OREANDA-NEWS. As of the 2013/2014 academic year, Grupa LOTOS has become a partner of ENACTUS Poland. As part of the partnership, the Company has announced a grant competition for students of Polish universities associated under the organisation.

ENACTUS, previously known as SIFE, is an international organisation bringing together students, tutors and representatives of the business world. Students in the programme implement projects of a business nature that aim to support the development of local communities.

Their activities are a response to economic, ecological and social challenges, with the objective of improving the living conditions and standards of a selected target group. The best projects are entered into the Polish finals of the ENACTUS competition, and then have an opportunity to be part of the ENACTUS world cup. As part of the programme, students are mentored by their tutors, as well as business managers, all of whom offer assistance and advice. In Poland, there are currently 12 university teams implementing about 40 projects in an academic year.

Another part of the ENACTUS programme is the organisation of numerous training sessions for the students by active employers. These are devoted, for instance, to project management, communication, leadership, and CSR, and are focused on helping the teams with the actual substance of their projects during their implementation.

In this way, employers and businesses have the opportunity to get to know young people and encourage them to develop their skills, and can offer them support with their education - often with the possibility that they will find new talent for their organisations amongst the students. All told, students engaged in the programme represent 39 countries and 1,600 universities, working with 440 companies.

In 2013, there were nearly 60 jury members and about 200 students in the Polish competition.

December 10th marked the beginning of acceptance of applications for the 'Responsibly with LOTOS' grant contest, for potential participants in the ENACTUS Poland programme.

The purpose of the contest, as envisaged by Grupa LOTOS, is to select the best projects by students of Polish universities associated with the ENACTUS Poland programme, in the area of corporate social responsibility, whose objectives are consistent with those identified as part of the Lotos Group's Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy to 2015.

"By engaging with student circles we have a unique opportunity to work out new solutions which are important to our immediate surroundings. As part of the announced grant contest, the winning project will be the one that best meets the expectations of our stakeholders," said Jowita Twardowska, Head of Communications and CSR at Grupa LOTOS and a jury member in this year's edition of the Enactus Poland competition.