The Blue Challenge is an entrepreneurship education programme, launched by Euronext in partnership with JA Europe the largest non-profit organisation in Europe dedicated to preparing young people for employment and entrepreneurship. The programme aims to inspire students aged 16 to 18 about sustainable finance and help them develop core competencies such as teamwork, problem-solving and entrepreneurial skills.
The Euronext Blue Challenge is the flagship initiative of Our Society, one of five material impact areas within our ESG strategy. Through this collaboration, we will be able to boost financial literacy and encourage innovation to limit climate change and to promote the blue economy amongst young entrepreneurs in nine countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
In the course of the academic year, over 250 students will learn about sustainable finance while working on their own business projects supported by mentoring and webinars from Euronext volunteers. After national selections in April, country finalists will compete for the Euronext “Blue Innovation Award”.
Blue Innovation Award
The Blue Innovation Award is given to the mini-company that best embodies a sustainable use of the ocean resources for economic growth, following the selection of one mini-company from each participating country, to compete at a European level. Over the course of the school year, participating students, aged 16 to 18, have created impressive mini companies, with viable projects that embrace the Blue Economy and climate change mitigation. The 9 national winning teams, selected from 250+ students in 9 countries mentored by 60+ Euronext volunteers, took part in the European final on 18 May 2022. Meet here the finalists of the Blue Innovation Award 2021/2022.
B.O.A. JA wins the Blue Innovation Award 2022
The Italian team has won the Blue Innovation Award 2022 after a fierce competition with the eight other teams selected for the European final.
The start-up B.O.A. JA was born from the will to reduce the amount of microplastics in the ocean. The team has created an innovative and eco-sustainable solution: Dimidio, a marine buoy able to purify sea water from microplastics. It is eco-sustainable as it is made of biodegradable components, and self-efficient as it is powered by solar energy.
Congratulazioni, team B.O.A. JA!
