The Champions League Final – Ginásio do Empreendedor, part of the SEED project, among high school students in Lisboa, was one of the inspiring moments of the Lisboa Unicorn Week. It was a unique opportunity to witness talent and the spirit of entrepreneurship in its purest form in young people, averaging 16 years old, who are truly committed to the future of their schools and communities. The SeedSwap project, which focuses on online seed sales and community gardens, and the Sábios Solidários, a volunteer movement in elderly homes, both from Escola Secundária José Gomes Ferreira, won first and second place respectively. The third winner was Yixue, a digital platform for learning Mandarin from Escola Secundária de Camões.
The 14 finalist teams present at the final event, held on May 15 at Poolside in Alvalade, were selected from over 30 teams from Escola Secundária Marquês de Pombal, Escola Secundária Padre António Vieira, Escola Secundária de Camões, and Escola Secundária José Gomes Ferreira. These schools participated throughout the school year in an extracurricular program of workshops conducted by mentor Francisco Serralheiro from the Ginásio do Empreendedor as part of the SEED project – Awareness for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, promoted by the Lisboa City Council. The initiative aims to support students in realizing a project/business idea that directly benefits the school or the community.
From projects directly related to improving school facilities and life, to proposals and solutions for social problems they face daily – such as homelessness, elderly loneliness, helping economically disadvantaged classmates, pollution of beaches and oceans – to proposals for combating waste or using technology for learning, to a platform for promoting and delivering African cuisine, all were commendable for their diversity of ideas and commitment.
In the end, three winners were chosen:
- 1st place – Seed Swap (Escola Secundária José Gomes Ferreira) – an online seed sales and community garden project.
- 2nd place – Sábios Solidários (Escola Secundária José Gomes Ferreira) – a volunteer movement in elderly homes.
- 3rd place – Yixue (Escola Secundária de Camões) – a digital platform for learning Mandarin.
And three honorable mentions:
- Eager Beavers (Escola Secundária de Camões) – a Discord community to increase digital literacy.
- Africa food (Escola Secundária de Camões) – an online application for ordering African food.
- Matraquilhos (Escola Secundária Marquês de Pombal) – Introduction of foosball tables with commercial exploitation, to raise money for student leisure activities.
The competition, which was above all a celebration of collaboration, good energy, and healthy competition, showcased multiculturalism through the presence of different nationalities and experiences, and the students’ keen awareness of societal challenges. “Today it was very clear that Lisboa is a truly multicultural city, and only through this diversity of visions and ways of addressing the problems of our society and communities can we be entrepreneurs. Lisboa has been widely recognized internationally in recent years for its beauty, for tourism, and that is very good, but it is for our capacity for open innovation, tolerance, and multiculturalism that we also want to be recognized, not just for tourism. And for that, we count on you! Thank you for your commitment!” applauded Margarida Figueiredo, director of the Municipal Directorate of Economy and Innovation of CML. Isabel Advirta, director of the Department of Employment, Entrepreneurship and Companies, directly responsible for SEED, thanked the dedication of the students and teachers involved, and the teams from the Ginásio do Empreendedor and the municipality, as well as the support of the partners. “We are very proud of these young people for their truly inspired projects, and of the teams – the CML, the partners, and the schools for the work developed.”
Each team, after presenting their project, had the opportunity to interact with the jury, to answer questions and receive important feedback to improve their idea – according to the criteria of social and environmental impact, quality of presentation and communication effectiveness, economic viability, and innovation – thus reinforcing the mentoring component of the initiative. The jury of the contest consisted of representatives from recognized players in the city’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and project partners: Sofia Rolo from Unicorn Factory Lisboa, Raquel Santos from Build Up Labs, Carla Contreiras from Casa do Impacto, and Pedro Rebordão from Lispolis.
Finalist Projects, in Order of Stage Appearance:
- Alix (Escola Secundária de Camões) – Created a small business of tote bags with unique designs to promote environmental protection and reduce plastic bag use. Team: Qianran and Liane from 11th grade.
- Africa food (Escola Secundária de Camões) – Oumar from 2nd grade created an online food ordering application to promote African cuisine and culture in Lisboa.
- Divas (Escola Secundária José Gomes Ferreira) – Created the “Correio da Ajuda,” a campaign to collect material goods and food for needy students in the Benfica school cluster, through the sale of food and jewelry. Team: Susana, Hannah, Sofia, and Celeste from 11th/12th grade.
- Eager Beavers (Escola Secundária de Camões) – Created a Discord platform to stimulate the community of current and former students of Liceu Camões for digital literacy and debate topics. Team: Pedro, David, and Cláudio from 11th grade.
- Espaço de Convívio (Escola Secundária Marquês de Pombal) – Designed a social room at school, with games, books, and other activities, to combat school absenteeism and bring students closer together. Team: Guilherme, João, and Fábio.
- Repair café – Fixit Camões (Escola Secundária de Camões) – Organized a technology repair workshop at school, through the repair café concept, to combat waste and stimulate the circular economy. Team: Valdir and Francisco from 2nd grade.
- Matraquilhos (Escola Secundária Marquês de Pombal) – Implemented foosball tables at school and organized an inaugural tournament as a way to reduce stress, increase student connection, and raise money for school activities (trip). Team: Cipriano and Lotoro.
- Quilhas Surf Wear (Escola Secundária de Camões) – Created a brand of t-shirts for surfers, with the purpose of promoting the cleanliness and care of the oceans. Team: Francisco, Benjamin, and Miguel from 11th grade.
- Pinta a tua sala (Escola Secundária Marquês de Pombal) – To increase student motivation, making the school more welcoming and pleasant, they are promoting the renovation of classrooms with new paint and drawings from arts students. Team: Manuel, Rúben, Cláudio, and Jesus.
- Sábios Solidários (Escola Secundária José Gomes Ferreira) – Created a volunteer movement in local elderly homes to combat the loneliness of the elderly, with afternoon activities including games. They already conducted a pilot in a nursing home. Team: Raquel, Diogo, and Eduardo from 11th/12th grade.
- School Lounge (Escola Secundária Padre António Vieira) – Created a social space for students at school, a new school lounge, to help students make better use of the school’s space and encourage them not to leave when they don’t have classes. Team: Afonso, Sofia, Raissa, and Yaqi.
- Seed Swap (Escola Secundária José Gomes Ferreira) – Promoted a community garden at school and created a website to promote seed sales for other community gardens in the city. Team: Pedro, Diogo, Gabriel, Miguel, and Tomás from 10th grade.
- The Moon (Escola Secundária de Camões) – Created a charitable clothing brand, where each piece contributes to a homeless support association (CASA). Team: Carolina, Clara, Catarina, Manuel, and Francisco from 11th grade.
- Yixue (Escola Secundária de Camões) – Developing an app for learning Mandarin and Chinese culture in an easier way, with a freemium business model. They already have a website. Team: Daniel, Eduardo, Unique, and Yili from 2nd grade.
The SEED project, Awareness for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in School Context, has already reached 14 schools in Lisboa and 1240 students from 60 classes. One of the projects it supports is the Ginásio do Empreendedor, an extracurricular activities program to teach young people aged 12 to 18 entrepreneurship skills. The project is overseen by the Municipal Directorate of Economy and Innovation through its Department of Economy, Employment, and Entrepreneurship.
