On November the 30th, a diverse group of 20 stakeholders representing women entrepreneurs, educators, project managers, and students from eight different nationalities, met for three hours on a Think Tank to discuss how to better integrate female graduates into the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Muensterland Region in Germany.
This Online Local Think Tank is part of the European project Women Entrepreneurs in Regional Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (WeRin), which is running five local think tanks in Croatia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Turkey.
The event began with a warm welcome from Kim Kemper (WESt mbH), who moderated the three-hour event. Then, the Managing Director of the Science to Business Marketing Department of the FH Münster and ACEEU Chair, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Kliewe, gave an introductory keynote speech on why fostering female entrepreneurship is crucial for the region. Afterward, Junior Professor Dr. Sue Rossano-Rivero from FH Münster and the director of the WeRin project kicked off with a presentation on the research results. So far, the project has conducted over 300 interviews in the six countries participating.
After the participants had gained an overview of the WeRin project and its goals, the group representing women entrepreneurs, educators, project managers, and students from the region with different national backgrounds introduced themselves and explained why the topic was a key regional issue from their point of view.
Among the activities that took place during this workshop, it is worth highlighting the description of the ideal world in which women feel invited to entrepreneurship, including gender and structural perspective. Moreover, key challenges were identified at the three levels of entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial ecosystem, and support programs for entrepreneurship. Finally, innovative solutions were proposed to address the above challenges.
The activities during the Online Local Think Tank and the exchange of ideas with all participants have contributed to a better understanding of the drivers and barriers for female graduate entrepreneurs in the regional ecosystem of Muensterland.
We invite you to learn more about this project that seeks to improve the inclusivity of entrepreneurship education and support programs to increase the proportion of graduate women entrepreneurs and improve their level of insertion in regional entrepreneurial ecosystems across Europe. Are you in? Visit WeRin website .
