WIN project – meeting of the national innovation group was held

WIN project – meeting of the national innovation group was held

05.02.2025

Yesterday, a meeting of the WIN national innovation group was held, which was attended by all members: Dragana Panajotović (Executive director of the Association of Business Women in Serbia, Belgrade and national coordinator of the WIN innovation group), Zoran Milovanović (Director of the branch of the National Employment Service of the Republic of Serbia in Loznica), Danijela Ćirić from the branch of the National Employment Service of the Republic of Serbia in Loznica, Milica Pavić (representative of the strategic partner in the project, Tourism Organization of the City of Loznica/TOGL), Ljilja Matković (Owner/Executive director of the company EKO Team, Loznica), Marija Ignjatović (expert in social entrepreneurship, Co-owner/Executive director of Novitas Consult, Šabac, a company that employs people with disabilities) and Nađa Ćirović (Researcher in the Institute “Mihajlo Pupin” CIRNT / Science and Technology Policy Research Center, Belgrade). In addition to the members of the group, Ivana Petrović, Marketing and communications manager, and Jelena Vujičić, Office manager, also attended the meeting from ABW Serbia.

After the previous meeting, where a number of different proposals and ideas were discussed, this time the group focused on several of the most important ones, which will be implemented as part of a pilot project during this year, through the introduction of innovations to improve the position of women on the labor market. The idea is to empower and train women from the target groups, representatives of the older generation of unemployed women, who make homemade items, younger unemployed women or those who want to supplement their income with additional activities, women from rural areas, who participate in the tourist offer of Loznica through ethnic households, farms and the production of domestic products. Through connecting younger and older groups of women, training for digital marketing with exemplary artificial intelligence tools for better promotion and sale of traditional items, training on the application of the circular economy in ethnic households and on farms, as well as support in the establishment of social enterprises, women from the mentioned groups will be able to more easily join economic flows. The emphasis was also on the planning of a promotional event in Loznica, in the Cultural Center “Vuk Karadžić“, in March of this year, in which women from the target groups will participate, and as support for young mothers from this category, while the conference and panel last, a creative workshop for their children will be organized, as an ad hoc kindergarten. The group agreed that it is crucial to improve the awareness of the population, as well as the skills of women in order to improve their position, which is often burdened by gender stereotypes, through trainings, workshops, formal or informal meetings, networking.

The meeting was successful, with a lot of ideas, focused on the selection of several key events and activities, which will begin to be implemented as part of the WIN project in March.