Prague, 13 June 2019 – In May, the first workshop of 60 women entrepreneurs from 33 European countries took place in Prague and featured the “Peer-learning activities in entrepreneurship education and in women’s entrepreneurship” program supported by EY in collaboration with the European Commission and other partners.
An interactive three-day program was prepared for prominent investors, non-profit organisations, public administrators and the business community in the newly opened HubHub ARA co-working centre, resulting in a number of creative solutions to support women in business and create new European and national strategies in this area.
The Prague-based EY InnovEYtion Hub has taken on the organisation, facilitation and interactive form of so-called “co-design” blocks. The aim of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for the development of European and national strategies to promote female entrepreneurship, exchange best practice among women and men, and deepen cooperation between these individuals and the organisations they lead. “We’re excited about the results of the workshop and the atmosphere it created. We’ve been successfully using what’s known as the co-design methodology, which is more commonly used by companies in new product development.
Positive feedback from the participants has shown that co-design can be very successfully applied to the formulation of strategic and policy recommendations. In addition, participants' reactions have from the start confirmed the incredible relevance and importance of female entrepreneurship for European competitiveness. We rate the workshop as a great success. But we mustn’t rest on our laurels; we should prepare for the next phases of the project,” says Zuzana Nehajová, InnovEYtion Hub Leader at EY, which sponsors the Europe-wide project.
The project, which aims to promote the business ecosystem in Europe, comprises another two follow-up workshops focused on women in business to be held in other European cities in 2020. The workshops are supported by an online platform on which the community of participants shares know-how, experience and developing key ideas.
