MentorProgramma Friesland, Inqubator Leeuwarden, Business Development Friesland and Knowledge2018 join forces to organise the event ‘Vital Region: Entrepreneurship for social challenges’ in order to inspire and connect.

Keynote speaker Jaap Koen Bijma will, supported by 2 current practices from the field, inspire to tackle social challenges and to create new networks. With workshops led by regional and European actors, the event offers you an international perspective on the future of enterprise, hubs and how they can contribute to solve social challenges.

The event gives you the opportunity to bring in social challenges from your region or organisation and find solutions together with the other event participants. Think of it as a social innovation marketplace, where public authorities, private companies and third sector organisations can post and give visibility to social and environmental challenges they want to solve. At the event, students, professionals, social innovators and (start-up) entrepreneurs from across Europe are given the opportunity to discuss solutions to the given social need and hopefully come to innovative insights and solutions together!

Complete the template and send it to e.vanderwerff@bdfriesland.nl before Monday June 12th 2017.

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Programme

13.15 Registration with coffee and tea

13.30 Welcome and opening ‘Vital Region, Entrepreneurship for social challenges’

13.45 Plenary sessions:

• Keynote speaker Jaap Koen Bijma, advisor at Doarpswurk ‘Vital Region, Entrepreneurship for social challenges’.
  A real innovation is often complicated because it brings the organisation or society into motion. Jaap Koen Bijma promotes awareness in all human actions.

• Best practise 'Claim your Future' by students from Frisian VET colleges (Friesland College, Friese Poort and Nordwin College) and HE Institutes (Stenden University of Applied Sciences and NHL University of Applied Sciences).
  10 students share their EU experience on Social Entrepreneurship.

14.30 Pop-up café ‘Social Challenges’ moderated by Wyb de Boer, Stenden University of Applied Sciences

14.45 Plenary sessions:

• Best practise ‘Entrepreneurship in interface communities’ by Jonathan McAlpin, chief executive of East Belfast Enterprise, Northern Ireland.
  How do enterprises respond to the division in society within Northern Ireland resulting from the recent conflict in this region?
  

• Best Practise ‘Increasing the dialogue between refugees and local communities’ by Hooman Nassimi, founder of the Inclusive Society Foundation.
  Hooman is a German fourth year student at Stenden University of Applied Sciences, born in Iran and founder of the Inclusive Society Foundation.

15.15 Pop-up café ‘Social Challenges moderated by Wyb de Boer

15.45 Workshops:

• ‘Social Inclusion through Entrepreneurship (ENTER)’ by Sarah Daly & Heather Cassidy, Creative Spark, IE and Tjitske Kiemel, Stichting Jong & Ondernemend Fryslân, NL.
• ‘Hub Creation through Entrepreneurship (SESAME)’ by Jon Arnet, BttF, UK, and Corrie Ponne, Inqubator Leeuwarden.
• ‘Personal & professional growth through mentoring (SESAME)’ by Mariona Ayxela from Servei Solidari, ES and Mentorprogramma Friesland, NL.

16.45 Pop-up café ‘Social Challenges’, recap by Wyb de Boer

17.00 Networking with drinks and bites

Location

De Kanselarij, Turfmarkt 11, Leeuwarden

Participants

Regionally, professionals and students from VET colleges and universities, NGO’s, social entrepreneurs, authorities and business representatives will participate in the event. In addition, the following delegates from organisation participating in the ENTER and SESAME project will attend the event in Leeuwarden:

• East Belfast Enterprise and Canice Consulting Ltd from Northern Ireland,
• Rijeka Development Agency Porin from Croatia,
• Momentum Consulting and Creative Spark from Ireland,
• BURSA Provincial Directorate of National Education from Turkey,
• Kaunas VET center of social services and construction business specialists from Lithuania,
• Salpaus Futher Education from Finland
• Social organisation Servei Solidari from Spain
• Incubator Bridging To The Future from the UK

EU projects

The event is offered to you by EU projects ENTER and SESAME.

ENTER (In Interface) aims to increase access to continuing Vocational Education and Training (C-VET) for individuals living in interface areas. Specifically, the project focusses on encouraging greater access to entrepreneurship education, aiming to generate significant positive impact at a personal level, as well as encouraging wider economic development and community cohesion. The project will aim to do this by harnessing the knowledge triangle between research, education and enterprise innovation, with VET providers – enterprise agencies and business development centres – at the heart of the triangle.

There is a world-wide movement where businesses and individuals aim at changing the world for the better. Attention for innovative enterprises that have a primary social mission is growing. These so-called social enterprises do not aim for financial gain in the first place but for having a meaningful activity; just like young adults who increasingly express the wish to offer an added value to their local society and region. SESAME aims at tackling problems like school dropouts, youth unemployment and the growing need for support from young entrepreneurs. Project SESAME wants to accelerate social inclusion of young adults, and enable them to utilise their full potential on their way to the labour market. This will be achieved by creating a connection between developing personal talents and ambitions. It combines possible alienation from the socio-economic mainstream of society with successful methods in (re-)engagement.

This event has been funded with support from the European Commission.The organisor is solely responsible for this publication (communication) and the Commission accepts no responsibility for any use may be made of the information contained therein.