Wednesday, 29. 10. 2014

Ambitiously into world of business

The project "Ambitiously Into World of Business" was voted as the best project with EU funding at the competition ʺWhat Has European Money Done For You, For Your Town?ʺ

Second place went to the project “Regijska Štipendijska Shema Ljubljanske Urbane Regije” (Regional Scholarship Scheme of the Ljubljana Urban Region).

In Slovenia, over 95,300 projects were co-financed with European funds within the 2007–2013 programming period. Therefore the Slovenian Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy (SVRK) and the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (MKGP) decided to present the best Slovenian success stories with European funding by organizing the competition ʺWhat Has European Money Done For You, For Your Town?ʺ. 81 projects entered the competition and a draw determined 26 finalists for the best project with EU funding.

The project “Ambitiously Into World of Business” (“Podjetno v Svet Podjetništva”) was voted as the best Slovenian project with EU funding (nominated on national level), receiving 930 of a total of 2444 votes. The project “Regijska Štipendijska Shema Ljubljanske Urbane Regije” (Regional Scholarship Scheme of the Ljubljana Urban Region) took second place.

Both projects address the issue of unemployment among young people by connecting the demand for human resources in companies and different participants of secondary school and higher education, and aim to develop entrepreneurial skills and knowledge for starting and running own companies or to start professional careers on various fields.

The winning project Podjetno v Svet Podjetništva runs in all Slovenian regional development agencies and is coordinated by the regional agency in Zagorje. It is being co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Slovenian Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. This year, 360 young unemployed people with high education that are thinking about starting their own company or developing their own business ideas will take part in the PVSP entrepreneurial workshops.

This operation is also known for its high success rate: 87 participants (66.9 %) of the first PVSP group in 2013 have already successfully started their own companies or found other employment possibilities. For the second PVSP group in 2013, this number was 61 (50.8 %). More than 50 participants of the first 2014 PVSP group, which has only just finished, also achieved the project’s goal. And there are 120 new young participants that are involved in the second 2014 PVSP group. We will be able to see presentations of their business ideas at the 4th conference Podjetna Mlada Slovenija (Entrepreneurial Young Slovenia) that will take place on November 6th in Nova Gorica.

The second placed project Regijska Štipendijska Shema Ljubljanske Urbane Regije is also a regional project that is being implemented on the national level. It focuses on connecting young people with the economic environment. Its mission is to help local regional companies find new high quality employees and to help students find their first employment on the labour market. The project provides co-financing of intern scholarships (50 % is provided by the employing company and 50 % by the Agency from European and national sources). Scholarships are given for individual employment positions – depending on regional development needs and prospective professions. This project is also (like PVSP) co-financed by the European Social Fund.

Gašper, who nominated the regional scholarship project for the competition, has written: “Getting an intern scholarship has made my studies a lot easier. I could easily finance my studying and some additional education, mostly foreign languages, which I can use while travelling abroad, for business or pleasure. A scholarship means more free time you can spend for fun and studying. And after finishing school, I already have a job waiting for me.”

The Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (RRA LUR) would like to thank all of you who voted for the projects PVSP and RŠS LUR. Thank you for your support.