Resilience through International Networks

Principal Investigator, Brigstow Institute, University of Bristol

All young people’s well-being, regardless of where they live, their race, gender, or social class, is essential for personal and professional success. This ideas exchange pilot project brought together young entrepreneurs (creative, social, sustainable, financial, political) who face structural inequalities in Bristol, UK, and Enugu, Nigeria, to collaborate with our team of facilitators in understanding their needs for support and their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We conducted a series of human-centred research methods online and in-person in Bristol, UK and Enugu, Nigeria. In addition, our team brought our participants together in an online collaborative workshop to discuss the participants experiences, values, and what a ‘resident international network’ might look like for the context they live in. Working with Nigerian and Bristol-based researchers and community workers allowed us to adapt and modify our approach to research and facilitation in the project to the specific needs of our international cohort. The project has now been developed into an initial one-year pilot taught program that aims to support our participants in forming an independent, global network of young entrepreneurs.

As the PI on this project: Dr Zibah Nwako (NG/UK), I successfully applied for funding for a post-doctiral researcher Zibah Nwako (NG/UK), and two PhD students, Anne Angesten (UK), Jennifer Dumle Daniels (NG/UK) to work on the project.