Month: December 2021

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W20 EU Update – Winter 2021

Find out here about W20 EU Delegation outreach activities in Winter 2021, including the 17 November Group of Nations Virtual Summit where Co-head of the W20 EU Delegation, Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, joined a fireside chat with Dr. Gülden Turktan, W20 Founder.

15-17 November – SME Assembly 2021 (Portorož, Slovenia & Online): On 15-17 November 2021, Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, W20 EU Co-head of Delegation, joined the SME Assembly 2021, hosted by the European Commission and taking place in Portorož, Slovenia and online, as part of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council.

17 November 2021 – “Solutions Through Inclusivity” Group of Nations Virtual Summit:  Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, W20 EU Co-head of Delegation, joined a fireside chat on Digital Equity to Build Forward Better as part of a 17 November event on Solutions Through Inclusivity–celebrating 25 years of Group of Nations global events, including G20, W20, B20 and APEC.

6 December – WEgate Community Council Meeting (Online):  Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, W20 EU Co-head of Delegation, joined the third meeting of the WEgate Community Council, supporting women entrepreneurs in Europe and beyond, on 6 December online.

9 December – Path to the Digital Decade  (Online):  On 9 December, Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, W20 EU Co-head of Delegation, provided a keynote address for an event of the Digital SkillUp project, on the topic of Path to the Digital Decade: Inclusive & Sustainable Upskilling for All, hosted by DIGITAL SME Alliance.

14 December – EIC Women Leadership Programme (Online):  Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, W20 EU Co-head of Delegation, provided a keynote presentation for the 14 December EIC Women Leadership Program Personal Leadership Brand session, on the subject of Remaining Authentic in the Face of Adversity.

21 December – Italy-Indonesia Women20 Handover:  On 21 December, in the capacity of Co-head of EU Delegation to the G20 Women20, Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck joined the Italy-Indonesia Women20 Handover meeting.

22 December – Indonesia 2022 G20 Women20 Presidency Launch:   In the new capacity of Co-head of EU Delegation to the G20 Women20, Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck joined the 22 December launch event of the Indonesia 2022 G20 Women20 and G20 Empower Presidency.

W20 EU Delegation members are actively engaged in outreach activities with our stakeholders around the world that promote feminist EU civil society and the interests of the girls and women of the European Union, the G20 nations, and beyond.

For upcoming events of the W20 EU Delegation and our stakeholders, please visit here, and to browse past activities, please click here.

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Move It Forward+ in Luxembourg

*The Hackathon “Restart for female digital starters“, part of the Erasmus+ Move It Forward+ project, took place on Saturday, November 13th 2021 at the Technoport SA in Belval.

Move it Forward+ is an Erasmus+ project that aims to support women who want to be entrepreneurs. Indeed, women’s entrepreneurship has been hit hard by the pandemic and this collaborative event is an excellent opportunity to launch new business ideas in the context of economic recovery. Four similar Hackathons are currently being organised in Europe by our partners: France, Belgium, Romania, Croatia and Lithuania.

All day long, thirty participants and volunteer coaches worked together to develop the different ideas. Business Model Canvas, market research or UX Design: the project leaders were able to benefit from the expertise and support of their peers to take their ideas to the next level.

After a presentation of the Move It Forward+ project and pitching of ideas, the work began, with six projects. Between a few cups of coffee and a piece of fruit, everyone gave their best, all in a studious and productive atmosphere.

The lunch break was an opportunity to recharge the batteries and to exchange with the whole group.

“The presence of the qualified coaches at the event gave me courage to pitch my idea and helped me build confidence to consider entrepreneurship as a career option.”, said one of the participants.

In the afternoon, the work continued and each project progressed at its own pace. At the end of the afternoon, it was time to wrap up the projects and prepare the pitches.

Three projects were rewarded with a jury composed of Nizar Ayed, Anne-Claire Buléon and Guylaine Bouquet:

  • Best pitch: “Friendly Advice”, which aims to help students and newcomers solve their problems of settling in Luxembourg thanks to student volunteers and good samaritans who seek to build community and help newcomers and other young people better integrate into Luxembourg by offering their advice.”
  • Best innovative project: “Femart Gallery”, which is a web gallery platform where female artists can share and sell creations to increase their visibility in the digital world with non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
  • Best impact project: “Childs Play”,  which aims to create a safe discussion platform among young children to educate them regarding the better use of social media.

Our winners of the day will therefore have the opportunity to follow a four-month personalised mentoring programme in order to make their projects a reality.

It is unanimous that this Hackathon was a success, and was beneficial for both the participants and their coaches, and we hope that these collaborations will bring new perspectives.

Congratulations to all our participants for their involvement, their motivation and their work during this day, congratulations to our coaches who were very professional and caring, and thanks to our jury, the choice of the winners was not easy!

This article originally appeared on MIF+ partner WIDE‘s website.