GBS – Green Business: A Way for Senior Citizens’ Self-employment
The GBS Erasmus+ project (2022–2024) aims to empower and motivate senior citizens aged 55+ to start their own green businesses as a way to promote social inclusion, active ageing, and lifelong learning. In a world facing pressing ecological challenges and labour market transformations, the green economy offers untapped opportunities for seniors to re-enter or remain active in the workforce on their own terms.
Project Duration: 01.11.2022 – 31.10.2024
Funding Programme: Erasmus+ KA220 – Cooperation Partnerships in Adult Education
Total Budget:
€250,000
By providing a digitally supported mentoring and training system, GBS supports older adults in developing entrepreneurial competences in green sectors such as sustainable agriculture, eco-tourism, upcycling, and organic catering. The project also strengthens the capacity of adult educators and mentors to support these learners through flexible and inclusive learning environments.
Project Activities
The GBS project addresses age discrimination and limited economic participation by enabling older adults to contribute to the green transition through entrepreneurship. Its main goals are:
To motivate seniors (55+) to consider green self-employment as a pathway to personal fulfilment and social participation.
To create a digitally-reinforced, flexible mentoring system that helps seniors acquire entrepreneurial skills related to the green economy.
To develop and use a digital competence assessment tool (based on digital badges) to recognise learning progress.
To train adult educators and mentors to facilitate inclusive e-learning and mentoring processes through an innovative methodology.
Key Activities and Outputs
Delivery of the motivational seminar “Green Business: Is it My Way to Go?” to inspire seniors with real-world success stories.
Creation of four short online learning courses (SOLCs) in the fields of:
Sustainable Agriculture
Eco-Tourism
Upcycling and Repurposing
Organic Catering
Implementation of a digital badge system to validate learning outcomes.
Development of an educator toolkit to help adult learning professionals manage e-mentoring environments and conduct inclusive trainings.
Piloting of a three-phase methodology: motivation – skill-building – entrepreneurial action.
