Female entrepreneurship in rural areas, a valuable tool in achieving the objectives regarding gender equality and the green social economy
At the level of the European Union, female entrepreneurs represent approximately one third of the self-employed persons, and the percentage is the same in rural areas.
Even if the number of women occupying positions of associates or shareholders in small and medium-sized enterprises has increased slightly recently, the gap in terms of the number of female and male entrepreneurs is still a large one in Romania, where only 36.84% are women.
The difference is even more significant in the rural communities where, due to the lack of education, limited opportunities, traditional social roles, the poverty rate, to name just a few of the obstacles, the number of women to develop their own business is much smaller.
The European Commission’s policies contribute to gender equality becoming a reality in the EU countries, and the steps in this direction involve, along with the awareness of the problem and of the importance that women have in the economic and social development of rural communities, also promoting a more active role for them and supporting them for the establishment and administration of private economic structures.
The process of empowering women cannot be attained, however, only by providing financial support. Entrepreneurial education plays an extremely significant role, through which future female entrepreneurs can acquire knowledge and develop the necessary skills in this regard, using digital and social economy models.
At the same time, considering the provisions of the European Green Deal, it is essential that the entrepreneurship developed in the rural environment allows the transition towards a social and green economy.
The Women’s Empowerment through GREen Social ENtrepreneurship – WE GREEN project acts towards two major directions leading to a sustainable Europe – gender equality in rural entrepreneurship and greening of the rural economy.
The expected results of the project – an inspirational package, the development and implementation of a capacity building program for formal and non-formal educators working with women in rural communities and a guide for all stakeholders, contributes to the achievement of the objectives regarding gender equality and green social economy at national and European level.
The #WEGREEN project is funded by ERASMUS+ and implemented by Diesis Network, BK CON, SYNTHESIS, Primorska University, Mladi ambasadori and the Center for Not-for-profit Law.
Kick-off meeting of the BC4ESE project was held
On April 12, 2022, a Kick-off meeting of the project: Building capacities for innovation in the eco-social entrepreneurship education (BC4ESE) was held online. A plan of interesting activities, which will be implemented in the period 2022-2025, has been prepared by the consortium of organizations consisting of:
Cluster for Eco-Social Innovation and Development CEDRA Split, Croatia (coordinator) and partners:
– Diesis Network (Belgium)
– HUB Nicosia (Cyprus)
– Young Ambassadors (Serbia)
– CDP “Globus” (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
– Association for Democratic Prosperity – Zid (Montenegro)
– Agencija za lokalni razvoj d.o.o. Prozor-Rama (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
– Centre for Vocational Education (Montenegro).
The BC4ESE project is dedicated to building capacities for the promotion of eco-social entrepreneurship and the development of non-formal education tools and methodologies. Through its strong innovative component, the project covers several topics important for the sustainable development of local communities:
- eco-social entrepreneurship,
- youth inclusion,
- non-formal education,
- digital work.
The project is funded by the European Union through the Erasmus + program.
Inauguration
The beginning of November was marked by the inauguration of the tenth jubilee generation of young ambassadors in Niš.
We welcomed our young ambassadors and a lot of new knowledge, skills and challenges in their mandate.
This important anniversary was also an opportunity to thank our friends, without whom the Young ambassadors would not be what they are today. We have chosen new honorary ambassadors of our association, dear friends who help us grow and reach new heights year after year.
Slavica Marković-Sandić from the Embassy of Sweden in Belgrade/Sveriges ambassad i Belgrad, Jelena Radovanović from the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Belgrade, Snežana Stanojević from OTP Bank of Serbia, Ivana Petrović from the Metropolitan University, Miljana Nenadov from the National Theater of Niš, Marta Brusky and Gianluca Pastorelli from the Diesis network, Milan Janić and Tadej Slapnik, have been wearing the badge of honor since today.
For the fourth time, the award “Filip Ćirković” for the most active young ambassador for the previous generation was given. The award went to ambassador Miljana Petković.
SEE WEST
During the 24th International Tourism Fair in Nis, on March 30, the SEE WEST Alliance for the Development of the Social Economy in the Western Balkans officially started working.
On this occasion, through the panel discussion “Business in Tourism”, we talked about good European practices and examples of development and support for social business in tourism, the development of rural and sustainable tourism, and opportunities for regional connections and joint work on European projects.
SEE WEST alliance is the first regional alliance of organizations for national support of the social economy in the Western Balkans. This alliance was formed by actors in the field of social economy in the region, members of the Diesis network, in order to work on the development of the sector and achieve long-term goals through three directions:
– Visibility and recognition of the social economy ecosystem in the WB6 countries and the work of key actors at the European and international level
– Nurturing and formation of interregional partnerships and cooperation
– Facilitation of interregional knowledge transfer
Members of the alliance are CDP “Globe”, ADP-Zid, ARNO, LENS, Partners of Albania for Change and Development, Diesis Network, COSV – Cooperazione per lo Sviluppo, Coalition for the Development of Solidarity Economy, Public, Caritas Šabac and Young Ambassadors.
Stay tuned to discover more about the SEE WEST Alliance initiative and future actions.
Study visit in Italy
WB SEA PROJECT – STUDY VISITS IN ITALY
During the second week of September, Young Ambassadors went to Monza, Italy for the WB SEA project to discover the Italian Social Economy ecosystem.
Thanks to our members COSV and Gruppo Cooperativo CGM we had an insightful week, where we learnt more about the long tradition, development, and future perspectives of the Italian Social Economy. We had the chance to meet experts and local practitioners to better understand the opportunities for innovation through the European Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP) and through the co-design between the public administration and social enterprises. We were introduced to the inspiring youth policies in the Lombardy region and how to best support business development through central reflections on space, time, and connections.
Our members from ARNO, Partners Albania for Change and Development, Diesis Network, LENS, Center for the development of social entrepreneurship “Globe”, and Association for Democratic Prosperity – Zid were also invited to share best practices and create connections with local social enterprises, some of which have been active in the youth field for decades.
BOLD
The BOLD Event is a leadership development workshop integrating the fundamentals of Emotional Intelligence, Entrepreneurship and Community Development designed to activate a generation of emerging leaders throughout Serbia.
Accepted fellows participated in an immersive 4-day training in Belgrade, Serbia. Through interactive workshops led by experienced facilitators, fellows worked on development of their ideas in two directions: civic engagement or business venture and pitched ideas to each other. Based on their voting, 5 best ideas were chosen and composed 5 teams of all participated fellows.
On the 5th day, 5 teams participated in the launching event of BOLD initiative organized by the US Embassy in Serbia, where they competed for the awards with a total budget of 15000 USD. After competition, teams will receive mentoring support from Young Ambassadors in order to develop further and implement their ideas.
Project named „VRH“ won 1st place with 29% of votes, and received the award of 5000 USD. The idea was creating a platform for the promotion of natural beauties in the Nis and South Serbia. All famous but also some still undiscovered places in the mountains and gorges that are surrounding Nis will be presented on the platform and all nature lovers will be able to see what are the suggestions to visit, difficulties of the proposed routes and upcoming events which are organized by associations of hikers.
BOLD event is organized by Prismatic (USA) and Young Ambassadors (Serbia) with the support of the US Embassy in Serbia.