Dr. Tsanos made a brief presentation of the purpose and significance of the Local Stakeholder Group (LSG) meetings and the cooperation of Athens University Economic and Business and stakeholders in the various activities of the FEMINA project. He also presented the methodology of the project, the main activities that are currently ongoing, and some key conclusions from the 2nd Convention of the project.
He completed the presentation referring to:
- identifying and proposing Good Practices for women entrepreneurship and employment in high-tech sectors in Sterea Ellada
- developing detailed descriptions of Good Practices based on the «Understanding Solutions Input Template»
- choosing the suitable Good Practice so as to be implemented in Region of Sterea Ellada
Mr. Kakarountas stressed that:
- the aim of Region of Sterea Ellada should be to enhance women's entrepreneurship by creating new jobs instead of redistributing existing jobs between men and women
- referring to developing detailed descriptions of Good Practices, he noticed that the communication with local stakeholders should be coordinated immediately, due to the upcoming summer season
- the methodology of the project is excellent and Good Practices should carefully be selected to provide solutions to the barriers that the region of Sterea Ellada faces
Mr. Gourgiotis noticed that the Region’s goal is job creation in the area and the contribution of the Technical Chamber of Greece/ Department of East Sterea is important to achieve this goal. He stressed that in Northern European countries where practical issues (state support, kindergartens etc.) have been resolved, they focus on changing the gender stereotypes and mindsets of turning more women into the STEM sector.
In the Region of Sterea Ellada, R&D is done by industry and only a small section by university institution. Consequently, there is a gap in the exploitation of the knowledge of university graduates and this creates problems in their transition to the commercial exploitation of innovative ideas (e.g. creation of spin-offs).
Mr. Gogoulos mentioned that is important to develop and recognize Good Practices so as to be an inspiration field for Region of Sterea Ellada, without being necessary the accurate implementation of them. He also pointed out that these Good Practices will be recorded in a Local Action Plan which will be implemented in the following years.
Ms. Karavaggeli presented the conclusions of the 2nd Femina Convention held in Lamia (14-15/03/2019):
- Good Practices that presented by Greek Stakeholders (Empowa - National Documentation Centre, iforU - Greek Mentoring Network, Regional Committee for Gender Equality - Region of Sterea Ellada)
- Main results referring to validating barriers and enablers for women entrepreneurship and employment in high-tech sectors
- Good Practices that presented by foreign Stakeholders (Girls and Technology - University of Agder Norway, Network NEW - Norway, Every Girl Everywhere - Romania).
Ms. Pentovolou agreed that young graduates face difficulties in starting a business, especially women in the STEM sector and therefore they need support. She said that VIOHALCO Group (a major Greek heavy industry corporation) will give any support that is required for the project.
As a conclusion, all the participants agreed that the next step will be the contact of stakeholders members that are involved, so as to seek/suggest solutions and Good Practices for the Femina project.
