The second category of the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) 2024 celebrates initiatives which strive to improve the skillsets of entrepreneurs, managers, and employees. In this article, let's meet the 10 successful initiatives which are progressing to the European level under Category 2 - Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills: 

Belgium: The Gentrepreneur Awards 

The Gentrepreneur Awards are organised by Arteveldehogeschool VZW. This annual ceremony is held in Ghent to celebrate and recognise the achievements of entrepreneurial students, bringing visibility to their companies whilst trying to foster a more supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurial students in the city. This event uniquely utilises the skillsets of young people, relying on the students and their initiatives to cover services from catering to photography and videography. The aim is to support the students' education by giving them a professional experience as well as crafting the perfect setting for meaningful networking between government stakeholders, established entrepreneurs, experts, and students. 

Bulgaria: The Professional Association of Robotics and Automation Incubator 

The Professional Association of Robotics and Automation's PARA Robots Incubator aims to fill an important gap: young people passionate about engineering and STEM often do not have the essential resources, such as technical mentorship or funding, to launch their innovative ideas. The incubator bridges offers grade high school students, university students, and young professionals three core resources: components, technical mentorship from experts, and access to state-of-the-art facilities. The incubator has seen successes supporting projects from across the country, and being supported by multiple corporate sponsors. 

Hungary: National Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program 

National Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program, Personal Entrepreneurship Mentoring sub-project, an initiative of the Foundation for Small Enterprise Economic Development (SEED Foundation). The programme aims to foster a strong relationship between two individuals based on a supportive teaching process to encourage the dissemination of best practice and experience to support mentees in their professional develop. Building on the successes of previous projects targeted at female entrepreneurs, the scheme has been expanded to other target groups: women in business, young entrepreneurs, family businesses, and redesigning businesses affected by the Covid-19. The overarching aim is to promote sustainability and enrich the skillset in order to stabilise and boost the trajectory a mentee's business. 

Ireland: Creative Heartlands 

Leitrim County Council's Creative Heartlands is a unique partnership linking Local Enterprise Offices within the Local Authorities of Leitrim, Sligo and Roscommon to the Leitrim Design House, and was established in order to improve the entrepreneurial, managerial, and employee skills in the creative enterprises. The programme has seen successes in its provision of expert advice from dedicated managers, supporting businesses in harnessing emerging technologies, and strengthening the vibrancy of the sector by creating a collective demand for skillset development. The project aims to underscore the creative industries, notably the film and design sectors, as drivers of economic growth in the region.

Lithuania: Rokiškis Engineering Class

Established by the Rokiškis Business Club in September 2021, the Rokiškis engineering class recognised the lack of engineers in the Rokiškis region, noting the need to improve the region's business environment. The aim of the class is to attract human resources to the rural region primarily by motivating local young people to study engineering and return home to support the local industrial ecosystem. This simultaneously supports the skills deficit in the region whilst empowering giving young people to sustainably plan their career path. The class enables young people to gain insights into challenges within sectors such as agriculture, mechanics, and sustainable engineering , boosting both their practical skills and theoretical knowledge. 

Malta: Malta Crafts Foundation (MCF) Learns 

"MCF Learns" by the Malta Crafts Foundation is a set of free training sessions developed by the foundation who recognise the value of creative SMEs and unique manufacturers to the Maltese economy, yet note that although skilled many craftsmen often lack the necessary business skills to generate profits and ensure a sustainable business trajectory. Local artisans can access 4 free training sessions per year, focusing on topics which cultivate their knowledge of operating a successful business. The initiative strives to ensure a continued role of local artisans in Malta's economy by empowering them with the ability to turn their craft into a sustainable enterprise. 

Romania: TRANSFORMATOR 

Since 2021, the TRANSFORMATOR programme by the Social Innovation Solutions focuses on the need for sustainability education and awareness for the organisations at the core of local economies across Romania: SMEs and NGOs. Through workshops and mentoring, the programme aims to foster the necessary skills onto enterprises in order to support and to guide the implementation of sustainable practices onto existing business models. By bringing together a range of stakeholders, the initiative promotes the sharing of experiences and best practices to shape a holistic entrepreneurial approach beneficial for profits, the planet, and to people. 

Spain: Boosting the Youth 

"Boosting the Youth Spain", by Youth Business Spain, combines funding and personalised support for young entrepreneurs. Funding instruments such as social microcredits provide seed capital to any young person who wants to start or scale their enterprise, whilst the YBS mentoring programme ensures that the young entrepreneur has the required support networking to efficiently utilise the capital injection. The project aims to improve the survival rate of youth start-ups whilst ensuring that the next generation of entrepreneurs has access to the skills and an expert-support network to contribute to a more sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Sweden: Foodtech Innovation Network 

Innovation Skåne AB established the Foodtech Innovation Network (FIN) in order to transform the food system to become more sustainable, whilst working alongside entrepreneurs. The role of innovation is highlighted through collaborations with entrepreneurs, recognised for their crucial role in helping to establish creative solutions to current and future challenges. Encouraging a more sustainable food system also helps to support SMEs by securing future supply and harnessing efficient production methods. FIN has evidenced its success in the creation of 165 jobs and the sparking of over 1000 new business collaborations, opportunities, and connections. 

Turkey: GençBizz 

GençBizz Junior Achievement Türkiye (Genç Başarı Eğitim Vakfı, GBEV) is targeted at high-school students, aiming to boost entrepreneurial skill development through experience-based education. The programme creates a bridge between high school and the work of work by offering free and equal opportunities to support youth. The idea is that students, core to shaping the future socio-economic landscape, can graduate from school with a range of creative, business management, time management, and problem-solving skills so that they can confidently enter the world of work and active their ideas. 

Stay tuned to our social media pages (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X) to be updated on all things EEPA! The winner of this and the rest of the categories will be announced at the SME Assembly in Budapest, Hungary (18-20 November 2024), hosted by the Hungarian presidency of the EU.