere of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and networking with colleagues from France and the wider region, reaffirming the importance of regional partnerships in fostering social impact entrepreneurship.
RISE – the Regional Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs is a support program for young social entrepreneurs, implemented in Serbia by the organization Smart Kolektiv since 2019. This is the fifth cycle of the free support program for the development of social entrepreneurship ideas. The RISE project is supported by the Agence Française de Développement, European Union (EU), Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO), Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ), PULSE (Groupe SOS). The RISE activities are implemented by six organizations from the Western Balkans: ARNO, Balkan Green Foundation, Nešto Više, Smart Kolektiv, IEC Tehnopolis, and Yunus Social Business Balkans.
