Public policy recognizes the importance of new businesses and supports entrepreneurs, but there is not enough focus on the urban/rural different agendas, and also a lack of cohesive programme across the region. The Leo model, which is the local voice of government in all regions in the UK, has a seperate approach. While this is welcome in terms of reflecting local needs, it also breeds duplication of efforts and fragmentation in support services for first time entrepreneurs, when a cohesive joined up approach would bring a more dynamic and cost effective solution. This project gives us the wider base of knowledge and comparison to influence policy across our region related to start up and entrepreneur policy.

County Councils and local authorities can provide an element of support for entrepreneurs but funding is limited and not strategically delivered across the region.

We hope that the study tours and policy debates between the project partners will give us concrete ideas and examples to utilise in our own infratructure and through stakeholder delivery. We envisage to adopt good practices on how first line services for new startups may be designed in a clearer way, with less confusion on the part of the entrepreneurs, and more tailor-made to their needs. We want to continue to respond to local needs but need consistency and better cohesive support for the entrepreneurs.

It will be difficult to influence UK policy beyond the two year cycle we are now in. We can influence the current round of funding priorities and create a legacy for whatever follows Brexit. We are sure that the policy direction related to startups will remain the responsibility of Local Enterprise Partnerships and County Councils such as Hampshire. The OSS project will create a legacy and the learning experiences from other partners and the debate and discussion held on entrepreneurship topics will give us solid ideas and initiatives to implenent post project.

One of the main goals is to improve the access to the entrepreneurship ecosystem. We want to achieve it by supporting financial instruments, promoting equity and quasi-equity investments for startups, ventura capital funds, private capital or shares. The second one is to promote entreprenaurial ideas in areas related to European and regional challenges. We

The policy should be improved to provide more support for underdeveloped regions, especially by fostering startups and facilitating their survival.

We want to find solutions to make first line services better, what helps startups to be established more efficiently. Introducing of the ecosystem for FLS system will encourage to star new businesses and will ensure its survival.

By realisation and implementation of the OSS project, we hope to improve the management and monitoring process for implementation of the policy instrument. Changes in that policy would cause the improvement of communication and coordination between key actors in the startups ecosystem.

Granada province is characterised by having a low level of entrepreneurial culture as well as a poor survival rate for startups. At the same time, the provincial economy is dominated by SMEs with over 99% of firms having less than 500 employees and by an excessive of “micro firms”, either self employed or employing less than 10 people (nearly 95%). Besides, we can notice that the quality and the access to the first line support system for first time entrepreneurs is not entirely satisfactory because it exists a big fragmentation of the business support services for these new entrepreneurs. It is necessary to provide them with opportunities for testing their business ideas in the best conditions. We need to know what advisory support service regarding entrepreneurship and SMEs competiveness is working in practice.

Based upon the lessons learnt from the project, we envisage improving the Entrepreneurs Provincial Plan through the “Granada is province” agreement programme which is the tool by which the County Council materialises in municipal programmes and actions the strategies defined in the framework of the Entrepreneurs Provincial Plan. For example, we could define new agreement programmes with our municipalities designed to promote measures assisting entrepreneurs based on the innovation, the “smart” concept and the social enterprise.

The Granada County Council will consider to introduce new or modified measures for support services to first time entrepreneurs in the Entrepreneurs Provincial Plan on the basis of the lessons learned from the project.

There is a need to upgrade the aforementioned mechanisms of the OP in the way that would
really meet the challenges. Especially, we see that traditional measures are not fitting the start ups  needs (lack of innovative services, innovative measures, lack of access to finances, lack of access to modern technologies). Additionally, there is significant number of startups searching the opportunity in the area of innovative services and products. Unfortunately, existing support measures can't meet their needs. While we are facing the lack of entrepreneurial culture, there is also a need to upgrade support to young generation, which so far can't  fully access to knowledge in the area of  entrepreneurial and innovation skills while preparing for future adult life as future entrepreneurs.

BSC Kranj and the regional stakeholders will improve implementation of mentioned priority by preparing new projects and initiatives based on policy learning inspired by the experiences from the partner regions. These will focus engagement in and contribute to improvement of measures for SMEs in the countryside.

We intend first of all to try to improve the policy instrument by modifying the addressed priority and object to better accommodate the needs of new entrepreneurs. BSC Kranj is member of the west cohesion region management board, where decisions regarding the change of Operational Program take place.

We intend to influence min. 500.000 EUR as a pilot of innovative services. Additonally we will develop and implement projects (at least 1) that will improve the support environment for start ups in our region.

The objective is to strengthen research, cooperation between business, science and technological development, innovation and also strengthening the competitiveness of SMEs and startups. The priority aims at creating a business environment conducive to research and innovation. Key elements include strengthening the activities of research and innovation and improving knowledge transfer between public and private sectors, supporting SMEs and new startups. Investments will focus on its efforts to implement the results of R & D, innovation, higher added value and productivity and in this way to expand and internationalization.

 Podkarpackie Region is one of the regions with the lowest level of economic development. It is caused by  limited access to external sources of financing for those wishing to start a business. Additionally Podkarpackie Region border directly with The Ukraine and in the region there are many migrants from this country (especially from the war territories: Donbass region, Luhansk and so on). The development of financial instruments, possibilities and motivation for starting a business by people especially endangered with social exclusion (including migrants) will have a positive impact on the level of entrepreneurship in the region.

On the basis of a Regional Strategy for Podkarpackie Region 2014-2020 were identified the following needs to improve:
• the need to enhance regional innovation economy
• support low level of entrepreneurship (measured in the number of companies in relation to the number of inhabitants), including SMEs and for new startups
• increase the level of cooperation between relevant stakeholders such as regional development agencies, regional and local authorities, enterprises, R&D centers, universities and technology and business incubators, manifested by a small number of joint projects of innovative
• insufficient cooperation of institutions dealing with supporting for the development of a smart, inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship at local-regional level
• the need to create tailor-made ecosystem for startups
• lack of knowledge, know-how, skills, technical knowledge, procedures, methods in the field of technology transfer in research institutions and universities
• weak Podkarpackie’s ecosystems of supporting new business