So…
The second partnership meeting is over now.
Our second partnership meeting took place on 16-17 January, 2019. This time we met in Hampshire, UK. If you’ve read our previous news, you could also get info about that region and our partner, who was responsible for our meeting this time. Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England. The county town, with city status, is Winchester, a frequent seat of the Royal Court before any fixed capital, in late Anglo-Saxon England. After the metropolitan counties and Greater London, Hampshire is the most populous ceremonial county (1.84 million in 2017) in the United Kingdom. Its two largest settlements, Southampton and Portsmouth, are administered separately as unitary authorities and the rest of the area forms the administrative county, which is governed by Hampshire County Council.
The meeting was attended by representatives of 7 project partners along with stakeholders from their regions. The topic of the meeting was Digital solution in the field of supporting start-ups.
Meetings of the first day took place at the Aldershot Enterprise Center. Aldershot Enterprise Centre was established by WSX Enterprise in Autumn 2014. The former officer’s mess has been converted into affordable, serviced office space with the latest ICT technology working in the background. You might get more info about them here: www.aldershotenterprisecentre.co.uk
The hosts and partners have presented their good practices in this area. A solution in the field of supporting start-ups, among other things, very interesting Norwegian solutions in the field of start-up support platform (https://leanbusinessplatform.com) or British on online help in establishing new companies - Virtual Business Support Tools & Start Up Support Dorset Growth (https://www.dorsetgrowthhub.co.uk/starting-in-business/).
A very important and interesting presentation of that day was also a presentation on good practices in crowdfunding - Crowd Funding Overview - harnessing the power of digital platforms to help SMEs access Finance. This topic in each partner region is becoming more and more popular and the need for development.
On the second day of the meeting of the Steering Committee at Fareham at WSX Enterprise Office Wates House, participants went on a study visit to Southampton at Southampton Solent University. It is a public university based in Southampton. Solent University is a comprehensive University offering programmes across five academic Schools, including the School of Art, Design and Fashion; Business, Law and Communications; Media Arts and Technology; Sport, Health and Social Sciences and through its Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering. The University also has a dedicated Research, Innovation and Enterprise Office, providing cohesive support for research and innovation through a researcher development programme and the Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange Awards. Working with private, public and third sector industries, Solent focuses on research areas such as marketing, the ‘visitor economy’, SME partnerships, international economic development, entrepreneurship and innovation, and cyber-crime. A particular focus is social policy in relation to employment, gender, and diversity in areas ranging from maritime and seafarers, to music and culture.
There, we got acquainted with university activities to supporting entrepreneurship and start-ups among students - Solent Creatives - award winning first line student start up / freelance entrepreneurial suport. These good practices have demonstrated the importance of pro-entrepreneurial activities among students and the importance of building comprehensive start-up support at universities.
If you want to get more info, feel free to visit their websites:
Southampton Solent University: www.solent.ac.uk
Solent Creatives: www.solentcreatives.co.uk
Ending with these words, we’d like to thank to our hosts for such inspiring time. See you soon in our next meeting.
