Young BSF: Special opportunity for youth leaders from Central Europe Initiative (CEI) countries

Young BSF: Special opportunity for youth leaders from Central Europe Initiative (CEI) countries

Due to our partnership with the Central European Initiative, we are able to offer travel grants to young leaders coming from following countries: Albania, Belarus, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine.

Successful applicants will have their accommodation and meals covered for the duration of the program.

Application are open until 27th of May 2018.

Read more about the application process here.

Young BSF: Special opportunity for youth leaders coming from Danube region countries

Young BSF: Special opportunity for youth leaders coming from Danube region countries

We are thankful to EU Strategy for Danube Region, who is covering travel grants for young leaders coming from the Danube region countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine.

Successful applicants will have their accommodation and meals covered for the duration of the program.

Application are open until 27th of May 2018.

Read more about the application process here.

Young BSF: Special opportunity for youth leaders from Eastern Partnership

Young BSF: Special opportunity for youth leaders from Eastern Partnership

Due to a newly gained partnership, we are able to offer additional travel grants to young leaders coming from countries of EU Eastern Partnership (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine). Participants from these countries will also be offered a specially tailored program continuing after the Young BSF, therefore they are expected to be available from 7th to 14th of September. Successful applicants will have their accommodation and meals covered for the duration of the program. Application have therefore been extended until 27th of May 2018.

Read more about the application process here.

Supporting Young Entrepreneurs from the Western Balkans

Supporting Young Entrepreneurs from the Western Balkans

Young entrepreneurs are an important part of the today’s societies as they bring an important energy and enthusiasm to the daily life. CEP has been with support of the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the official development cooperation engaging BiH and Kosovo young entrepreneurs for last four years. They have been given an opportunity to meet among themselves, discuss hot topics with various investors and experienced business men and women. Many of them have received valuable feedbacks, useful suggestions and important contacts. They have spread their business network importantly and have been able to assists younger start ups in their home country.

Workshops in Sarajevo and Pristina in beginning of the year were well attended which proved that young are interested and willing to actively shape their future. They were encouraged to present their idea and apply for participation at the regional conference Podim, organized in Slovenia in May 2018. They have widely taken the opportunity as 34 ideas from BiH and even 75 ideas from Kosovo submitted their pitches. Best 10 from each country have been carefully selected by an expert committee and invited to join the programme in Slovenia.

All participants will gather on Monday, 14 May at Jable Castle for a breakfast with the Ambassadors of their countries in Ljubljana for short discussion with members of Slovene start up environment – ABC accelerator, Technology Park Ljubljana, together with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for the Western Balkan policies.

Selected participants will attend PODIM Conference in Maribor, Slovenia on 15 and 16 May 2018, participate in the biggest networking event for start-ups in the Alps-Adriatic Region, take part in the PODIM Challenge pitching competition and be presented in the PODIM Start-up Catalogue for the one-on-one meetings with PODIM investors and blue-chip partners.

By joining forces, CEP and PODIM conference offer young entrepreneurs an additional learning dimension in the creative process and empowers them to step ahead and present themselves in front of the investors that can help them transform their ideas into a promising start-up company. Additionally, connecting like-minded from the country might bring longer and wider impacts on national entrepreneurial environment and possibly, policies.

The start-ups chosen from Bosnia and Herzegovina are:

The start-ups from Kosovo are:

Young Danube Experts join an entrepreneurial programme in Slovenia

Young Danube Experts join an entrepreneurial programme in Slovenia

Entrepreneurial mindset and innovative thinking are the foundation of a healthy growth of the economy, which in turn ensures prosperity and an adequate level of development for all inhabitants. Young entrepreneurs are therefore indispensable and very resourceful part of each society. Active and creative minds are important for economic development, prosperity as well as for positive outlook.

This is why CEP for the second year in a row identified start-ups from the Danube region to participate in a fully funded entrepreneurial programme “Facilitating Enhanced Cooperation among Young Danube Experts” at the largest start-up conference in the region, PODIM Conference. PODIM conference is a leading start-up conference in Alps-Adriatic region that has been first time organized 38 years ago. In this time, it developed from a smaller entrepreneurial conference to leading gathering in the region. It shows how actors from various fields and levels can work together and reach much more than they ever could alone.

Having started by supporting the young entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Herzegovina and later on from Kosovo, the programme expanded to additional 9 countries participating this year: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

CEP supports entrepreneurs and young people with entrepreneurial ideas who would like to develop and upgrade/advance their ideas, assists them to meet and connect, as together, with different approaches and broader pressures, they can influence the entrepreneurial climate in their own country.

Best entrepreneurial ideas were selected through a “PODIM Challenge” competition that we organized together with the PODIM Conference. Young entrepreneurs had to present their idea, team and business plan. The expert commission has reviewed a large number of very competitive applications and made the final selection.

CEP as the PA10 Coordinator will host them in Maribor, Slovenia during the PODIM Conference between 14 and 16 May 2018.

Selected start-ups from the Danube region are:

REPORT AVAILABLE: Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement – Policy Recommendation

REPORT AVAILABLE: Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement – Policy Recommendation

The outcomes of the“Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement and Western Balkans” project are now available online. The report includes policy recommendations prepared by the four discussion groups:

  • PARTICIPATION
  • SOCIAL AFFAIRS
  • DEMOCRATIZATION
  • RECONCILIATION

Read the report here:

A two-day event brought together representatives of young generation and civil society for a Visegrad cafe discussion, policy boot-camp and public debate with the national and EU decision-makers.

The event was organized by the Centre for European Perspective (Slovenia) with the support of the International Visegrad Fund and in cooperation with the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) (Hungary), EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (Czechia), Slovak Foreign Affairs Association (SFPA) and Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM).