The Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition for High Schoolers - 8 Pros and Cons You Should Consider

If you’re a high school student passionate about sustainability and launching new ideas, consider applying for competitions that focus on entrepreneurship! Participating in such challenges can help refine your entrepreneurial skills and showcase your initiative and problem-solving capabilities - traits that colleges value highly! 

One such program is the Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition. While winning would add a feather in your cap, even participating can provide a learning experience that positively impacts your academic journey. In this blog, we’ll review CEC, providing information on what the competition is about, its structure, how to apply, and some pros and cons to consider.

What is the Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition all about?

The Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition (CEC) is a virtual, international competition involving participants from over 140 nations who submit proposals tackling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Launched in 2013 during the UNESCO Youth Summit, this competition has been a platform for young entrepreneurs to bring their innovative solutions to pressing global and community challenges. The competition is organized annually by Stiftung Entrepreneurship, a Berlin-based foundation that promotes creative entrepreneurship.

The CEC offers a structured competition where you can submit your solutions to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in two categories: idea and project. Stiftung Entrepreneurship provides tools and techniques to help you formulate and plan your proposal, improving the learning experience.

What do you stand to win?

While the CEC is a powerful opportunity for learning entrepreneurship, it does not have tangible rewards on offer.

Is it prestigious?

CEC is a moderately prestigious challenge with participants from 141 countries, and exposure to the world’s most significant sustainability goals, the UN SDGs. The competition's selective nature, evidenced by its three-phase process (more on this below), ensures that only the most innovative and impactful ideas make it to the final stages. Its association with the United Nations, under the ambit of the UNESCO Programme of Action on Education for Sustainable Development, makes it an impactful addition to your profile. 

However, CEC does not offer any monetary prize, scholarship, or otherwise, to the winners. You only receive recognition.

Who is eligible to apply?

The CEC aims to be a highly accessible competition and has broad eligibility criteria:

• You need to be between 13 to 29 years old.

• You can submit either individual or team entries. There’s no limit on team size.

• Each entry must address at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. You can submit multiple entries!

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How is the Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition structured?

The CEC is a fully virtual competition, and everything from registration to submission to the final evaluation will be done online. The competition is broken into the following phases:

1. Initial registration: You’ll have to first register on the Entrepreneurship Competition website. This involves creating a profile that details your entrepreneurial interests and current projects.

2. Phase 1 – Idea/Project Pitch Submission: Between June 1 and July 31, you must first submit an initial pitch outlining your idea OR project. Note that both are separate — an idea is an innovative solution or proposal for a business that addresses one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; a project is carried out by existing businesses in the form of companies, NGOs, or informal programs. This pitch includes a brief overview of the project, its objectives, the impact potential, and how it aligns with the SDGs.

3. Participation in online courses: Upon submission of your proposal, you will be required to complete the two online courses provided by the CEC — Brains vs Capital and Sustainable Entrepreneurship. After this, you’ll also have to fill out the Entrepreneurial Design Canvas (EDC), a powerful tool to help you visualize your business idea in a structured and coherent fashion. These courses are designed to refine your entrepreneurial skills and improve your project's viability, while the EDC will help you to ideate and refine your proposal.

4. Phase 2 – Community voting and engagement: From August 1 to August 31, you will have to engage with the larger online community to gather votes for your proposal. This can be via LinkedIn, other social media platforms, or even by creating a microsite. This phase is critical as it involves peer-to-peer interaction and feedback, which are essential for refining your projects or ideas and count towards your overall score for evaluation.

5. Phase 3 – Jury evaluation and awarding: In September, the top ten projects based on votes proceed to the final phase where a panel of experts in entrepreneurship and sustainability assesses them. This panel selects the winners who are announced in a public online ceremony, providing significant exposure.

Pros:

1. You will learn a lot!

By participating in the competition, you’ll gain access to specialized online courses that cover essential entrepreneurial skills, project management, and sustainability practices, which are beneficial beyond the competition itself. You will also apply your learnings to your proposals, thereby understanding their practical application.

1. You’ll connect with people around the world

The competition includes participants from over 140 countries, offering extensive opportunities to network with like-minded peers and professionals from diverse backgrounds.

1. You can give your ideas solid visibility 

Projects that reach the final stages of the competition gain visibility among an international audience, which can attract potential investors, partners, or even customers.

1. You can make a real-world impact

By aligning projects with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, you will be working on real, global issues, providing meaningful contributions to challenges faced by nations worldwide.

Cons:

1. You won’t be winning any tangible awards

While the learning on offer is undeniably substantial, you won’t have a prize, scholarship, or certificate to show for it after the competition ends.

1. Your win depends on votes

Success in the competition is at least partially dependent on voting and soliciting these votes. This can take away from a purely merit-based consideration of the best ideas and projects.

1. You won’t receive much mentorship

While community feedback is valuable, the lack of direct mentorship or individualized feedback can be a drawback if you need more guided support. It also limits your learning and exposure.

1. There’s quite a lot of pressure to perform

Given the high stakes and the public nature of the final phases, you may experience significant pressure, which can be daunting if you’re somewhat less experienced.

Our Review — What Do We Think Of The Challenge?

The Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition is a sound opportunity for high schoolers serious about making a difference through innovation. It offers meaningful experience in social innovation and development, strong networking opportunities, and the chance to contribute to important global goals. However, there’s a lack of recognition and access to mentorship opportunities, and winning isn’t entirely based on merit. 

If you’re passionate about entrepreneurship and social change, this competition can be a useful platform to launch your ideas into action. But keep in mind that this competition has limited tangible benefits.

One other option - the Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you’re interested in pursuing independent research, you could also consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.

Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!

Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.