“Vouga Walking Badges” winner of the Launch Your Future! Ideas Contest

“Vouga Walking Badges” winner of the Launch Your Future! Ideas Contest

2020-01-17

The Ideas Contest “Launch your future!” of Vougapark closed on January 16 at VougaPark. After months of work and 6 learning modules, the 11 groups of students presented their ideas in pitch format.

The event, with an audience of about 80 people, had a jury of 7 professionals from different areas, from mechanical engineering to communication. Evaluating was Ana Sampaio, from Sanjotec, Bruno Figueiredo, from Graphnest, Eva Andrade, from the University of Aveiro, Jorge Noro, from the University of Coimbra, José Vale from IAPMEI, Sofia Guerra, from the company A. Silva Matos, and Teresa Cascais, Director of Revista de Alojamento Local.

The Councilor for Culture of the Severense Municipality, Dr. Almeida e Costa, began the session thanking Vougapark, in the person of the coordinator Andreia Fonseca, the Professional School of Aveiro, the Sever do Vouga School Group, the MAGNA Consultores and the jury. "That there are ideas that can be followed from an inclusive education perspective, that integrate young people into society, in order to transform ideas into sustainable businesses, that encourage the development of the region", this was the desire that he expressed.

Andreia Fonseca, coordinator of Vougapark, also thanked EPA, AESV and the teachers for encouraging students, and this was an opportunity to gain experience communicating to a jury.

The jurors left words of motivation and strength to the young entrepreneurs, so that they realized the value of this type of initiatives, which can “give clues to discover opportunities for the future”, as Jorge Noro said. Teresa Cascais also highlighted the importance of “giving strength to students to succeed with their ideas, so that the improvement is continuous and they go to the market”.

José Vale do IAPMEI addressed words of encouragement to young entrepreneurs and took the opportunity to mention the funds, which these young people can apply for, namely Startup Voucher and Startup Visa.

First place, with a prize of € 300, was awarded to the “Vouga Walking Badges” project, which consists of a mobile application with trails in Sever do Vouga, with the slogan “walk with a goal”. To combat the problem of sedentary lifestyle through tourism, hiking and "prizes". In this app, a certain number of kilometers is used in coupons to be discounted in local establishments. The objective will be to attract more tourism to the municipality of Sever do Vouga and promote a healthier lifestyle. The young people participated in the last edition and, according to the testimony of Ana Sampaio, “they evolved with a project that comes to value the territory”.

The 2nd and 3rd prizes, of 200 € and 100 €, respectively, were attributed to projects related to blueberry plantations and a space for socializing and learning among the elderly and young people.

As highlighted by Hélder Sampaio, the consultant who supported the groups throughout the process, there was a gradual evolution of the participants, at a technical and behavioral level. “It is important to reformulate and absorb the inputs of those who know best. To undertake is to test and implement - to take advantage of failure, to have resilience, to see the feedback received and to grow ”, he reinforced.

Two projects also received mentions of praise, projects that were very close to being classified, the Pneumatic Monkey project and even the Setfree project