SME ASSEMBLY 2021: Relive the experience

Editorial

Welcome to this new edition of the SME Week Newsletter!

What an exciting month! The SME Assembly on 15-17 November was a great success, and we would like to extend our warm thank you to our hosts from the Slovenian Presidency in Portorož, Slovenia.

We hope you all enjoyed and benefitted from the event. If you would like to relive your SME Assembly experience, you can find an overview in this Euronews report, and below, you can find coverage of the Schumpeter Lecture, news from the EEPA class of 2021, day-by-day coverage of the event and news on our Youth Essay Competition winner, so read on!

We are also interested in learning about your travel habits, for a radio piece about train travel in Europe. This short survey will only take a few moments to complete.

Don't forget to share with us YOUR stories; how are you navigating these challenging times? Share your news and updates to be featured in an upcoming issue or on the Promoting Enterprise News Portal.

SME Assembly 2021 – Relive the experience

The SME Assembly 2021 was full of inspiration, innovation, policy sessions, networking, lectures and more! Don’t worry if you didn’t catch everything, Promoting Enterprise has got you covered!

Looking for a round-up of Days 1-3? Have a read:

• SME Assembly 2021 – Day 1
• SME Assembly 2021 – Day 2
• SME Assembly 2021 – Day 3

Head over to the Promoting Enterprise Youtube channel to watch most of the sessions that took place during the SME Assembly.

European Enterprise Promotion Awards Class of 2021

The European Promotion Enterprise Awards celebrated its 15th anniversary during the SME Assembly 2021. On the second day of the SME Assembly, on November 16, six category winners were awarded with EEPA prizes and an overall Grand Jury Prize winner was crowned as the most outstanding project across the six categories for 2021.

We extend our warmest congratulations to our entire EEPA class of 2021 and in particular to our category champions.

• Category 1 – Promoting the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Spain: Culinary Action! by Basque Culinary Centre. Click here to find out everything about the winner in this category

• Category 2 – Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills

Germany: COMPETENZentrum für Selbständige by Initiative Selbständiger Immigrantinnen e. V. Get to know more about the winner in this category by clicking here

• Category 3 – Improving the Business Environment & Supporting the Digital Transition

Portugal: Digital Commerce Programme by ACEPI – Digital Economy Portugal in partnership with CCP – Portuguese Commerce and Services Confederation and with Municipal Council of Viana do Castelo Discover more about the moment when this project won

• Category 4 – Supporting the Internationalisation of Business

Spain: Iberian Centre for Research and Forest Firefighting – Firefighting Open Innovation Lab-CILIFO (FOIL-CILIFO), Fundación by Delegación Fundación Finnova. Find out more about the winner in this category

• Category 5 – Supporting the Sustainable Transition

Slovenia: Green Penguin, Iskraemeco, d.d. Head over here to meet the winner in this category

• Category 6 – Responsible and Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Sweden: Inkludera by Inkludera. Click here to find out everything about the winner in this category

• Grand Jury Prize

Germany: COMPETENZentrum für Selbständige by Initiative Selbständiger Immigrantinnen e. V. Watch again the exciting moment  when the Grand Jury Prize was announced

YEC 2021 – Bulgarian Kristina Dimova wins SME Week Youth Essay Competition 2021

Kristina Dimova, a 22-year-old from Bulgaria, was proclaimed the winner of this year’s SME Week Youth Essay Competition during the SME Assembly 2021.

The main thesis of Kristina’s essay is that humanity is the key to sustainability not only for companies’ business plans but also in the context of management. “However, humanity should be combined with key factors such as digital transformation, ecology, and economic growth,” she says.

Find out more about Kristina and this year’s SME Week Youth Essay Competition here.

Don’t forget that there are photos from the event available for you on the Promoting Enterprise Flickr.

Schumpeter Lecturer: “Climate crisis is also a business crisis”

Speaking at the European Commission’s SME Assembly 2021 during the Schumpeter ‘Innovation in Enterprise’ Lecture, joint Nobel Prize laureate Professor Lučka Kajfež Bogataj from the University of Ljubljana stressed that the world needs “enlightened policies and governance, and an engaged citizenry if we are to achieve long-term sustainability.”

Reflecting on the new social and political dynamics brought on by the pandemic, professor Bogataj focused on the role of SMEs and enterprises in achieving the transition to a sustainable economy.

Professor Bogataj said that business had a crucial role to play in sustainable transition, adding that it should switch:
• from accumulation to distribution,
• from an economy of extraction to regeneration, and
• from competition to co-operation.

Find out more about this year’s Schumpeter lecture here.

Stay up to date

Following all the events, important updates and keeping track of EEPA and SME Assembly activities can be hard work but don’t worry. We have got you covered! Make sure that you are following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop! You can also watch sessions from the SME Assembly again - just head to our YouTube channel. Don’t forget that there are photos from the event available for you on the Promoting Enterprise Flickr.

Something else you would like to see on our channels? Need our help to spread the word about your innovative activities? 

Get in touch at promotingenterprise@gopacom.eu and let us know.

© European Union, 2021

The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. The European Enterprise Promotion Awards is a key initiative of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. This publication is financed under the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which is mostly managed by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME).