Kick-off meeting of the YDEAS II project
Young Developers and Entrepreneurs to Advance Start-ups

Queen Geraldine Conference Room, 3rd floor
Maritim Hotel Plaza, Rruga Abdi Toptani 18, 1001 Tirana

ANNOTATED AGENDA

Monday 28 February 2022

12:00–14:00 Registration and welcoming coffee offered by the 2022 OSCE Polish Chairmanship
14:00–16:00 Opening Session

Welcoming address:

– Mr. Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana

Opening remarks:

– Ms. Maria Raczyńska, OSCE Special Representative for Youth and Security, 2022 OSCE Polish Chairmanship

– H.E. Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monaco, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania

– H.E. Ambassador Igli Hasani, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, OSCE Secretariat

Moderator: Ms. Teresa Albano, Economic Affairs Officer, Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

Introductory addresses

Making sense of the crisis: exploring challenges and opportunities of the digital transformation at local level

The unprecedented challenges triggered by the pandemic call for rethinking the provision of essential services in crucial sectors, such as education, health, work, transport, energy. The Session will discuss the main challenges local authorities are addressing so to identify key areas of action for the YDEAS project.
– Mr. Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana, 2022 European Youth Capital
– Mr. Zoran Radojičić, Mayor of Belgrade
– Mr. Ivan Vuković, Mayor of Podgorica
– Ms. Donjeta Sahatçiu, Deputy Mayor of Pristina (tbc)
– Ms. Danela Arsovska, Mayor of Skopje

Moderator: Mr. Darko Mrvaljevic, Chair of the Committee for the European
Integration and International Co-operation, EU Funding and EU Integration expert, Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS)

16:00-16:30 Coffee break
16:30-17:30 Session I: Building Back Better: how start-uppers can support a post-pandemic sustainable recovery

Some key sectors are benefiting from the digital transformation in unexpected ways. The Session will provide some examples of social enterprises that are bringing about innovative approaches in the way we work, live and consume.
The intention is to provide inspiration on how digital innovation can help addressing the post-recovery challenges in some key sectors, particularly relevant for local development.

Speakers:
– Mr. Chris Richmond, CEO Mygrants start-up
– Ms. Sibylle Reichert, Executive Director, International Association of
Healthcare Mutual (AIM)
– Mr. Claudio Lipodio, Lipo Thermo ltd.
– Mr. Victor Thévenet, Representative of Railcoop
– Ms. Juliane Kronen, Co-Founder and CEO of Innatura

Moderator: Mr. Jan Z. Kulenović, Director of Programs, Regional Youth Cooperation Office

Roundtable discussion

17:30-18:30 Start-up Speed Dating

With our Start-up Speed Dating, we want to connect aspiring entrepreneurs and start-uppers with potential investors and supporters, including local authorities. The goal? Share who you are, what you have to offer and how your idea could fit the challenge – Just like when dating, and who knows, maybe it’ll be a match….

Kindly pre-register via mail at [email protected] with the hashtag #Startupdating

18:30 Networking reception offered by the Mayor of Tirana

Tuesday 1 March 2022

9:00–9:30 Registration of participants and welcoming coffee
9:30 – 11:00 Session II: Enabling the digital transformation: which eco-system for innovative entrepreneurs

Today, lot of new services and innovative business ideas mix the traditional boundaries of business sectors and companies. While it is rather easy to come up with innovative ideas, the real challenge is putting them into practice. An ecosystem consisting of multiple expertise, capabilities, and resources is needed around innovation and information-driven business models. The Session will discuss what makes an ecosystem for innovative business ideas, with a special focus on social economy enterprises.

Speakers:
– Mr. R. Grant Van Cleve, Managing Partner, Hangar 75 Ventures, Los
Angeles
– Mr. Victor Meseguer, Director, Social Economy Europe, Brussels
– Mr. Ander Etxeberria, Head of Cooperative, Mondragon Corporation,
Mondragon
– Ms. Petia Manolova, Representative of the European Investment Bank,
Tirana
– Mr. Dušan Vasiljević, Director for Entrepreneurship and Investments,
National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED), Belgrade

Moderator: Ms. Tanja Miščević, Deputy Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break

11:30 – 13:00 Session III: The YDEAS project
With the aim to improve the digital upskilling of youth and promote an enabling environment for innovative, socially-impactful and green start-ups in the Western Balkans, the OCEEA has developed the YDEAS project. Through the voices of key partners in the project, this Session will discuss how the project can best complement ongoing actions in the region and harness the contributions stemming from the kick-off meeting.

Speakers:
– Mr. Drew Gardiner, Employment Policies Specialist, International Labour
Organization (ILO), Geneva
– Ms. Anni Sinijarv, European Innovation Academy, Tallin (via ZOOM)
– Mr. Gianluca Pastorelli, DIESIS cooperative, Brussels
– Mr. Michael Fazekas, Executive Coordinator of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI) and the SECI Business Advisory Council
– Ms. Teresa Albano, Economic Affairs Officer, Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

Moderator: Ms. Anastasia Fusco, OSCE Adviser on Youth and Security

13:00 – 14:30 Networking lunch offered by the 2022 OSCE Polish Chairmanship
14:30-16:30 Master Class
Join Grant Van Cleve and Victor Meseguer – together with Marco Zoppi and Silvia Cittadini – for an interactive look at the why and how around new, impactful, mission-driven ventures – both traditional start-ups and social economy enterprises/organizations. Gain insights from global stories from social economy and start-up entrepreneurs. Discuss how these ventures are interacting as a global community. See how cooperation can provide both healthier initiatives and greater social impact.

This practical time will combine insights from California and Europe contexts and then join together for questions of them, and interactions with one another, that should raise the level of our praxis. And perhaps even create a context that creates synergies among participants.