(1888PressRelease)
August 30, 2008 - The second LIFE Forum event will be held at the Grand Palais in Lille on 9 September 2008. The theme will be Entrepreneurs and their environment and the event will focus on developing entrepreneurship throughout Europe. The event is being organised alongside the CREER trade show, a leading European event for entrepreneurs, which is being held at the same venue from 8 to 10 September 2008.
Four workshops will be led by renowned international experts, giving the opportunity for fruitful debates about entrepreneurship to be held. LIFE is open to all institutional, professional and academic specialists in this sector.
Workshop 1 will focus on Unique characteristics and opportunities in cross-border entrepreneurship. Even in the era of the Schengen Agreement and market internationalisation, creating or taking over a company in a cross-border zone can be a very complex process. Differences in business practices as well as legislative or linguistic hurdles represent obstacles to this type of cross-border entrepreneurship. Support organisations, on either side of a border, which can accompany entrepreneurs and underpin business performance, are able to provide valuable assistance in this respect.
This workshop will provide European examples of border zones characterised by high economic density, where skills networking has demonstrated its effectiveness, including 1,2,3 GO Networking, an inter-regional network of experts based in Luxembourg, which operates in Germany, Belgium and France. Since 2000, this network has supported 775 companies and helped to create 170 enterprises, generating about 800 jobs. The speaker will be Rachel Gaessler of ASBL Business Initiative (Luxembourg).
The workshop will also highlight the example of CEMAT, a Finnish organisation that supports economic exchanges between Russia, Finland and Estonia. This workshop will be led by Corine Moriou, a reporter for French magazine L’Entreprise (part of the Express-Expansion group).
Speakers will include Bram Louvrouw of UNIZO (Belgium), Olivier Ceccotti of CCI Grand Lille (France), and Peyo Olhagaray of CCI de Bayonne (France).
Workshop 2 will be on Events and publications on entrepreneurship. Speakers on this theme will include Erkko Autio, a specialist in entrepreneurial technology for Global Entrepreneurship Monitor UK, which is an agency established in 48 countries to measure the rate of entrepreneurship within each area; and Markku Aholainen, from the European Day of the Entrepreneur in Turku (Finland).
Speakers will also include Tina Zournatzi (DG Enterprises, Belgium), Yves Henri Robillard (World Entrepreneurship Forum, France), and Mariska Van Der Linden (Enterprise Week, UK).
Workshop 3 will address the topic: What roles can the education system play in stimulating entrepreneurship? The workshop will dwell on the importance of the education system – from primary schools through to universities – in training entrepreneurs in Europe. Additionally, it will focus on ways of harmonising and optimising the relationship between teaching and entrepreneurial culture.
Speakers will include Catherine Dervaux (Université Catholique de Lille, France), Didier Gesp (Institut de l’Entrepreneuriat, France), Naomi Birdthistle (University of Limerick, Republic of Ireland), Poul Rind Chirstensen (Aarhus Business School, Denmark), Christophe Terrasse EFMD, Belgium), and Ivan Diego Rodriguez (Ciudad Industrial del Valle del Nalón, SA Valnalón, Spain). The workshop will be run by Stéphane CAPLIER (Donner envie d’entreprendre, France).
Workshop 4 will take as its theme: How can government initiatives best support the performance of the entrepreneur and the enterprise? – European best practice. This workshop will be highlighting the Y4 Project, which aims to turn central Finland into one of the world’s most dynamic areas, as well as the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship-Poland, which is working towards promoting modern management standards as well as private enterprise principles throughout the Lodz region (in central Poland). This workshop will be led by Gabriela Miranda, a consultant and economist at the OECD.
Speakers will also include Petri Palviainen (Y4 Finland), Yannick Giry (Conseil Régional Nord-Pas de Calais, France), and Malgorzata Sikorska (Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship, Poland).
About LIFE FORUM
LIFE FORUM will be held at the Grand Palais in Lille (in northern France) on 9 September 2008 – a day to welcome European and international experts on entrepreneurship, as well as decision-makers in the business and political fields.
Four workshops will enable European experts to compare their respective entrepreneurial experiences as well as best practices across Europe. The various methods and approaches that are adopted, and the different sets of guidelines that exist throughout the continent, will be examined and discussed.
More than 20 speakers from across Europe – from Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, and Spain – are already slated to participate.
The second CREER trade fair, a leading European event for entrepreneurs and business leaders, will be held alongside the Forum from 8 to 10 September 2008. The trade fair will gather experts, consultants and potential business partners over 12,000m2. There will be 225 exhibitors and partners, 150 workshops and an expected 20,000 visitors.
For further information, and free registration on line, please go to: www.forum-life.eu
###
