07 Jun 2021
The EYESONGREEN regional competition in its first edition, aims to support green entrepreneurs from the Southern Neighbourhood region. Fourteen Switchers from seven countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia) were in competition to defend their green entrepreneurial projects with a high environmental impact.
The closing ceremony of the EYESONGREEN regional competition took place online on Wednesday 3 June. At the end of the ceremony, the names of the three winners were announced: Aya Sarsour Khateeb (Palestine), Besma Belbedjaoui (Algeria) and Younes Ouazri (Morocco).
Aya Sarsour Khateeb and her husband are the founders of Mnjm, a Palestinian green start-up that recycles household waste and transforms it into raw materials for factories. At the same time, the couple changes community attitudes towards trash by educating citizens about the risks of pollution and the positive impact of good solid waste management.
Besma Belbedjaoui founded the plastic recycling start-up, Plasticycle Algerie and took on the responsibility to recycle plastic waste as well as to educate the Algerian public on the importance of recycling as a concept.
Younes Ouazri is the head of Ecodome, an ecological construction start-up which has developed an ingenious concept of earth-based eco-domes, combining tradition and modernity while respecting the environment.
The top 3 Green Changemakers in the region have won world-class online training on Social Media, web mastering, E-Commerce to improve their communication soft skills.
Moreover, in order to increase their visibility, every winner will be offered one portraying and inspiring video (pitch/or promotional) before disseminating them on EU Neighbours South platforms: website and social media channels.
The EYESONGREEN regional competition is an initiative of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), the EU Neighbours South (EUNS) regional communication programme, and the SwitchMed initiative.