The 3rd Regional Stakeholder Group Meeting took place on 15/11/2019, 11:00-15:15, at the Regional Committees Conference Hall of the Region of Sterea Ellada in Lamia.
Participants:
- Athens University for Economics and Business, AUEB:
- Christos Tsanos, Project Partner
- Eleni Apospori, Project Partner
- Region of Sterea Ellada:
- Aris Gourgiotis, Project Partner
- Efthimia Karampogia
- Athanasia Dampasi
- Regional Development Fund of Sterea Ellada:
- Giorgos Gourgiotis
- Charalampos Kasaras
- Vasiliki Karavaggeli, Technical Consultant
- Business Support Center of the Region of Sterea Ellada:
- Nikos Zarras
- Giorgos Oikonomou
- Federation of Industries of Sterea Ellada:
- Theodora Pentovolou
- Support Structure for Social Inclusion, “ Gefyra” of the Region of Sterea Ellada:
- Eleana Evaggelogiorgou
- Athanasios Fragkos
- Regional Union of Municipalities of Sterea Ellada
- Aikaterini Koskovoli
At the beginning of the meeting Mr. Gourgiotis welcomed all the participants and stressed the importance of the Local Stakeholder Group meetings and the cooperation of Athens University for Economics and Business, local stakeholders and the Region of Sterea Ellada in the implementation and progress of FEMINA project.
Then, Mr. Tsanos made a brief presentation of the status of the project and outlined the main activities that are ongoing in the current period. He emphasized that the project is based on the Interregional Exchange, ie the exchange of views on Good Practices which are recognized by the partners and he referred to the Action Plan that each partner wants to implement (through its covering needs, good practices, monitoring and evaluation indicators, etc.).
He completed the presentation referring to:
- identifying and proposing Good Practices for women entrepreneurship and employment in high-tech sectors in Sterea Ellada
- identifying barriers to female access to employment and career progression in high-tech SMEs and to the gender dimension of innovation
- developing a Dream Action Plan aiming at the project objective, actions, and policy that the Region wants to implement
Ms. Apospori intervened and she presented data of Greece's position on equality issues in the EU. More specifically, she said that Greece has the last position in the EU (percentage 51,2%), while the average of EU countries is 67,4%.
Ms. Karavaggeli presented the conclusions of the 3rd Femina Convention held in Grimstad (24-25/10/2019). Additionally, she presented two Good Practices that were selected in Grimstad and are considered relevant for implementation by Region of Sterea Ellada.
More specifically:
- The protocol of agreement for the development and the growth of female enterprises and female entrepreneurs (Arezzo Innovazione)
- Donne in Quota (Arezzo Innovazione)
At this point, Mr. Zarras stressed that the solution to change stereotypes - role models - is to intervene to younger ages with actions, as these stereotypes were created centuries ago and it is difficult to address it at older ages. He also added that, based on ICAP research, businesses with female managers are more profitable. Nevertheless, there is the difficulty of access to financing sources and this is a fundamental barrier in women’s entrepreneurship.
Mr. Gourgiotis mentioned that although there is a high rate of women participation in the R&D sector, women are reluctant to take the next step and run their own business.
Ms. Pentovolou said that it is important to establish remote work in women's employment so as to create a balance between work and personal life.
Mr. Tsanos commented that remote work, informally, has been implemented in large companies in Greece.
Ms. Apospori intervened and said that if remote work is applied only to women, they would not have access to information networks and communication channels and will harm them professionally.
Mr. Gourgiotis gave the floor to all participants so as to begin the exchange of views that can be used in the development of Dream Action Plan of Sterea Ellada and he called the stakeholders to consider more actions that can be included in Dream Action Plan.
In conclusion, Mr. Gourgiotis thanked all the participants for their presence and contribution to the meeting.
