ProWomEnPlus - Supporting Women Business Starters – European Good Practices Congress Series in 2006 in Germany
Stuttgart – Erfurt – Bochum – Potsdam
Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum organised a series of 4 congresses which took place throughout 2006. The central theme of all 4 congresses was “Supporting Women Business Starters – European Good Practices”. The congresses were funded by the Federal Ministry for Research and Education and organized in close cooperation with the National Agency for Women Entrepreneurs (bga), the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Baden-Württemberg – ifex, THÜRINGEN innovativ GmbH, Organisation for Innovative Employment Promotion (GIB) in North Rhine Westphalia and Zukunftsagentur Brandenburg (ZAB – Brandenburg Economic Development Board).
The German Government aims to significantly increase the number of businesses started by women. In order to reach this goal it is essential that not only specific support programmes are made available, but also that experts and multipliers have a forum which allows an exchange experience and the transfer of knowledge to take place and relevant contacts to be made. The series of congresses offered this platform this year.
The individual congresses presented the results of the EU-funded project “ProWomEn-Promotion of Women Entrepreneurs” (www.prowomen-eu.net) as well as other new developments in women support mechanisms and programmes in Europe. The events aimed to attract development agencies and multipliers that actually support and advise women entrepreneurs.
The first congress in Stuttgart, 26th-27th January 2006
Women as Entrepreneurs - Good Practices and Initiatives for Creating a Support Climate
The central theme of the congress was the question of how women as business owners are perceived and accepted on all social levels. The necessary change in awareness won’t happen on its own. The congress presented good practices from Europe of how regional decision makers can be sensitised to the issues and convinced of the necessity to initiate change, how effective publicity can be created and used and how in fact women entrepreneurs can be realistically presented in the media.
Second Congress: Erfurt (Thuringia), 23rd – 24th March 2006
Women Start Businesses Differently – Experience With Women Specific Support Programmes
The congress looked at and discussed women specific programmes on offer in the area of entrepreneurship. Is it really the content of the programmes or is it the structure, the process involved or the marketing of programmes that attract women? How do financial support programmes need to be structured so that women make use of them? Experiences in mentoring and coaching programmes had been presented and their transfer to others discussed.
Third Congress: Bochum (North Rhine Westphalia), 17th – 18th May 2006
Women use Networks – With Whom, How and When to Network in Order to Achieve Effective Women Start-up Support
While men have always typically used “old boy networks” to do business, gain contacts or information women are more reluctant to do so. The experts looked at regional, national, European and virtual networks and their significance for women business starters and multipliers. The European examples showed not only the values but also the barriers of successful networking.
Fourth Congress: Potsdam (Brandenburg), 14th – 15th September 2006
Education and Training – Key Factors for Successful Women Business Starters
Training to become an entrepreneur has to be a long term goal and learning how to become an entrepreneur has to start as early as possible in schools. Personality development and gender specific problems can be tackled more effectively if schoolgirls are taught to think and act entrepreneurially from an early age. Experts from Germany and Europe discussed which qualification measures and training programmes exist and have been successful in higher education and whether it is necessary that advisers are trained to deal specifically with women clients.
For more information, please visit: www.prowomenplus.de.
Contact:
Milena Mikosch, Tel. 0711 123 4026
Email: mikosch@steinbeis-europa.de