The morning session was introduced by the ENGAGE.EU Vice-President of Toulouse Capitole University, Clémentine Bories, who welcomed this first ENGAGE.EU bridging action with high schools. Sandra Grzeskowiak, Deputy Principal of the Lycée Ozenne, thanked the University for this initiative which is very rewarding for the students.

Started in Fall 2022, the competition "Young Innopreneurs for a better world” consists in challenging high school pupils, potential future students, on one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals:"Responsible consumption and production" (SDG n°12). SDG 12 aims to reduce the footprint of human activity on the planet while bringing well-being to people. This action is part of the "Societal Outreach" strand, which aims to intensify the impact of the university in society and vice versa, of the European alliance ENGAGE.EU.

The Ozenne Highschool in Toulouse and more particularly the STMG teaching team took advantage of this intercultural opportunity to promote "technological education in a foreign language"; they thus proposed to all their final year students to work in teams on a business project of their choice, between the end of October 2022 and the beginning of March.

Out of 15 teams, 6 were selected by the teachers to compete at the local level, within the university, in front of a jury made up of professionals (Nubbo, Vice-Versa), law teachers including the dean of the university's law faculty, and a co-design specialist. Evaluation criteria were specifically developed to assess the ability of the teams to propose innovative, ethical and responsible solutions to the problems of our society, and to develop qualities of innopreneurship (undertaking and innovating with a positive impact on society).

Very current issues related to water resources, various types of water pollution caused by industrial activities, and everyday uses: food waste, recycling of cigarette butts, and alternatives to toilet paper were thus investigated.

The winning team "Eco Flush" has imagined the production of a reusable glove, made of ecological material, protected by a disposable over-glove, as an alternative to toilet paper, "enemy of the planet". This team will compete in Europe at the end of March against other winning teams from other ENGAGE.EU member institutions; presentations will be made in English.

The academy inspector, Mr Fleuranceau, representing the Recteur d'académie, emphasised the work of the teaching team and expressed his satisfaction with this bridge between high school and university. Congratulating the students on their creativity, he also added that by taking part in this competition, "valuable lessons on the world of business, management, legal and economic aspects" had been mobilised..." and that "an unconventional model of thinking," that of the innovator, had been borrowed "enabling the development of new ideas and the courage to think differently".

He concluded with a quote from Eric Mateu Huon (Professor of management sciences in Montreal):

« Imagination is the entrepreneur's oxygen, so it's best not to run out of it »