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TunisiaIt was in 2008, when she was still a student, that Radwa Rostom felt inspired to take the plunge into green entrepreneurship. But it wasn’t until 2014 that she decided to actually take the plunge by creating her start-up known as Hand Over, the company that is revolutionizing the construction industry in Egypt. In the meantime, the young woman acquired many skills and expanded on her professional expertise in the fields of civil engineering and construction, as well as sustainable development. Hand Over is therefore the result of Radwa’s diverse professional experiences as well as her personal commitment. Back in 2008, the young entrepreneur walked down the deprived streets of Cairo and noted that many families lived in uncontrolled and dangerous buildings.
From that point onwards, she wanted to help them by offering homes that were more “dignified and humane”. Hence she developed her start-up, a company that builds “sustainable and ecological” houses for disadvantaged communities and introduces revolutionary techniques for alternative buildings in Egypt. Hand Over now operates on two levels. Firstly, in the development sector, in collaboration with NGOs, local initiatives and financial contributors to build projects that create real progress in disadvantaged areas. Secondly, in the private sector, where the company sells its expertise and actually benefits from landowners, farmers and developers to create business projects.
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The SwitchMed initiative is funded by the European Union. Its activities benefit 8 countries in the Southern Mediterranean: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia. Through policy development, demonstration activities and networking opportunities, SwitchMed supports and connects stakeholders to scale-up eco and social innovations. The programme supports policy makers, eco-innovative small and medium sized enterprises, industries, start-ups and entrepreneurs in the Southern Mediterranean countries, which have identified job creation and natural resource protection as priority issues that also contribute to their economic stability.
The Switchers is a community of inspiring green entrepreneurs and changemakers in the Mediterranean region. It is also a place where entrepreneurs that share a common passion for the environment can meet. Switchers are green and circular businesses implementing eco-innovative solutions that contribute to sustainable and fair consumption and production models. They are active in a variety of fields, such as sustainable farming, green construction, sustainable textiles and cosmetics, eco-tourism, renewable energy, or waste management.
#EyesOnGreen (2021)
To celebrate the World Environment Day in 2021, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), the EU Neighbours South regional communication programme, and the SwitchMed initiative teamed up for the launch of the regional competition EYES ON GREEN. The competition covered 7 countries of the Southern Neighbourhood region: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia. The online ...
