In October 2020, we took part in the competition ran by Le Bon Coin: Mon Centre Ville a Incroyable Commerce.
This was a 36 hour intensive accelerator programme which took place in the centre of our city, Dunkerque. Here we had the opportunity to have a coach, who had experience working in social enterprises, as well as a team of young local business students.
Throughout the programme, we were given the format to be able to develop and test our idea of turning our project into a social enterprise. We came to this event with the question of: How do we make this project into a long term solution for our local community?
Within our team, we developed the concept of a Plastic Recycling workshop in the heart of our city where we could run workshops but also sell items created by local artists and artisans. The workshop would be based upon using the plastic we collect from local waste collection actions: in the city, along the beach and in informal refugee camps. The profits from these products could then go back into funding the waste collection actions and workshops which benefit our local community on a social level.
We took 1st place after pitching our idea in front of the judges at the end of the 36 hour programme! We will now be going to the National Finals, which will take place in October 2021.
This competition was a great opportunity for us to meet so many local actors, including those working for the CUD and the city hall. We gained a lot of support and publicity for our project, as well as gaining the motivation to take our project to the next level in the future!
