“THE BEGINNING OF THE ADVENTURE”

Mongolian youth and organizations came together to co-design the activities for The Mongol Enterprising Adventure.

Mongolia has a young population with nearly one in three classified as youth, (15 and 34 years). With the current economic crises resulting in the fourth largest bailout package in (IMF) history (based on GDP), youth unemployment is nearly 21% (15-24 years, 2016), poverty has increased by 37% within two years (2016), and the school-to-work transition for urban Mongolians is up to 2.9 years.

Since mid-2017, UNDP Mongolia has been undertaking activities to understand the entrepreneurial mindset of young Mongolians. This work has highlighted the need to support the development of enterprising tendencies and capabilities in Mongolian youth.  

Through the Mongol Enterprising Adventure UNDP in Mongolia has established a platform of diverse stakeholders working together to address economic challenges facing young people in Mongolia. Using the Design Thinking  methodology, the UNDP team is facilitating the co-creation of the activities.

In late September, twenty five youth and four host organizations came to take part in the first of a series of design workshops to design the adventure activities. As the end users of the activities, Mongolian youth are at the center of the design process.  

The design workshop was appreciated by the youth participants. Gerelchimeg  Otgonbayar, one of the youth participant, said that “In my past experiences, while I was trying to make difference in our community, the only way I could do so was by giving lectures or training the high school students. And I believe that in most communities young people are not usually given the chance to change their lives, this work is done by older people. That is why participating in workshop that allows our ideas to take shape in changing our peers was very new and highly appreciated approach for me.”

Four organizations have chosen to host an activity station during the Mongol Enterprising Adventure. The theme of each station is one of the “General Enterprising Tendencies”. These tendencies are recognized as being essential for the success of enterprising ventures.

Using the Design Thinking approach enables teams to generate many innovative ideas that are not constrained by current systems and processes. For example, rather than providing skills training the teams are planning to offer multi-sensory, interactive, experiential learning situations in keeping with the Enterprising Education Pedagogy.  

Enkhzul Orgodol, The Founder and CEO of Educated Space LLC said “The design workshop was innovative in many ways but the main difference was in bringing together diverse stakeholders from the very beginning. I think this is a very inclusive and interesting  approach.”

Activated2030 is a youth enterprising project initiated by UNDP in Mongolia. The Mongol Enterprising Adventure is the first event of its kind in the worlds. Combining four innovative approaches; Design Thinking, Platform Approach, Behavioral Insights and an Enterprising Education Pedagogy, six organizations are aiming to transform the way entrepreneurship is used to address development challenges.  

The Mongol Enterprising Adventure has partnered with UB City Industrial Development and Innovation Agency, Development Solutions, Educated Space, Save The Children, as well as, the Mercy Corps.