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Inclusive solutions to common challenges

Summary of a roundtable with projects implemented under the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation

The second meeting held on the first day of the Regional Funds Week was dedicated to inclusiveness, one of the core objectives and values promoted not only by the EEA and Norway Grants, but across the European Union. This event was hosted by Katarzyna Zabratańska, Manager for Equality and Inclusive Culture at Żabka Polska, the participants were welcomed and introduced to the topic by Nora Mehsen, Sector Officer at Funds and Horizontal Concerns Unit from the Financial Mechanism Office. Representatives of seven projects implemented under the Fund for Regional Cooperation participated as speakers in
the meeting, which attracted nearly 60 spectators joining online.

At the beginning of the roundtable we had the opportunity to learn more about the projects represented by the speakers – who they target, what their goals are and how they want to reach them. We also got to know the achievements to date of individual initiatives, who were willing to share their experience and knowledge. The representatives answered a question which dimensions of diversity are the most important and priority from the perspective of their actions, giving particular examples from their countries, organisations and projects. After a brief introduction, it was the turn of the individual presenters to speak. David S. Evangelista, President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, from "Inclusion through sports for children with developmental disabilities” project and András Nun, Executive Director at Autonomia Foundation, representing "New solutions to old problems" project, talked about the biggest barriers and stereotypes about specific groups they work with/for. Ágnes Puskás, Project Manager at SKC Consulting from “Wingate” project, focused on the identification of skills that, according to the women from different countries she previously interviewed, are perceived as obligatory to succeed in business. The topic of skills was also developed by David S. Evangelista, who furthermore addressed the issue of specific essential competences which his project tries to develop among children with intellectual disabilities, indicating how to achieve it.

How to describe the role of civil society and grassroots movements in creating and implementing inclusive solutions and what are their advantages comparing with top down approaches was then discussed by Veronika Móra, Director at Ökotárs Alapítvány – Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, from "Reclaim our civil space!" project and Elisa Lironi, Senior Manager, European Democracy at ECAS – European Citizen Action Service, representing “Co-Deciding Europe: Civic Tech for Good Governance and Active Citizenship!” project. The topics such as how do they understand being active citizen and what are their definitions and benchmarks were addressed, too. Elisa also tried to answer the question on how we can deal with inclusiveness challenges using big data and AI.

Later in the meeting we were able to learn a little more about the specifics of the project “HOPE – HOlistic radicalisation Prevention initiative", whose representatives – Pedro das Neves, Chief Executive Officer at IPS Innovative Prison Systems together with Ljiljana Palibr, Project Manager of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia – talked about the role of specific partners and stakeholders from the countries where they cooperate, taking into account that the project has ambition to craft holistic and systemic solutions. The questions that were answered were also how to use partners’ potential, who plays the strategic role and why. Shortly afterwards Pedro das Neves, Ágnes Puskás and András Nun shared some best practices from their projects, then all representatives have indicated their recommendations and foresights referring to building inclusive society and solutions in (post)pandemic context. “The most important reflections I have after our roundtable are that, firstly, we must work collectively, inclusiveness is team-work. Together we are powerful and impactful. We will struggle with different obstacles and we will grow,” Katarzyna Zabratańska, the moderator, said. “Secondly, we have to always keep in our minds that inclusiveness and equality mean working «with»instead of working «for» our communities. That’s the most respectful and efficient way of empowering people and expose their subjectivity. And the last thing, we cannot underestimate role of small steps and starting exactly from where we stand. We all have ambitions to deploy systemic changes, and there is no doubt they are needed, but it’s evolutionary approach which demands consistent and persistent work day after day”, she added, concluding the meeting.

by Péter Nyári

The female CEO stimulates gender diversity in a company

The number of women on boards has doubled under the leadership of a woman (29%), compared to a man-led board (16%) globally, according to the fifth edition of the Deloitte Women in the Boardroom study. These percentages are almost identical to the relationship between a female CEO and the number of women on the boards of directors of that company (29%), compared to a company led by a male CEO (15%).

Globally, 15% of all board positions are held by women, a modest 3% increase from 2015, according to Women in the Boardroom, a study that looks at the efforts of more than 60 countries to promote gender diversity. within the boards of directors. Women are still under represented in councils, despite the benefits of gender diversity in place.

In Romania, women occupy 10% of the seats on the boards of directors of large listed companies, 12% of the non-executive roles of the highest rated companies and 15% of the seats on the boards of supervisors of all companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

• America's boards of directors are not very diverse

In the United States, only 14% of board seats are held by women, an increase of only 2% over the 2015 edition. In Canada, the percentage of women on boards has increased to 18%, with 5% more than in 2015. In Latin America and South America, only 7% of board seats are held by women and only 2% of leadership positions on a board are held by women.

• Progress in the EMEA region varies significantly

Romania is behind the other countries in the European Union with only 12% of non-executive positions held by women, compared to the EU average of 23%. Norway, the first country to introduce a diversity quota, has the highest percentage of women on boards (42%). There is no gender diversity quota in the UK, but 20% of council seats and 3% of board positions are held by women. The percentage of women on boards has increased to 28% in Italy, but the number of women chairing boards has fallen by 14% since 2015 and so far to 9%.

• In Australia and Oceania, gender diversity on boards is growing

In Australia, the figures continue to improve as the percentage of women on boards increases to 20%, and 5% to management positions on boards. New Zealand has seen the largest increase since 2015, with 28% of council seats held by women.

• Asia-Pacific lags behind other regions

With only 8% women on boards, gender diversity in some major Asian economies is modest compared to other global regions. Only a few Asia-Pacific countries have mandatory quotas or other solutions to this problem.

by Péter Nyári

The role of women in re-launching the economy and innovation decision making

Forum & policy stakeholder roundtable
Hybrid event

Live in Budapest (Millenáris, 1024 Budapest, Kis Rókus u. 16-20 & online
22 November 2021

The global pandemic has affected our lives in almost every aspect from our health and families to our economy and our prospects. It is a challenge not only to re-launch the economy but to re-launch it on a path that leads to more resilience, growth and sustainability on a national and a regional basis.

This path should include more women and more investments into innovation in the V4+ and the Central-Eastern European regions where market economy is much younger than in Western Europe. As a non-profit, nonpartisan organisation driving the discussion we connect stakeholders from two axes - V4+ countries plus Norway, Serbia, Romania – for the first time. This is why a policy discussion is long due on the topic of business angel investments, innovative start-ups and more female participation in both parts. We invite the stakeholders to discuss their approach, share their opinions and display their results in special roundtables on innovation and business angel investments.

Women/Business/Angels Association holds a special, hybrid forum on 22 November from 15.00 to foster communication among the key players of these regions and topics, and to allow drawing conclusions in terms of good practices for the future. The forum will start with a welcome and a keynote, then from 15.30 a stakeholder panel debate will be held on how to involve more women into innovation funding. In the second half of the event, from 16.20 the WINGATE project will be introduced in more details, focusing on the founding side of startups, titled Innovation in many colors – Innovation support case studies. The event will be closed at 17.30.

>> The event is an opportunity to learn from the experiences of two different projects that nevertheless have similar goals – supporting innovative women entrepreneurs and business angels - and an overlapping geographical coverage.

The WINGATE project: Serbia, Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Norway
We are also beneficiary partners in the WINGATE project, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation. This consortium work across Norway, Serbia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova, supporting and training women entrepreneurs and women business angels.

The Visegrad 4+ project: Visegrad 4+ countries
Women/Business/Angels Association is the consortium leader of a project, co-funded by the International Visegrad Fund, with participating partners from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Georgia and Moldova besides Hungary. We aim to support the development of business angeldom and innovation ecosystem building in these countries and within that, the role that women play in making investment decisions in innovative startups.

For personal attendance, please send an email to womenbusinessangels@gmail.com.
For online participation, please register in Zoom: https://www.wbusinessangels.com/en/

by Péter Nyári

Romania and Moldova- close collaborations for supporting and promoting female entrepreneurship

Digitization, innovation, entrepreneurship education, bilateral relations between the Romanian and the Republic of Moldova regarding business environment and academic cooperation were some of the most important topics addressed in Chisinau, during the Economic Forum "Opportunities to invest in the Republic of Moldova and Romania", organized in Chisinau on  the 14^th of July, with the participation of ANAA (National Association of Entrepreneurs) delegation  led by the President of the association, Cristina Chiriac.

The visit to the Republic of Moldova focused on a series of bilateral meetings with representatives of the business environment, the associative and academic environment and the official meeting with the Romanian Ambassador to Chisinau, Daniel Ioniță.

Also, during the visit, ANAA together with the Association of Business Women of Moldova - AFAM strengthened their partnership in order to develop sustainable projects to support women in business, entrepreneurship education and digitalization but also to support and promote the Wingate platform which has as a main purpose to increase the number of women-led companies in areas of interest such as innovation, contributing to competitiveness and equal opportunities.

The need of support and promotion of women who have succeeded in business so that they become benchmarks of good practice are essential to stimulate the community of women entrepreneurs in Moldova, and the role of the partnership between the two bodies is to promote gender equality and the ability of women to assert themselves in society, through common plans and actions. Entrepreneurial education and digitalization are key factors in managing and developing the business and promoting gender equality. It also has been held meetings with representatives of the European Business Association - EBA and the Employers' Association of Light Industry APIUS.

During the Economic Forum, meetings were held with many business women from the Republic of Moldova who were invited to join the international community of entrepreneurs that is being created within the Wingate project.

The Wingate project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Regional Cooperation Grant Fund.
#EEANorwayGrants #FundforRegionalCooperation

by Péter Nyári

Over 2 million jobs available in the EU

More than 2 million jobs are vacant in the European Union, according to EURES data - the European cooperation network for employment services, designed to facilitate the free movement of workers. Although there is a demand for workforce, just over 800,000 applications were submitted in April, according to the same data, which indicates a surplus of jobs during this period.

Most vacancies are available in countries such as Germany - over 628,000, France - over 600,000 and Belgium, about 200,000 jobs.

In terms of professions, the most looked up after are those that have direct interaction with people, especially in-store salespeople, sales agents and sales and marketing leaders.

The same statistics at EU level indicate that most job applications are from micro-enterprises (<10 employees), followed by small enterprises and far away from them are the large enterprises. If we take into consideration the studies, the most requested level of education is the high school or equivalent for the jobs mentioned above.

However, most applicants are people with a higher level of education, from countries such as France, Greece and Italy, with mostly technical and engineering training.

The SARS-COV2 pandemic had a major impact on the labor market and forced employers to rethink their recruitment and selection processes. The activity has suddenly moved into the online environment in a very large proportion, the importance of soft skills (creativity, empathy, emotional intelligence, stress management) has increased, and employers are starting to pay more attention to artificial intelligence. This is the reason why more and more companies are currently looking for people willing to interact directly, but the reluctance of those looking for a job is also increased. This is indicated by the surplus of labor at EU level in April 2021, which is almost three times higher than the demand for labor.

by Péter Nyári

Constant changes

Anyone who gives his head to a business is aware that he has to face constant challenges, as the market is proving to be saturated in quite a few professions and disciplines. Professional development cannot be neglected, which can bring a serious advantage to those who consciously pay attention to it and sacrifice time and energy for it.

In recent times, however, it is not enough to endure the daily trials, the epidemic puts the female entrepreneurs under multiple ordeals:

- As entrepreneurs and employers, they have to deal with the restrictions associated with epidemiological measures and the accompanying economic effects, and at the same time they have to fulfill the tasks assigned to them as women and mothers, including learning with children, dealing with small children and household.

It is very difficult to manage these things with the same enthusiasm and energy from day to day.

Where possible, many are open to the online world – as many research finds.  Some are forced to act this way if they want to keep up with the world and does not want to pull the blinds down immediately.

Flexibility - adaptability - creativity - openness

Essential skills in today's world in order to keep a business afloat (which often provides the livelihood for families).

Difficulty or challenge?!

It depends… a coin always has two sides. However, we can definitely say , that the development, the desire to study are key factors to be succesfull in the world of work,to take the difficulties as  challenges and use them for our advatages - and stand as a woman, as a mother upheld duffciently in our family.

Selfless support ?!

Perhaps the Wingate project * was launched at the best possible time (both economically and otherwise) to create an e-knowledge base for its target entrepreneurs (and business angel investors) with training courses to support personality development and to develop professional competencies. During the project trainings, courses, events will be available for FREE for interested entrepreneurs.

By subscribing to the Wingate Magazine, this group can be enriched with up-to-date information - also by following our Facebook page and our LinkedIN group, ladies with entrepenural spirit can also find a series of useful information about the enterpenural world.

* The project benefits from a € 1,824,320 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and  Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.

by Péter Nyári