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EUROPEAN SUSTAINABILITY ACADEMY

Leadership for positive impact

Women Innovators in Social Enterprise Programme (2013 – 2016)

Sat 1st November 2014 - Sat 31st October 2015

The overarching aim of WiSE programme is to facilitate access to knowledge and tools in order for women to become social innovators and solve challenges in their community. The WiSE objective is to create and disseminate an integrated training programmes based on cutting-edge methodologies and an experiential pedagogical plan and an interactive e-community. The initiative is grounded in the need to generate innovative ideas and an interactive support community that allows women with work experience to start-up socially-focused projects and effective social businesses.

WISE Face to Face Workshop ESA Crete 12th – 13th March 2015 After two days full of experiential learning, knowledge sharing, passion, friendship, and networking, . . .

WiSE project is underpinned by rigorous academic and practitioner research.

For 6 months between January and June 2013 rigorous research was been conducted in Greece, Spain and Croatia to explore the issues affecting women setting up and running business in their countries. This was the FIRST STUDY OF THIS KIND and the research papers have been accepted for presentation at high level management conferences including ECOS in NL.

The results from this research were unveiled at KPMG in Athens on 26th June 2014.

Sharon at KPMG

Sharon Jackson, Founder of ESA Crete said “It is well documented that women entrepreneurs can be effective drivers for economic growth. In Greece this study indicates a number of barriers which discourage women from setting up business. The WiSE programme will prepare Greek women to overcome these barriers and at the same time provide evidence and written papers to challenge the barriers at policy level and cultural level. This project is important and very timely for Greece””

Key aims of this programme

With the WISE aims in mind, the concrete objectives of the  WiSE program include:

  • To promote knowledge about social innovation
  • To break barriers between knowledge and practice by immersing participants in real social innovation projects
  • To create local and international networks around social innovation involving practitioners, experts and students from different fields
  • To promote an interdisciplinary and systemic approach to social innovation
  • To enhance leadership and managerial skills needed for successful social innovation.

 The Value proposition for Women Innovators is that they will gain:

  • An overview of trends and opportunities in the social innovation space
  • The skills and competencies to innovate socially
  • Methodologies to design the future with creativity
  • The environment and support to design their idea and business plan
  • A network of like-minded individuals with whom to form teams
  • Visibility to potential partners, investors and supporters

WiSE consortium in Zagreb

WiSE Consortium meeting at Hub Zagreb April 2014

  • January – June 2014 – Qualitative and quantitative research conducted on the issues impacting on Women in business in Greece, Croatia and Spain.
  • June 2014 – November 2014 – Development of the WiSE training programme, online learning material and support network, based on the research findings.
  • November 2014 – Invitations  for application for programme participants
  • January 2015 – on-line WiSE training will start.
  • March 2015 – ‘Boot-camp’ workshops at ESA Crete and in Spain and Croatia.

Post programme there will be ongoing network and on-line support for participants to help them set up their enterprises.

For more information:

Women Innovators for Social Business in Europe

WiSE TV on YouTube

WISE Facebook

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Leading sustainable enterprise

Our passion is contributing towards co-created sustainable enterprise for positive impact on communities and the natural environment on a global scale. Leadership and entrepreneur issues of adaptation, resilience, authenticity, sustainable-self, values connected sense-making and the continued emancipation of women (WISE) to take up more leadership roles in the world are at the core of the ESA sustainability experience.

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