entrepreneurship
Cities offer not only the business opportunities, but the combination of services, support and infrastructure entrepreneurs and small businesses need to thrive. City governments develop policies and programmes tailored to the specific needs of local entrepreneurs and small businesses.
With the right support, we believe that entrepreneurs and SMEs will play a significant role in achieving the Europe 2020 goals of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Some 99% of European businesses are SMEs, and 90% of those employ fewer than ten people. Two out of every three private sector jobs in Europe are provided by SMEs.
Previous recessions have shown that new growth and jobs often come from smaller businesses. Supporting entrepreneurship is therefore crucial to improve Europe’s employment rates..
Entrepreneurship also fosters social and economic cohesion - especially in cities where development is lagging behind - by stimulating economic activity and job creation and helping integrate the unemployed or other disadvantaged groups into work.
The needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs vary widely, as do the environments in which they operate.
The European Small Business Act calls for policies relating to SMEs ‘to fully recognise this diversity and fully respect the principle of subsidiarity’. Cities are therefore ideally-placed to identify the most appropriate strategies and create favourable environments for entrepreneurs and small business to flourish. They do so by facilitating networking opportunities, managing business incubators and developing synergies between companies and research institutes, amongst other approaches.
Our working group on entrepreneurship focuses on finding ways to improve city services to entrepreneurs and small businesses. It is a platform for cities to share expertise and experience and the group closely follows European initiatives aimed at fostering entrepreneurship, and provides input to ensure that they are closely aligned with cities’ needs.
In October 2012, we published 'Helping cities foster entrepreneurship', our response to the European Commission consultation on its future Entrepreneurship 2020 action plan.
- economy
Cities at work: Gothenburg’s entrepreneurial hub
Gothenburg’s ‘Entrepreneurial West Hisingen’ programme is supporting employability among residents in a challenging city district.
news
publication date: 07-01-2016
- economy
- environment
- mobility
Spotlight on the EUROCITIES awards winners - new case studies!
We have published case studies on the award winning projects from Edinburgh, Gothenburg and Milan.
news
publication date: 26-11-2015
- culture
An Incredibol! study visit in Bologna
Bologna hosted a study visit as part of the Culture for Cities and Regions initiative on supporting local cultural entrepreneurs.
news
publication date: 16-11-2015
- cooperation
- culture
- economy
- knowledge society
- mobility
A reflection on EUROCITIES 2015 Copenhagen/Malmo
EUROCITIES 2015 Copenhagen/Malmo, our annual conference, took place on 4-6 November.
news
publication date: 10-11-2015
- cooperation
- culture
- economy
- environment
- knowledge society
- mobility
Revealed: winners of the EUROCITIES awards 2015!
The cities of Edinburgh, Gothenburg and Milan were revealed last night as the winners of the EUROCITIES awards at a ceremony in Malmo.
news
publication date: 03-11-2015
- culture
Culture for Cities and Regions study visit in Nantes
Nantes hosted the first study visit under our Culture for Cities and Regions initiative, focusing on how culture and the creative industries have helped regenerate a former industrial area.
news
publication date: 19-10-2015
'Promoting an inclusive labour market at local level'
In our latest publication we showcase projects from 12 of our member cities that support those who face significant barriers to employment; including migrants, people with disabilities, young people with mental illness, over 50s, young people not in education or training (NEETS) and the long term unemployed.
publication
publication date:
14-10-2015
- economy
- environment
publication
publication date:
09-09-2015
- cooperation
- economy
4th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region
Under the title “Smart, social, sustainable - Innovation for the Danube Region“, the forum will put a strong emphasis on topics such as innovation, professional training and dual education, entrepreneurship and civil society as key factors for a sustainable and integrative growth in the Danube Region.
event
start date: 29-10-2015 end date: 30-10-2015
- culture
Discover cultural initiatives in cities & regions
Browse through 30 case studies demonstrating how culture can be a powerful tool to foster economic development, urban regeneration and social inclusion.
news
publication date: 16-07-2015