Ideemeistrid. Connecting people.
О программе
Visionest Institute is one of Estonia's leading training and development partners, with long experience delivering international and social-innovation programmes. Over 30 large-scale collaborations have advanced entrepreneurship, exports, communities and public-sector innovation in Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia, in partnership with ESTDEV, GIZ, UNDP, EU4Business, EIS and local governments.
Ideemeistrid ("Idea Masters") is a nationwide programme that moves promising integration and social-entrepreneurship ideas from a public idea call, through a multilingual hackathon, and into a structured incubation programme — ensuring ideas do not stop at the event but progress to pilots, partnerships and follow-on funding.
The programme is built on three pillars: methodological rigour (proven hackathon and incubation formats that bring sectors together around real cooperation), a community and human dimension (a safe, multilingual, empathetic environment where every participant can contribute), and sustainable impact (a path from idea to pilot to funding via Töötukassa, LEADER, Kultuurkapital and KOV calls).
Delivered in Estonian, English, Russian and Ukrainian, with hybrid participation and a 10+ mentor pool spanning the private sector, local government, education, culture & sport, social work and third sector. Every step — from idea selection to incubation — is transparent, measurable and documented for the funder.
Для кого
- Open to residents of Estonia — Estonians and new immigrants alike
- Teams of at least 4 people, with at least one member from a different cultural or language group
- The idea initiator commits to lead or co-lead the team through the hackathon
- The idea addresses a concrete integration or social-entrepreneurship challenge
Программа обучения
Module I — Understanding the problem and impact
Participants validate the integration challenge their idea addresses: who is affected, what value is created, and how to measure it. Includes learning videos, a "Who do we create value for?" workshop and a mentor session on problem validation.
Module II — Designing and testing the solution
Design-thinking from problem to idea, empathy maps and user experience, and hands-on prototyping. Culminates in a "Test your idea!" workshop and mentor feedback on the prototype.
Module III — Business model and sustainability
Teams shape a workable model: pricing, cost structure, partners and revenue streams that keep a social venture alive beyond a single grant cycle.
Module IV — Impact, communication and funding
Measuring social impact, telling the story to communities and media, and building a realistic funding mix from public, private and philanthropic sources.
Тренеры
Partners & funders
Частые вопросы
Who can submit an idea?+
Anyone living in Estonia — individuals, community groups, NGOs, entrepreneurs, teachers, local-government staff and new immigrants. Ideas are submitted through the Ideemeistrid landing page, and coordinators and mentors help shape each submission so first-time applicants are not at a disadvantage.
How are ideas selected?+
Each idea is scored 0–5 on five criteria: clarity of the integration need, breadth of impact and inclusion, feasibility, originality, and team strength. A six-person jury (five sector mentors plus a KÜSK representative) reviews submissions; every applicant receives written feedback.
What languages does the programme run in?+
Ideas, materials, mentoring and the hackathon itself are delivered in Estonian, English, Russian and Ukrainian, with translation support so every participant can take part on equal terms.
What happens after the hackathon?+
Selected teams enter a structured incubation programme of four modules covering problem validation, prototyping, business model and funding — with direct introductions to follow-on funders such as Töötukassa, LEADER, Kultuurkapital and KOV calls.