The second category of the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) 2024, titled "Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills", champions projects which improve the skillsets of entrepreneurs, managers, and employees. Of the 10 initiatives chosen by the national juries, three are progressing to the final stage of the competition - with the overall winner to be announced on the 19 November 2024 at the SME Assembly in Budapest! 

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 while fostering 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. 

Hungary: National Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program

National Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program, Personal Entrepreneurship Mentoring sub-project, is an initiative of the Foundation for Small Enterprise Economic Development (SEED Foundation). The programme aims to establish 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 development. 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 of a mentee's business. 

Turkey: GençBizz 

GençBizz Junior Achievement Türkiye (Genç Başarı Eğitim Vakfı, GBEV) is targeted at high-school students to boost their entrepreneurial skill development through experience-based education. The programme creates a bridge between high school and the world of work by offering free and equal opportunities to young people. The idea is that young people, core to shaping Turkey's 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 workplace and activate their ideas. 

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