YES! EUSDR

YES! EUSDR
Youth – Entrepreneurship – Science

at EUSDR Annual Forum 2019

As official side event of Annual Forum under the presidency of Romania, YES! EUSDR was established as platform for discussing tools and programs which empower young people to get engaged in entrepreneurship by reinforcing their high-level and transversal competences. Stakeholders and decision makers from education institutions, public administration and private business met in order to initiate solutions for knowledge based entrepreneurship.

We thank Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a very good collaboration.

Date and Venue

26.06.2019:
Palace of Parliament, Bucharest
Agenda

Collaboration agreed
In a public ceremony at YES! EUSDR, STM signed 2 partnership agreements.

Review

Just some photos. To remember a great event.

Gallery

YES! EUSDR is established as platform for discussing tools and programs which empower young people to get engaged in entrepreneurship by reinforcing their high-level and transversal competences. Following the EU understanding of entrepreneurship being more a transversal competence consisting in achieving maximum proficiency in all 15 key competences that are descripted in European Entrepreneurship Competence Framework, stakeholders attended in order to offer an overview on current status and discuss possible solutions or challenges.

Roxana Boboruta, Project Manager of Steinbeis Romania and also of Steinbeis Germany (Steinbeis GmbH & Co.KG for Technology Transfer) presented results of European Early Innovators Initiative (EEII). This project, co-financed by Danube Strategic Project Fund (DSPF), is knowledge base for all the future actions what are under construction to promote an entrepreneurial mind-set among youth. Roxana Boboruta contributed significantly to the success of EEII. Based on her findings in EEII, European best practice was identified. Roxana Boboruta also explained “ifempower”, which is an ongoing support action to empower female students in becomming entrepreneurs. Important example is German program “Jugend gruendet”  – a business plan contest for pupils at secondary school level. The success story of Jugend Gruendet and the unique success factors were presented at YES! EUSDR by Nicolai Schucha, representing the managing unit of this German success story.

In period 2018 to 2019, DSPF financed 12 project with potential to become flagship projects in EUSDR. It was a honor, that Martin Marek, presented outputs of this DSPF seed funding. DSPF gave special attention to projects, what support youth in Danube Region Therefore EEII of Steinbeis Romania was accepted – as single project with Romanian lead partner.

At YES! EUSDR were pointed out also following topics:

  • Steinbeis technology transfer as a model of doing business through progressive education
  • Examples of projects targeting multiple purposes: technology transfer, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, connecting macro-regions, market-adapted education, etc.
  • German model to support entrepreneurship beginning with secondary school level (best practice – Jugend Gruendet)
  • Governmental support for SMEs: how it works, what are the challenges
  • EU funding institution point of view (DSPF)
  • International networking for connecting businesses and education into innovation (Danube Marco-Regions business week – DMRBW)
  • Example of technology transfer result (Romanian patent for bread replacement due to medical purposes)
  • Tools for supporting youth entrepreneurship into commerce, in general (Junior Chamber International – JCI);
  • Institutional partnerships for working on technology transfer and dual education (National Authority for Initial Professional Training in Dual System, Technical University in Cluj)

As a synthesis, event truly became the envisaged platform on what various stakeholders contributed to understanding technology transfer from different environment point of view. Important steps were made in this regard. Involving business environment, teachers and pupils into a program like Jugend Gruendet is an example of responsibility into financial education and thinking about new generations level of education, qualification and, of course, quality of life. Where such actions are missing, awareness could be created through EU funded projects, like EEII and ifempower. Activating in already existing entrepreneurship networks such as JCI or DMRBW brings not only new ideas concerning education and mobility but connections and stable EU framework to act in, new markets, etc. Several supporting programs for SME, like Romanian Startup Nation, are of high interest for young people with ideas while each of of them could be improved by sharing different challenges before or after receiving funding.

Steinbeis model focused on technology transfer is the result of business interacting with university environment. It answers to questions how to better prepare students to market, how to spread more knowledge without giving up the main qualification (professor, expert), how to better improve/modernize the current facilities, how to take advantage of different funding opportunities which need intellectual capacity in order to access it, etc. The last and not the least is how to create better and safer policies at institutional level. Dilemma on translating intellectual luggage into easily understandable actions is translated through consultancy, technology transfer, contribution to innovation while keeping the advantage of independent action. Thus, business result from combining different factors such us university, companies, funds, networking, consultancy, individual projects, etc.

At higher level, it translates into partnerships with institutions aiming to improve current plans or simply to offer more opportunities to current beneficiaries. In this regard, during YES! EUSDR important collaboration steps were made between Steinbeis Transfer Management and recently founded National Authority for Initial Professional Training in Dual System, led by State Secretary Ion Gabriel Bratu, in the field of dual education. This subject is important for Steinbeis as some projects in the field were already closed and new ones are prepared. Collaboration with such an institution bring added value as Steinbeis is interested in strong partners for future consortium but also into improved interaction and support to future business partners as well. At a deeper purpose, partnership is an achievement of the action line followed since it started to activate in Romania. A partnership agreement is signed.

Another important achievement is to be seen in agreed partnership with Technical University from Cluj Napoca. Rector Prof. Vasile Topa was represented at the conference by Prof. Adrian Pisla, who was forwarding a encouraging message to the participants. Technical University of Cluj-Napoca and Steinbeis Transfer Management signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Prof. Pisla became director of newly established Steinbeis Transer Center EMSEC (Engineering & Management Steinbeis Enterprise) in Cluj-Napoca, Steinbeis experts for CEE – Jürgen Raizner and Roxana Boboruta – are willing to share experience and translate this collaborations into as many feasible actions as possible. Together we transfer visions into business.