“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”  —Richard Branson

This quote is a good symbol of the purpose of the project partners ’dedicated work over the past 3 years. As part of the project, we have helped countless businesses take the first step towards a fresh start, a chance.

The closing conference on November 23, 2021, provided us with an excellent opportunity to show what we have achieved until now.

The event began with a speech by Csaba Novák Dr (Director, International Projects, IFKA Ltd.), and then Stephen Halligan / JS Officer, Interreg Danube Joint Secretariat spoke about the importance of the project.

Following with the moderation of Krisztina Horváth-Karip / IFKA Ltd., Hungary, the main activities and lessons of the project were summarized with the project partners:

• Kristóf Baltay / IFKA Ltd.,Hungary
• Nela Šalamon / ZSI, Austria
• Sophie Von Stralendorff / SEZ , Germany
• Milica Pavić / PKS, Serbia
• Tomaž Laposa / PTP, Slovenia
• Dominika Pancakova / UKS, Slovakia

After the summary, Clémentine Roth Dr. / SEZ, Germany presented the Second-Chance Entrepreneurship Community Strategy for the Danube region. The strategy has focused on six intervention fields and 15 proposals. Following a roundtable discussion, representatives of each country in the Danube region spoke about how the strategy could be transferred to each country.

The afternoon continued with a so-called Capitalization Workshop.

In the first part of the workshop, mentors and mentees involved in the project shared their experiences of the program. In this section, we can hear countless success stories about how the project helped entrepreneurs.

At the end of the workshop, we invited participants to an interactive discussion about the post-project tasks and what other related areas entrepreneurs might need help with.