2019 – Posted in: Press Information Bureau

Youth Co:Lab

(NITI Aayog)

WHAT

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and United Nations Development Programme-India launched Youth Co:Lab. The Lab aims at accelerating social entrepreneurship and innovation in young India.

HIGHLIGHTS & FEATURES

Through Youth Co:Lab, young innovators and entrepreneurs will get a chance to connect with governments, mentors, incubators and investors, who will help equip them with entrepreneurial skills.
The initiative will also convene a series of youth dialogues across several cities to promote entrepreneurship across India.
The collaboration takes place to spread awareness about different issues pertaining to youth, the future of work and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The first phase of Youth Co:Lab will focus on six SDGs:

Gender Equality – SDG 5
Clean Water and Sanitation – SDG 6
Affordable and Clean Energy – SDG 7
Decent Work and Economic Growth – SDG 8
Sustainable Consumption and Production – SDG 12
Climate Action – SDG 13

YOUTH CO:LAB

Youth Co:Lab will convene social innovation challenges at the national and sub-national level.
The youth Co:lab will invite young people (18-29 years) to showcase their proposed ideas and solutions to tackle some of the biggest social challenges. They will also get the opportunity to pitch their ideas at UNDP’s regional centre in 2020.
Selected applicants will be invited for a national innovation challenge, where each winning start-up will get an opportunity to incubate and strengthen their ideas at the Atal Incubation Centres.

BACKGROUND

Co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation, and operational in 25 countries across the Asia Pacific region, the Youth Co:Lab initiative aims to create an enabling ecosystem to promote youth leadership, innovation, and social entrepreneurship.

ATAL INNOVATION MISSION

AIM including Self-Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) is the government’s endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Its prime objective is to serve as a platform for the promotion of world-class innovation hubs, grand challenges, start-up businesses and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology-driven areas.

Source: PIB