{"id":18588,"date":"2024-02-19T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=18588"},"modified":"2024-02-19T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:00:00","slug":"supporting-ukraines-innovative-women-is-good-business-for-all-of-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=18588","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Ukraine\u2019s innovative women is good business for all of Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>In Europe, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) unites higher education institutions, industry, and research and development centers. It is uniquely positioned to foster the personal connections essential for Ukraine&#8217;s women entrepreneurs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Ukrainians, the red viburnum (<em>kalyna<\/em> in Ukrainian)\u2014a shrub bearing red-colored berries\u2014holds deep cultural significance, symbolising resistance to foreign dominance and political oppression. Hardy and resistant, the kalyna can withstand the toughest of conditions, which mirrors the resilience and endurance of the Ukrainian people throughout history, particularly through periods of struggle and resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It features prominently in Ukrainian folklore, songs, and poems. It is often used in traditional Ukrainian rituals, such as weddings, and is a common motif in Ukrainian decorative arts and traditional clothing, such as the vyshyvanka, the Ukrainian blouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, when the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) sought a name for its new initiative supporting Ukrainian women, Red Kalyna was a natural choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initiative aims to recognise and promote outstanding Ukrainian female entrepreneurs, educators and mentors, who have developed innovative products or solutions, or have transformed their businesses into innovative ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/voices\/the-new-eu-policy-for-pay-transparency-is-great-but-it-wont-solve-the-gender-pay-gap\/\">The EU\u2019s new pay transparency policy is great, but it won\u2019t solve the gender pay gap<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/news\/the-last-word-ukraines-tech-sector-is-the-epitome-of-business-resilience\/\">Ukraine\u2019s tech sector is the epitome of business resilience<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/news\/the-last-word-only-by-empowering-women-can-we-develop-truly-transformative-disruptive-innovations\/\">Only by empowering women can we develop truly transformative, disruptive innovations<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>In its inaugural year, the initiative received nominations for 30 Ukrainian women, ultimately selecting nine exceptional finalists. Spanning diverse sectors including health, manufacturing, energy, food, and climate, these women showcase expertise and leadership in their fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marta Kaczmarek leads the Cross-KIC Strategic Regional Innovations in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, including Ukraine. Cross-KIC projects bring together stakeholders from different industries and so called Knowledge and Innovation Communities of EIT and aim at jointly driving strategic topics to promote European innovation while fostering collaboration and taking advantage of synergies within the EIT ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says that Ukraine has a rich history of innovation and that it has only been strengthened by Russia\u2019s full scale invasion of the country, given that the rest of Europe is now paying more attention to what\u2019s happening in its eastern neighbour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd the more we look, the more innovation we find,\u201d Kaczmarek tells <em>Emerging Europe<\/em>. \u201cThe country&#8217;s deep tech sector is fueled by a science-based and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem. This can have a significant impact not only on Ukraine, but on the whole European innovation ecosystem. The teams from Ukraine often have outstanding motivation for hard work and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A beacon of empowerment<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2023, more than 50 per cent of new entrepreneurs in Ukraine were women. \u201cOf course, the figure may not be entirely representative, taking into consideration that men are focused on the country\u2019s defence,\u201d says Kaczmarek. \u201cHowever, if you compare the numbers with other parts of Europe it\u2019s impressive and deserves to be placed in the spotlight. Ukrainian women have become a beacon of empowerment for women across Europe and across all sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shining a light on Ukraine\u2019s female entrepreneurs is what Red Kalyna is all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEIT can help entrepreneurs in all sorts of ways and one of those is by offering pan-European visibility,\u201d Kaczmarek adds. \u201cAccess to markets, networking, consulting services, business mentoring. Last year\u2019s finalists were offered training on intellectual property rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey were provided with training on how to navigate the European innovation ecosystem, especially European grants. How to apply, where to position themselves. These are all tangible things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The nine women who made up the 2023 cohort came from a wide range of backgrounds, from start-up founders to scientists and university professors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe evaluated the women who were nominated and were looking for those who can be role models for other aspiring female innovators,\u201d says Kaczmarek. \u201cThis is an essential part of the programme\u2014showcasing role models who come from different sectors, different corners of the market. The hope is that they will inspire more of innovators from Ukraine\u2014and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Red Kalyna will <a href=\"https:\/\/eit-ris.eu\/\">again<\/a> be looking for inspirational Ukrainian women in 2024, but is this year extending the initiative to include organisations or institutions that support women entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOrganisations that don&#8217;t treat diversity and inclusion as empty words in their mission statements, but which really contribute as a part of a long-term strategy. And these can be organisations based both inside and outside of Ukraine,\u201d Kaczmarek confirms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why EIT?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>EIT itself is uniquely positioned to run initiatives such as Red Kalyna. The largest innovation community in Europe, encompassing many different sectors, from health to manufacturing and raw materials, it can plug members in to an unrivalled network of knowledge that, in Kaczmarek\u2019s words, \u201ccan make innovations fly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRed Kalyna is an initiative that brings together different EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities with the ambition of doing something meaningful beyond a specific industry,\u201d adds Kaczmarek, who also points out that EIT is, \u201ca very women-oriented organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across Europe, EIT unites higher education institutions, industry, and research and development centres. A \u2018knowledge triangle\u2019, Kaczmarek says, that can contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine and which creates new links that can facilitate the country\u2019s integration into the European innovation marketplace. She talks about \u201cthe power of introduction\u201d\u2014EIT can open doors and make connections that bring about long-term benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBringing people together and making these personal connections is so important to creating the synergy needed to boost innovation,\u201d Kaczmarek says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An ongoing commitment<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>A further sign of EIT\u2019s commitment to Ukraine is the recent opening of an EIT Community representative office complete with EIT community officer in Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s important to have somebody on the ground,\u201d says Kaczmarek, who adds: \u201cOur intention is to build around this hub a vibrant community involving more stakeholders from different sectors to provide even more opportunities to Ukrainian talent, better and more effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, EIT is in Ukraine for the long haul. \u201cOur Advisory Board for Ukraine was launched last year to consult on short- and long-term entrepreneurship and capacity building schemes in Ukraine. This year we opened applications for another Advisory Board member representing industry. We hope more women will apply for such opportunities,\u201d says Kaczmarek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the past two years, the EIT Community has offered over 50 initiatives for Ukrainian entrepreneurs and businesses, as well as students, professionals and researchers. In addition, the EIT has organised several dedicated programmes for Ukrainians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This is an ongoing commitment to Ukraine to support female entrepreneurs from Ukraine no matter the circumstances, no matter the outcome of the war. And Red Kalyna is just one many opportunities across the EIT community for Ukrainians, one of the many ways that we can build links between all the stakeholders in the region. It\u2019s about inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photos: <a href=\"https:\/\/eit.europa.eu\/sites\/default\/files\/2023-06\/ordinary-snowball-g7d021dcba_1280.jpg\">EIT<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Unlike many news and information platforms,&nbsp;<em>Emerging Europe<\/em>&nbsp;is free to read, and always will be.&nbsp;There is no paywall here.&nbsp;We are independent,&nbsp;not affiliated with nor representing any political party or business&nbsp;organisation.&nbsp;We want the very best for emerging Europe, nothing more, nothing less. Your support will help us continue to spread the word about this amazing region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You can contribute&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/emergingeurope.krtra.com\/t\/NlQnFuOA2C9c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emergingeurope.krtra.com\/t\/NlQnFuOA2C9c\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/copy-of-add-a-heading.png\" alt=\"emerging europe support independent journalism\" class=\"wp-image-50811\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Europe, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) unites higher education institutions, industry, and research and development centers. It is uniquely positioned to foster<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6912,6911,6913,6320,6915,6914,6613,61,420],"class_list":["post-18588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-eit","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-european-institute-of-innovation-and-technology","tag-featured","tag-marta-kaczmarek","tag-red-kalyna","tag-society","tag-technology-innovation","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}