GEW country hosts in Europe are busy laying the groundwork this summer for Global Entrepreneurship Week, which this year will be held November 17- 23. GEW global picks such asCreative Business Cup and Get in the Ring are growing in popularity as more country hosts add these events to their GEW calendars. Universities across Europe are busy hosting entrepreneurship programs in partnership with GEW country hosts. Global Entrepreneurship Week’s network across Europe is also gaining ground beyond national capitals, expanding its reach to diverse regions thanks to GEW partners.
Armenia
GEW Armenia’s campaign grows stronger with each passing year. This year, activities will take place in all of the major cities including Gyumri, Vanadzor and Dilijan, with the aim of enhancing campaign awareness through participation of academia, attracting broader media coverage and building a stronger social media presence. This year’s campaign will include popular events such as the Armenia StartUp Cup, which has been a part of GEW Armenia for the past three years, as well as new additions to GEW Armenia such as Creative Business Cup. Additionally, GEW Armenia is also teaming up with GEW Turkey and GEW Georgia to organize cross-border and regional events to broaden the scope of this year’s GEW activities.
Cyprus
Industry Disruptors - Game Changers (ID-GC), the GEW country host in Cyprus is calling startups to apply for the Disrupt Cyprus Cup, the finals of which will take place during GEW in November.Carla Tanas from ID-GC is also in contact with European Business Angels Network to collaborate on the Disrupt Cyprus Cup and have startups throughout the country compete for the 10 finalists spots.
Finland
Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, the GEW country host in Finland, launched Summer of Startups in early June, an intensive coaching program for student entrepreneurs that has been running since 2010. This year’s GEW will also see activities and events in every university in Finland.
Kosovo
Innovation Center Kosovo, the GEW country host in Kosovo, is organizing over 20 activities throughout Kosovo with various stakeholders and partners for this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Moldova
GEW Moldova is looking to build upon last year’s campaign to increase both its reach and event participation. GEW Moldova hopes to increase the number of participating regions from 10 in 2013 to 14, the number of beneficiaries from 1000 in 2013 to 1500 and the number of events from 21 in 2013 to 23. Thus far, the GEW Moldova Business Calendar and GEW global pick Creative Business Cup were launched in June. With another global pick, Get in the Ring, launching this month, as well as GEW Moldova News and “Global Farmers” launching in August, the summer promises to be busy for GEW Moldova. As for the official GEW campaign, the launch is scheduled for September. Key GEW events this year include: industrial sessions, regional events, partner activities, a GEW Gala and GEW partner socials.
Montenegro
The Center of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED), the GEW country host in Montenegro, has been working closely with partner universities to organize events leading up to GEW. Examples include their partnership with University Donja Gorica and the Winter School for Youth on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which was hosted in January 2014 as well as the Business Ideas Competition in partnership with Student Business Center which took place in May. Two entrepreneurship summer school programs organized jointly with University Donja Gorica, the Security Exchange Commission and the National Statistical Office for second and third year students will kick off this month. During Global Entrepreneurship Week students will present policy papers on SME development in MNE as part of a round table with relevant stakeholders.
Russia
The Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE), the GEW host organization in Russia, is working with over 10 regional partners in Russia via the Alliance for Entrepreneurship Development to raise awareness for this year’s GEW. They are also working with the Ministry of Economic Development to disseminate information in various regions as well as cooperating with the Moscow City Government to expand the campaign outreach. Universities throughout Russia play an important role in the GEW campaign this year, which is why Russia is hosting the International University Conference in November.
CFE is also organizing an international conference “Woman in Business. Paths to Success.” The event will be held September 18, 2014, in Moscow.
Serbia
The Center of Entrepreneurship Support and Financial Education, the new GEW country host in Serbia is busy establishing a new Advisory Board as well as government and private sector partnerships before the end of the summer. The media campaign for GEW 2014 is due to be launched this month featuring a new website in Serbian.
Spain
Mathieu Carenzo from IESE Business School, the GEW country host in Spain, is recruiting board members for the GEW Spain National Board to further expand GEW to all regions of Spain. Carenzo is also working closely with Global Entrepreneurship Week to kick-start GEW Andorra, which will be held for the first time this year.
Turkey
Endeavor Turkey, the GEW country host in Turkey, has recruited two new partners to expand the outreach of this year’s national GEW campaign, International Entrepreneurship Center and Webrazzi, the largest and most popular web hub in Turkey. To boost its social media presence, Endeavor Turkey is running several campaigns targeting different audiences. These include a new twitter campaign targeting high school and university students and “Take your Kid to Work Day” and “Shadowing Day” campaigns, which aim to engage the private sector. GEW Turkey is also working on a new project to calculate and promote donated mentoring hours. The campaign will honor the memory ofZiya Boyacigiller, one of the most active mentors in the Turkish entrepreneurship ecosystem, who recently passed away.
Ukraine
The Association ‘Socio-Economic Strategies and Partnerships’ (SESP), the GEW country host in Ukraine is promoting a youth-oriented GEW campaign this year with the theme “Youth entrepreneurship: key to prosperity of local community”. The main goal of the campaign is to unleash young business talent through the promotion of entrepreneurship as a worthy career option. To do so, the campaign is focused on developing the skillset required to become an entrepreneur and to present and promote success stories of young entrepreneurs. Key events in this year’s GEW will include Entrepreneurs’ Congress, YBU Entrepreneur of the Year and GEW global pick “Cleantech: Changing world – new business opportunities”.
Photo Credit: Elentir