Social entrepreneurship Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Assembly of European Regions

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Summer Academy 2016

3 August, 2016 By Elin Berglie

The AER Summer Academy received in 2016 the support of the ERASMUS+ programme. The Summer Academy 2016 is focused on Youth and Entrepreneurship in Europe’s Regions and it is one of the main events in the calendar of AER and specially the YRN. The lead parter is the Region of Østfold in Norway.

By bringing together decision makers, professionals and youth representatives from the regions in the wider Europe, the AER SA provides an opportunity to share best practice, build networks and promote democratic participation. By focusing on youth entrepreneurship it will strengthen the role of youth as an actor for its own development and the creation of its own opportunities through creativity and innovation.

Here is a summary of the objectives of the project:

foster informal learning to equip youth with tools, knowledge and skills that increase their employability.
exchange best practices in the area of regional support systems for youth and social entrepreneurship
encourage dialogue between youth and decision makers in all policy fields
revitalize democracy in Europe and increase youth participation at all levels
contribute to meeting the targets of the EU Youth Strategy in youth and social entrepreneurship

Pictures of the project

Pictures will be added when the project starts.

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Strengthen young women’s support toward entrepreneurship

1 August, 2016 By Editor

The Assembly of European Regions is always very proud to share information about the success stories in its member regions. Today, we would like to highlight a project from Guadeloupe (FR) called Youth Women Win.

Why ?

Worldwide, including Europe, young women are the first affected by unemployment, with an average rate of 52%. Youth Women Win aims to give to the vulnerable young women the means to create their employment and to access to real economic independence.

Youth Women Win goals are:

STRENGTH the support for vulnerable young women towards entrepreneurship,
PROMOTE the inclusion of the gender dimension in the entrepreneurial culture,
EXCHANGE good practices for entrepreneurship, transfer of innovative methodological tools and networking.

“Youth Women Win” is an innovative project that bring together partners of island from the ACP-EU region – Guadeloupe , France, Madagascar – and mainland regions such as Belgium.

Outputs

“Youth Women Win” offers to the professionals who coach young women towards entrepreneurship, support and tools taking into account the gender dimension:

A Guide to Good Practices on awareness raising and coaching
A briefcase of tools on the support of young women entrepreneurship
A web information and exchange platform provides professionals and young women a range of tools and methodological guidance to develop young women’s leadership.

Partners

Arrimage Good’iles, Guadeloupe – coordinator
C for C NGO, Madagascar
Groupe one – Belgium

Events

The final Conference will be held in Brussels during the month of December 2016.

Contact

Arrimage Good’iles
Courriel

Presentation

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Summer Academy: registrations now open!

7 June, 2016 By Johanna Pacevicius

Registrations for the 2016 AER Summer Academy in Østfold (NO) are now open! This mutual learning event on youth entrepreneurship will take place from 16 to 19 August and will gather policy makers young and less young from all over Europe.

Investing in the future

The title of this year’s Summer Academy is “Investing in our future: Youth entrepreneurship in Europe’s Regions” and will feature workshops, study visits and seminars on topics ranging from energy and ICT to achievement in the business jungle without College or University experience.

The AER Youth Regional network will have a major role in the Summer Academy with the organisation of a business game on youth entrepreneurship and a plenary session on social entrepreneurship.

Youth: a priority

For AER supporting youth in the job market is a priority, this is why this Summer Academy is focusing on youth entrepreneurship, a topic where Europe still needs to improve. Join the Summer Academy experience and bring new ideas home to support youth entrepreneurship in your region!

Practical information, programme & registrations

Page of the Summer Academy programme

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YRN prepares highly-interactive workshop on Youth Entrepreneurship

3 May, 2016 By Editor

During the YRN Spring Plenary meeting, the committee of “Professional Life and Youth Entrepreneurship” worked with the outline of the workshop that is going to be held at the AER Summer Academy 2016 in Østfold (NO).

With an aim to give the participants an insight to the topic of Youth Entrepreneurship, and encourage them to come up with creative and innovative solutions the committee propounded the idea of holding an interactive 120-minute workshop for 30 people.

In order to raise the awareness and enhance the entrepreneurial spirit, the participants will be offered an opportunity to attend a lecture held by an inspiring guest speaker and learn from successes and failures from the real life experience. The second section – a business game – would challenge the creative power and presentation skills of the participants. It is important that the emphasis of the simulation should not be only on the aspect of profit creation but also on the development of new solutions for currently existing social, economic and environmental challenges. The jury consisting of a charismatic guest speaker, a representative from Innovasjon Norge (Innovation Norway) and a political leader would be encouraged to give feedback and evaluate the ideas based on the creativity, viability, and positive return to society.

The workshop promoting youth entrepreneurship with a focus on social entrepreneurship will aim to combine the ideas of circular economy that was also the main focus of YRN Spring Plenary.

On behalf of the committee of “Professional Life and Youth Entrepreneurship” we would like to welcome you to Østfold in August 2016!

Written by Grete Kesküla

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Erasmus+ KA1: Call for Partners!

6 April, 2016 By Agnese Pantaloni

Cooperativa Sociale “Il Mosaico” – member of ALDA (European Association for Local Democracy) – is working on the submission of an interesting project proposal within Erasmus+ program, Key Action 1 on youth exchanges.

The project will be developed in the city of Dueville (nearby Vicenza, Italy) which will host young people from different countries involving them in a program of activities about digital fabrication. The aim is to increase creativity through digital innovation, 3D printing and handicraft know-how, taking inspiration from all the activities that can be made in a Fab Lab – Fabrication Laboratory.

A Fab Lab is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication. It is set up to inspire people to turn their ideas into new products and prototypes by giving them access to a range of advanced digital manufacturing technology. Some examples of activities that could be performed are: tour of local enterprises to know the digital fabrication in Veneto Region, courses about machines used in digital fabrication such as 3D printer/CNC router/laser cutting, creation of a product using the digital fabrication, workshop about role of the women in the digital fabrication, etc.

“Il Mosaico” is looking for 4/5 partner organisations that will send 5/6 participants each, including a youth leader.

All accommodation and food costs will be covered. Travel costs will be reimbursed according to the distance calculator and the Erasmus+ rules. Participants are asked to pay an extra fee of 40 euros to the youth exchange expenses for the raw materials used in the machines.

For any information, either to give your availability to the project, please write to [email protected].

AER is happy to share this call for partners with its member and network as well as to cooperate with its partner ALDA in the dissemination of this interesting opportunity!

The deadline for expressing your interest in the project is 12th April.

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Welcome to Østfold (NO)

19 January, 2016 By Editor

The President of the AER Summer Academy Organising Committee, Mr Rune Fredriksen (Østfold-NO) is pleased to invite you to Østfold for the 2016 Summer Academy from 16-20 August 2016.

Østfold is situated in the South-Eastern part of Norway, on the border to Sweden.

Even though Østfold is the second smallest county in Norway, we like to call our region “compact and complete”. Everything is reached within an hour or so by car. Østfold is a region with a diverse nature – rivers, quiet lakes and forests in the inland, and a beautiful coastline that attracts a great number of tourists every summer. Østfold is the gateway to Norway – and is actually your first meeting with the Norwegian fjords, as you cross the border from Sweden over Svinesund.

We like to call Østfold both “the gateway to Norway” and “The gateway to Europe”.

The region offers a unique coastline and a variety of historical and cultural attractions.

In Østfold, and in Europe in general, there has been a great focus on young people and unemployment. The topic of the Summer Academy will focus on Youth Entrepreneurship. Østfold recently received the AER most youth friendly region Europe (MYFER Award 2014). The wellbeing of youth people is a central part of Østfold’s political agenda as well as of the EU. The theme of youth entrepreneurship is also high on the agenda in AERs Youth Regional Network (AER YRN), where youth from Østfold are active participants. AER YRN has a separate committee on Professional Life and Entrepreneurship and youth entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship were central themes in the latest plenary meetings of the network.

Østfold County Council has close cooperation with, among others, Junior Achievement Young Enterprise’s branch in Østfold. They run an extensive amount of programmes to promote and teach entrepreneurship in school from primary school to university college level, and are also working with many projects within the field of regional development in the county.

We look forward to seeing you in Østfold!

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Social entrepreneurship at the heart of YRN Plenary Meeting

19 June, 2014 By Editor

On 12-15 June 2014, the AER Youth Regional Network (YRN) held its annual plenary meeting in the region of Jönköping (SE) on the important topic of Social Entrepreneurship. “Social Entrepreneurship is a combination of Education, Entrepreneurship and Social Responsibility, and social start-ups can make you have a happy life” stated Omar Aljuhani from the University of Manchester (GB). As for Hrvoje Kovac from Varazdinska zupanija (HR), he confirmed that needs for social enterprises do not have to be created as they already exist.

Furthermore, YRN members also got involved in workshops dedicated to the challenges and international perspective of youth social entrepreneurship, the situation of minorities and foreigners in Europe, or Silver economy as an intergenerational approach to enhance employment.

Finally, the representatives of the MYFER winner regions had the opportunity to introduce their projects to the audience.

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First joint plenary session for AER Committees 1 & 2

17 April, 2014 By Editor

Joining forces for the first time in a joint plenary session, the members of AER Committees for Economy and Regional development (1) and for Social and Health policy (2), discussed in Edirne (TR) about the state of play of their political priorities and activities.

During the first half of the session the Committee 1 Working Groups invited members to join them for their core activities in the coming months: a Press Conference on [email protected] and Rural Development (29/04) a working morning on TENT-T and Connecting Europe Facility (30/04), the European Business Summit (14-15/05) and the Funding Session on Energy (03/06).

The second half was dedicated to Committee 2 past and upcoming activities: earlier this year, Committee 2 members were actively involved in the 2014 Arctic Light e-Health Conference, the “Have your Say” event on social entrepreneurship and the EASPD Conference on Disabilities. In the coming weeks, members interested in active and healthy ageing are encouraged to participate to the SmartCare and ENGAGED mutual learning workshops taking place in Athens during the E-Health Forum (13-16/05).

Finally all members contributed to the elaboration of a joint AER Position on Entrepreneurship, bringing forward concrete recommendations on how to set up the necessary business infrastructure to create a culture for entrepreneurship in the region.

AER members are invited to submit their amendments to this position until 1 May in order to develop a truly transversal document celebrating the European entrepreneurial spirit.

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Regions daring to succeed through entrepreneurship

3 April, 2014 By Editor

“First time you fail, second time you win”*

Edirne (TR), 3 April 2014

“With the focus shifting from the crisis to recovery, regions are more than ever catalysts for innovation and growth. We believe that it is necessary to continue engaging European Institutions and stakeholders in the need for further support to entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs generate 4 million new jobs every year in Europe and regions play a key role in encouraging and promoting economically sound ideas to be turned into business ventures; the Assembly of European Region’s (AER) role is to help these initiatives come to life and develop on a European and international scale”, stated AER President Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli as she opened the round table conference “Daring to Succeed: Entrepreneurship for better growth”, gathering yesterday 130 participants in Edirne (TR).

“Hosting one of the top Turkish universities, Edirne is home to many young talented and creative people who are looking for opportunities to develop their skills. The exchange of best practice during this conference gives us precious insights into ways we can improve our entrepreneurship policies.” said Dr Hasan Duruer, Governor of Edirne (TR). Deputy governor Dr Ayhan Özkan underlined: “AER contributes valuably to our efforts for a stronger decentralisation in our country”.

Three workshops on the internationalisation of SMEs, social as well as women entrepreneurship and a Training Academy on fostering a culture for Entrepreneurship stressed the need for entrepreneurs to overcome their fear of change, take risks and welcome innovation. Concrete examples include:

Supporting young entrepreneurs in Donegal (IE)

“The key is to not stigmatise failure but to help develop new attitudes towards the idea and culture of entrepreneurship”, said Maria Ferguson, EU Policy and funding Unit manager from Donegal Council (IE), as she presented the INTERREG IVA “Business Bootcamp” project. This initiative provides young entrepreneurs with step-by-step local and cross-border support for new start-ups and businesses with export growth potential.

Removing barriers in Edirne (TR)

Participants witnessed Edirne’s commitment to changing mindsets and tackling obstacles to entrepreneurship during the visit to the Public Education Centre as well as through various success stories, such as from Elmas Aslan, Chief of Women Entrepreneurs and Sevtap Engin, Company owner.

Growing talent in Flevoland (NL)

Bob Pels, General Manager for European Territorial Cooperation put forward the Regions4GreenGrowth (INTERREG IVC),SMART EUROPE (INTERREG IVC) and Summer Entrepreneurs initiatives, encouraging and helping SMEs to innovate and work sustainably by efficiently using the EU Funding for 2014-2020 and thereby improving competitiveness.

Telling the world in Bruxelles-Capitale (BE)

Jean-Luc Vanraes underlined that regions are a platform for SMEs to meet, share information and innovate together in order to access a new market. “Incubators, the organisation of business delegations and the participation in trade-missions can boost SMEs in becoming internationally active”.

Committees 1 and 2 jointly take the next step:

The joint plenary of ‘Economy and Regional development’ (1) and ‘Social policy and Public health’ (2) gave AER the perfect chance to gather these good practices and ideas into concrete recommendations on the topic of entrepreneurship. Based on AER’s previous activities and experience, these will highlight the next steps to take and the tools to use in order to foster education and skills for entrepreneurship.

* Quote by Maria Zvolska, member of the European Economic and Social Committee during the Daring to succeed Round table, April 2nd 2014.

For more information: [email protected]

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European mobility: an asset in times of crisis

11 October, 2012 By Editor

Eurodyssey programme managers and coordinators met on 11 October 2012, in Strasbourg during the programme’s annual Forum. For the thematic debate, they invited members of the AER Bureau to discuss advantages and challenges of an ambitious mobility policy. Guest of honour at the first roundtable was Mr. Jameleddine GHARBI, the Tunisian Minister for Regional Development and Planning, whose presence brought an extra-European perspective to the debate. Following these political discussions, the second roundtable focused on a more in depth analysis of the terms and conditions of an effective Eurodyssey implementation, thanks to the input of key players from the programme.

The Forum thanked the Azores for their commitment and work during the past six years of Presidency and management of Eurodyssey. A call for applications is currently underway to identify the region that will take over starting mid-2013. The 2013 Eurodyssey Forum will take place in Corsica.

Find out more about our Eurodyssey programme

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“The Directive on services must be revised” says the AER

22 April, 2005 By Editor

Västerås (S), 22 April 2005

‘At a time when the Directive on Services (Bolkestein Directive) and the Constitutional Treaty are under debate in all European countries, the Assembly of European Regions (AER) strongly reaffirms that this Directive must be revised to take better account of the European social model,’ said Stig-Erik Westmark, President of the AER Social Cohesion, Social Services and Public Health Committee and Chairman of the International Committee of Västmanland (Sweden), at the meeting of the Committee in Västerås (S).

This draft Directive proposes to harmonise the application of the European internal market rules on services and its scope of application includes health, social, cultural and education services. ‘We ask that health and social services are excluded from the scope of the proposed legislation,’ stated in a common declaration the 90 regional representatives participating in the AER meeting. ‘Health and social services are intrinsically linked to European social model and are provided in the general interest, in terms of citizens’ expectations of quality, continuity and accessibility to all at an affordable price.’

The draft Directive aims to harmonise sectors where there are no pre-existing common standards. ‘We want to see the adoption of a sectoral approach to the regulation of services of general interest. We call upon the European Commission to launch separate consultation processes in order to define common principles for health and social services in Europe’ stated Stig-Erik Westmark. ‘We are in line with the recommendations of the recent report of the European Parliament related to the proposed Directive,’ he added.

The Social Cohesion, Social Services and Public Health’ Committee also worked on a main problem of society: the increasing consumption of alcohol in Europe and its impact on public health. The Committee decided to set up a Working group on Prevention of harm caused by alcohol. ‘This Working group will view the political actions and measures necessary to be taken to set and reach a realistic first goal that would show positive results in reducing the harm and injuries of alcohol to the unborn, children, youth and adults, towards EU and all over Europe. We will initiate co-operation works with representatives of DG Health and Consumer protection of the European Commission and all the relevant networks, for a long term action,’ pointed out Lisbeth Ryderfjärd, Jönköping (S) County Council Commissioner and President of the Working group.

For more information: [email protected]

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Bolkestein Directive – the AER welcomes the European Council’s decision

22 March, 2005 By Editor

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) welcomes the European Council’s decision on the Directive on Services (Bolkestein Directive). The AER has insisted that the Bolkestein Directive must be revised to take better account of the European social model.

‘The regions fully support the European Union’s initiative to complete the internal market in services and to promote European economic growth,’ said Stig-Erik Westmark, President of the AER Committee for Social Cohesion, Social Services and Public Health and Chairman of the International Committee of the Västmanland region (S). ‘However, we must not forget the importance of health and social services in complementing and supporting European economic growth. The AER has repeatedly called on the European Council to uphold the European social model and not to move to the liberalisation of these service sectors, without first evaluating their special features.’

Johanna Mikl-Leitner, President of the AER Committee for Culture, Education & Training, Youth and Minister for Youth of Land Niederösterreich (A) added ‘Culture, education and audiovisual services are an integral part of the European social model and cannot be treated as mere commercial commodities. Europe’s cultural and educational diversity contribute to economic growth and competitiveness. These sectors should not be indiscriminately subjected to the internal market rules, as this would endanger the diversity and the quality of their contents.’

The AER has called upon the European Commission to first evaluate the impact of the liberalisation carried out so far in some service sectors, before proceeding to the liberalisation of further service sectors. Following the debate on Services of General Interest in 2004, the AER calls upon the European Commission to respect its stated intention of further assessing the special features of health, social, culture and education services before it takes any legislative action in these fields.

Any European action in these sectors should respect the regions’ competencies in organising, providing and financing these services for their citizens. Under the current text of the Bolkestein Directive, regions would lose their powers to regulate their schools or health and social services, because practitioners from countries with less stringent standards would be allowed to provide services according to the rules and requirements of their home countries.

For more information: [email protected]

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Library

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Here is a summary of the objectives of the project:

Partners of the project

Pictures of the project

Why ?

Outputs

Partners

Events

Contact

Presentation

Investing in the future

Youth: a priority

“First time you fail, second time you win”*

Supporting young entrepreneurs in Donegal (IE)

Removing barriers in Edirne (TR)

Growing talent in Flevoland (NL)

Telling the world in Bruxelles-Capitale (BE)

Committees 1 and 2 jointly take the next step:

Library

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Website map