European Commission

Have you submitted your essay yet? The deadline has been extended until 23 September 2018, so you still have three more days to write and submit your essay before it is too late. Still not sure about entering the competition? Read through what our youth essay competition jury think about the competition and then get writing!

 “Over time the younger generations are taking an ever increasing role in important societal discussions. This competition is an amazing opportunity to make an impact on what policy-makers are defining for our collective future and to make your voice heard. When we are invited to give our opinions we should embrace the challenge and speak up!”

• David Gomes, JADE Network

“Why miss out on an exercise so valuable for personal development, testing one’s ideas, making a powerful statement and hopefully taking it to the European stage? Make your voice heard! It would also look pretty good on your CV as well.”

• Marie-Elisabeth Rusling, Business Angels Europe

“My advice would be to just give it a shot! I am sure that many of us have had experiences with regards to the topic of the competition and developed ideas on making our governments and businesses more innovative and advanced. This competition is a platform and a chance to publish those ideas. It is time to share your ideas in order to encourage real change!”

• Oksana Vedmidska, YEC 2017 winner

“Organising your thoughts and putting them down in words is always a great exercise for the mind. There is no “wrong” way of doing this. We want to know how you see the world, what you think about it and how it could work better. It’s your thinking and ideas that matter and we are eager to hear those! Avoid trying to sound like an experienced government official, let your own words be heard.”

• Mervi Pänkäläinen, Mightifier

Could you be the next winner of the SME Week Youth Essay Competition? Will you be joining us at the SME Assembly 2018 in Graz as a finalist? Use the advice from our jury members to write an outstanding entry and submit before 23 September 2018 to be in with a chance of winning!

For more information on the 2018 competition look here and send any questions to smeweek@loweurope.eu

The 2018 SME Week Youth Essay Competition is looking for your answers to this question: “What steps should entrepreneurs and government take to become more innovative?”

Now that the deadline has been extended until 23 September 2018, you have an extra week to get writing and submit your essays. But how can you make sure your entry is unique and stands out from the rest?  What will make an entry a winning one? Find out what each of our jury members are looking for and don’t forget to submit!

“An entry will stand out for me if it considers both the strengths and weaknesses of our present environment, and proposes solutions that are suitable for the problem identified. It is not enough to come up with ideas and expect them to be the best solution for the perceived problem. In order for an entry to be well rounded and thought provoking, the author will need to demonstrate a deep understanding of what is being done at the moment, and propose their solution in light of that.”

• David Gomes, JADE Network

“I think that the essay needs to inspire the jury to discuss the proposals in more depth with the author. If the author is able to make the jury want to meet them and take them to the live final to present their work, then this will be a ‘wow factor’ for me!”

• Marie-Elisabeth Rusling, Business Angels Europe

“An entry should demonstrate innovative, progressive, analytical and practical thinking. The inclusion of personal experiences will also play a very important role for me while judging an essay. This is what will make an entry original.”

• Oksana Vedmidska, YEC 2017 winner

“An entry will stand out if it has a strong personal touch and insights that only a young person can deliver. I am really looking forward to learning from these young people!”

• Mervi Pänkäläinen, Mightifier

Could you be the next winner of the SME Week Youth Essay Competition? Will you be joining us at the SME Assembly 2018 in Graz as a finalist? Use the advice from our jury members to write an outstanding entry and submit before 23 September 2018 to be in with a chance of winning!

For more information on the 2018 competition look here and send any questions to smeweek@loweurope.eu

The SME Week Youth Essay Competition is getting even closer…only 12 days to go until the deadline on 16 September 2018! Today on Promoting Enterprise we present David Gomes, another Youth Essay Competition jury member. David Gomes will be on the jury as the representative from the JADE Network (The European Confederation of Junior Enterprises), who are one of our competition partners.  Read on to find out what he is looking for in an entry and don’t forget to submit before the deadline!

What will you be looking for in an entry?

Innovation is the keyword – I will be looking for entries that suggest practical and concrete ways for entrepreneurs and governments to become more innovative. For me an entry needs to offer more than just sharing ideas and thinking about what we want in the future. I want the entries to really consider what we want to see in terms of innovation and how we can make this a reality. The writers should think about how we can foster an environment that promotes innovation on a constant basis. I am expecting really good answers as the question of innovation is one that we need to answer as fast as we can.

What are the top three criteria you will base your judging on?

I will judge each essay on the following three criteria: originality, feasibility, and presentation.

What will make an entry stand out for you?

An entry will stand out for me if it considers both the strengths and weaknesses of our present environment, and proposes solutions that are suitable for the problem identified. It is not enough to come up with ideas and expect them to be the best solution for the perceived problem. In order for an entry to be well rounded and thought provoking, the author will need to demonstrate a deep understanding of what is being done at the moment, and propose their solution in light of that.

What advice would you give for those still not sure about entering the competition?

Over time the younger generations are taking an ever increasing role in important societal discussions. This competition is an amazing opportunity to make an impact on what policy-makers are defining for our collective future and to make your voice heard. When we are invited to give our opinions we should embrace the challenge and speak up!

What steps do you think should be taken to foster and encourage innovation?

For me, it is much more about change management. Our society is ready for innovation, the problem simply lies with how people react to new ways of doing something or new products and services. We need to embrace innovation as a way to keep improving our lives for the better. Innovation should be a constant in our mindsets, in everything we do – both personally and professionally, and the leaders of this change should definitely be both governments and entrepreneurs.

Interested in entering this year’s competition? Find out more about the 2018 SME Week Youth Essay Competition right here. Use the News Portal for all your competition questions and be sure to have a look at the previous winning entries for inspiration. Finally, don’t forget to submit your essays by 23 September 2018!