International Conference on Institutional Reforms for an Entrepreneurial Society (FIRES)

FIRES
Remind me Printer-friendly version Send to friend

Date

25 May 2018

Address

Royal Flemish Academy of Sciences
Palace of the Academies - Rue Ducale 1
1000  Brussels
Belgium

Section

Innovation & Enterprise

Event Location

Brussels

Event Description

 
On May 25th 2018 the FIRES-consortium will host its final conference in the Flemish Royal Academy in Brussels. There we will present the results of three years of EU sponsored studies on how to reform institutions to promote a more entrepreneurial Europe. During a one-day conference, in dialogue with high level experts and policy makers, the researchers will present a pragmatic approach for tailoring a reform strategy to the specific strengths and weaknesses of the different European regions. Our principal message is: Go beyond the usual recipes and start building on the existing institutional framework to support entrepreneurship in the diverse European local contexts!
 
The morning will be devoted to presenting the diagnostic tools we have developed in our project and discuss the scientific progress and remaining challenges our project brings to the fore. The afternoon will then be allocated to identifying who can and should do what, at what level in the policymaking process, to effectively implement reforms to promote a more Entrepreneurial Society in Europe.
 

The researchers will present the developed toolkit, show you how to use it and listen to your suggestions how these tools might be improved.

 

About FIRES

To get Europe back on the road to inclusive, sustainable growth we need to (re)kindle Europe’s entrepreneurial spirit. This transition requires Financial and Institutional Reforms for an Entrepreneurial Society (FIRES). In this project we bring together scholars from such diverse fields as history, economics, geography and law to formulate such a reform strategy. Moreover, the project involves relevant stakeholders in Europe’s future.

This Horizon2020 project develops a seven step process to formulate a tailored reform strategy. It builds on European regions’ rich and diverse history, assesses the bottlenecks in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, surveys relevant stakeholders in that ecosystem and then proposes fitting interventions from a menu of research based policy proposals to improve the situation. Individually, but especially together, these proposals in the realms of finance, labor and knowledge enable the more small scale, experimental and innovative bottom up activity that is needed to restore inclusive, innovative and sustainable growth to the European Union as a whole, its member states and regions. To ensure practical relevance and applicability the project engaged relevant stakeholders throughout the project. At our concluding event on May 25th in Brussels we present our proposed method and engage with our stakeholders one last time. So join us in shaping Europe’s entrepreneurial revolution!

Speakers at the conference: Dr. Mark Sanders (Coördinator of FIRES), Prof. Dr. David Audretsch (Indiana University), Prof. Erik Stam (University of Utrecht), Prof. Saul Estrin (London School of Economics), Prof. Michael Fritsch (Friedrich Schiller University Jena), Prof. Claire Economidou (Piraeus University), Prof. Friederike Welter (President of Institute für Mittelstandsforschung), Prof. Reinhilde Veugelers (KU Leuven), Prof. Roy Thurik (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Prof. Magnus Henrekson (Research Institute of Industrial Economics), Stephan Raes (Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the EU), Bert Kuby (Commission for Economic Policy), Jonathan Potter (OECD), Ulla Engelmann (DG Grow) and Marian Minnesma (Director of Urgenda, Netherlands).