OCTOBER 2018

WOMEN IN BUSINESS - ABOUT THE PROJECT

The WOMEN IN BUSINESS - Fostering the Young Women Entrepreneurship in the Danube Regionis co-funded by the European Union Funds (ERDF, IPA, ENI) under the second call for proposals INTERREG Danube Transnational Programme 2014-2020.

The project aims to stimulate young women with innovative ideas to start and develop their own business in order to achieve market success through different approaches for increasing their competences for business and social innovations, through establishment of Women Entrepreneurship Centres and development of innovative training models.

WOMEN IN BUSINESS comes as a response to certain specific needs of young women entrepreneurs in the Danube region that will be addressed via transnational activities focused on:

• Exploring, evaluating and comparing the needs and barriers faced by young women wishing to start own business as well as policy measures in the Danube region to support entrepreneurship among young women and outlining good practices to support YWE with purpose of improving regional programs;
• Improving regional development policies and programs by developing a Policy Agenda
• To match policy tools to the needs of young women wishing to start a business;
• Development of innovative solutions and training models for improvement of the entrepreneurial culture, skills and competencies among YWE.

The project consortium consists of 14 project partners from 9 Danube region countries and brings together national and regional, public and private organizations and universities.

PROJECT NEWS

KICK-OFF DISSEMINATION EVENT "BUSINESS WOMEN IN THE DANUBE REGION"

The Lead Partner - Regional Agency for Entrepreneurship and Innovations – Varna (RAPIV) together with the consortium of WOMEN IN BUSINESS project organized Kick-off Dissemination Event "Business Women in the Danube Region" which took place on 17th July 2018 in Varna, Bulgaria.

More than 50 participants had the opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge in the field of fostering young women entrepreneurship through different initiatives as trainings, networks of women business angels.

A SURVEY ON BARRIERS AND NEEDS OF YOUNG WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

WOMEN IN BUSINESS conducted an on-line survey among all women, aged between15-34 and situated in the 9 countries covered by the project.

Young women shared their views and experiences with us to support the development of young women entrepreneurship. The survey ended on 16th October 2018. It will contribute to the identification of the needs and barriers young women are facing, when trying to run their own business. The results of the questionnaire will serve to study the current state of women entrepreneurship across the Danube Region, to develop tailored training models and policy recommendations.
The results from the survey will be available soon.

FIRST WOMEN IN BUSINESS TRANSNATIONAL LEARNING EVENT IN CONSTANTA, ROMANIA

WOMEN IN BUSINESS partners gathered in Constanta, Romania on 09th October 2018 to jointly observe and discuss Romanian good practices in fostering young women entrepreneurship. Hosts of learning event were project partners from the Association of SMEs Constanta (PIMM) and OVIDIUS University of Constanta (UOC).

During the event, project partners and young students gained extensive knowledge on different business women support initiatives delivered by the University, female and youth support organizations, and public agency

WOMEN IN BUSINESS AT 3rd Women Entrepreneurship Forum 2018 in Slovenia

Maribor Development Agency (MRA) in capacity of Slovenian WOMEN IN BUSINESS Partner, was invited by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology to attend the 3th Women Entrepreneurship Forum 2018, which took place at the 51st MOS – Business and Trade Fair Event in Celje (Slovenia) on 15th September 2018.
It was a great opportunity to introduce WOMEN IN BUSINESS project to the Slovenian women entrepreneurs, gathered at the MOS.

WOMEN IN BUSINESS - A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR SUCCESS

Women in Business Project, represented agan by Maribor Development Agency which participated at the event "A new opportunity for success" within the program "Entrepreneurship is female", Ljubljana at Walnut Grove in October 2018.
The event was an opportunity to meet, network, exchange the experiences, attend the lectures, workshops and present Women in Business Project.
The project "Entrepreneurship is female" aims to provide the unemployed women with tertiary education with basic entrepreneurial knowledge and financial incentives to help them on their new path. In the past three years (2016-2018), a total of 1,500 women attended, and nearly 90 percent set up their own business.

1ST NATIONAL STAKEHOLDER GROUP MEETINGS

The 1st round of National Stakeholder Group Meetings were organized by WOMEN IN BUSINESS project partners. The aim of the events is to bring together representatives of  business support organizations, associations, chambers, public and interested bodies and other organizations in the field of women entrepreneurship and find out more about the practices of youth enterprises, the current situation on the market, the opportunities and problems that young women face when starting own business, and presenting the opportunities that transnational programs of the European Union provide to organizations in the field of young women entrepreneurship with a focus on the WOMEN IN BUSINESS project.

The participants in the events selected representatives from the groups to attend the project Advisory Board and discussed the further steps for be followed for achieving of valuable outputs from their work.

in austria

Innovation Region Styria Ltd. (IRS) held the 1st meeting with national stakeholders on 23rd August 2018.

The participants were representatives of 6 Innovation and Impuls centres from the eastern and western part of Styria, which offer business service and office space to entrepreneurs.
All work packages were presented and in particular the National Study of Current State was communicated. The organisations will support the Project with their experience and contacts.

in bulgaria

Regional Agency for Entrepreneurship and Innovations - Varna (RAPIV) and Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar" (VFU)  held their first National stakeholder meeting on 17th October 2018.

The participants selected representatives of the Advisory Board: Mrs Tatyana Gicheva, EEN Dobrich, Sector Group “Women Enterpreneurhsip” and Mrs Tatyana Kmetova, Center of Women's Studies and Policies Foundation and discussed the further steps for achieving valuable project outputs

in slovenia

Chamber of Commerce and Business of Štajerska (SGZ) together with Maribor Development Agency (MRA) organized the 1st National stakeholder group meeting on 23rd October 2018 in Maribor, Slovenia.

Local and national initiatives focused on the support of women entrepreneurship were presented and discussed. Before closing, they agreed on further manner of communication and common work related to the project activities and results

in moldova

The 1st National Stakeholder Group Meeting in Moldova within Women in Business Project, held by Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises Sector Development (ODIMM) took place on 23rd October 2018.

Petru Gurgurov, Interim General Director of ODIMM, highlighted the importance of supporting women entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova. "We are delighted that ODIMM is a partner and implementer of the Women in Business Project within the Danube Transnational Program. It is complementary to the business support projects and programs that ODIMM already implements at national level", mentioned he.

save the date!

Dissemination Event and Transnational Learning Event under WOMEN IN BUSINESS project will be held in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova - 27-28th November 2018.

More inforamtion will be available soon!

other events

Maribor Career Fair, 14th November 2018, Maribor, Slovenia

Moldova Business Week 2018, 22-27th November, Chisinau, Moldova

SMEs International Conference 2018, 23rd November, Chisinau, Moldova

6th Conference of Women Entrepreneurship: Slovenia and Austria – which measures do they offer to the business women, 6th December 2018, Maribor, Slovenia

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