The Volga region Academy of sports and tourism for the first time held a competition of student-oriented social projects. Those who wish could feel like entrepreneurs in the framework of the international student program Enactus, focused on solving economic, environmental and social problems. Among the jury members: head of the center for innovation in the social sphere at the Fund for entrepreneurship support Anton Dyganov, project Manager of the center for technology transfer Askar Latyshev and associate Professor Of the Institute of management, Economics and Finance of KFU, regional Director of Enactus Russia Adela Pashina.
11 entrepreneurial ideas were selected from 16 projects presented by students and admitted to the final discussion. Teachers of the Academy - associate Professor of sports management, recreation and sports tourism Gulnaz Ageeva and associate Professor of adaptive physical culture and life safety Larisa Kasmakova, under the leadership of which the team of "academicians" in 2018, immediately won the regional stage and presented the University in the all-Russian semifinal in Moscow, became mentors of the children. Award mentor began training in SKOLKOVO. And the overall success inspired the development of the business incubator. According to Gulnaz Ageeva, Enactus will not only activate the business environment in the University, but also improve the quality of project activities and the level of preparation of socially-oriented projects for participation in various competition venues.
High scores and positive feedback from the capital's jury Enactus received the project Victoria Plastinina "Green ball", which eventually won the University competition. Environmental audit of sports facilities, which would motivate facility managers to use energy-saving technologies, is still a topical issue. But, awarding the main prize to the project, the jury noted that each business project is good in the process of implementation. So in the near future "Green ball" should be introduced.
The winners of the project "Active parents" Irina Kolchina and "Promotion of table sports among persons with disabilities and the production of" Anastasia Galinou, who shared second place, and two of the project, became the third: "Available space" Daria Malykhina, and the idea of co-working centres for the socialization of mothers Catherine Torubarova.
"In the analysis, we stopped at the problematic points, so from the outside it may seem that we evaluated too harshly, - admitted Askar Latyshev. – But in General, I see a high potential in some projects. They not only can be implemented through grants, but also under certain conditions, are able to reach self-sufficiency. I am sure that if students continue in the same spirit, the amount of time and effort spent on the search for ideas will definitely go into quality."
According to Anton Dyganov, socially oriented business has a great future.
- The problem is that today, even at the legislative level, there is no definition of what a social entrepreneur is. But if we take the example of the founders of the movement, they are those who mitigate social problems in society. Among the projects of students of the Academy there are those that unite entrepreneurship and the activities of non-profit organizations. Socially-oriented business project is difficult to implement, like any other. It is important to understand what you will do and convince the investor in the success of your project.
Participation in the competition for all was an excellent school of promotion and positioning. This, summing up, said the curator of the project in the Volga Academy, Vice-rector for academic Affairs Almaz Galimov:
 The aim of this competition is to encourage students to be creative. I am convinced that the Academy has many talented and creative people who are able to implement socially-oriented business projects. Everyone has a chance to succeed. If you exist and earn, you are already winners!