Project WE.Circular – the second meeting of the Transnational Group of Stakeholders was held in Belgrade

Project WE.Circular – the second meeting of the Transnational Group of Stakeholders was held in Belgrade

10-11.09.2024

The second meeting of the Transnational Stakeholder Group within the framework of the WE.Circular project, including presentation of examples of good practice in empowering female entrepreneurs, was held on September 10 and 11 in Belgrade. As the host of the event, the Association of Business Women in Serbia with the support of The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (associated strategic partner) was hosted by 14 partners from 11 countries (Bulgaria, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Boosting digital and industrial capacity for sustainable circular transition of women entrepreneurs in the Danube Region – WE.Circular is European project co-financed from the Danube Region program, which deals with the improvement of digital and business skills of female entrepreneurs in the field of industrial and circular transition, and by enabling improvement of key stakeholders in the application of smart business strategies.

During the first part of the meeting, Dragana Panajotovic, Executive Director of the Association of Business Women in Serbia, welcomed the participants and presented the activities of the Association, followed by Nebojsa Vranes, Counselor of Center for Circular Economy of The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (associated strategic partner of project) talked about the Chamber’s results achieved in 2023 and 2024, as well as the most outstanding projects in the area of ​​circular economy.

 

Lija Stojkovic, Project manager at ABW Serbia, reflected on the results of the activities so far within the WE.Circular project and indicated the next steps. She also presented examples of good practice in Serbia – Organizational Capacity Building Support for the Association of  Business Women in Serbia (within the project WE-Champs: Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem by Networking Regional Women’s Chambers of Commerce and Business Associations, as well as the project Promoting the Use of Digital Technologies to Make Women’s Enterprises Resilient – FEMTECH for Resilience, both supported by CIPE – Center for International Private Enterprise.

Aleksandra Vucinic, Head of the Department for Circular Economy and Sustainable Development of The Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, presented the Circular Economy Development Program in Republic of Serbia for the period 2022-2024, as another example of Serbian good practice. She spoke about the achieved goals of the Program, the results of the Action Plan, as well as the preparation of a new version of the Program.

Alica Cikatricisova, representative of the partner organization SBA, presented Slovakian examples of good practices: Green Circular Academy initiative, civil society organization Aj Ty v IT / Also you in IT and Digital Coalition initiative.

On the second day, project partners, associated strategic partners and stakeholders participated inTransnational meeting, as well as in a group brainstorming session on public policies. Marija Zlateva (RAPIV), Project coordinator and communications manager, presented the preliminary version of the Transnational Analysis of Needs and Gaps in the Skills of Women Entrepreneurs.