On the 13 May 2006 in Bratislava was held the project meeting of the three partners. The aim was to present to the partners from Turkey and Bulgaria the activities of the Top Center Podnikateliek – TCP (Top Center of Business Women – an association of business women in close relations with CWSP Association – Bratislava) and focus on its experience in mentoring for women entrepreneurs. During the visit the staff and learners met mentors and mentees of TCP from Bratislava and the nearby town of Pezanok, exchanged experience and discussed different approaches for motivating and training women as mentors and mentees as well as the pros and cons of mentoring as a training approach. The partners from Bulgaria and Turkey had the opportunity to see the achievements of these women and listen to their success stories. 

More about the site visit in Bratislava. 

The purpose of the roundtables is to present the project results and the good experience of Slovakia to the local community and initiate a discussion on the specific topic of mentoring for women entrepreneurs as a way to encourage their participation in the economic life.

The Ankara Roundtable took place on the 10 June 2006 at the Community Center of the Contemporary Woman and Youth Foundation - involved in the project by the Turkish partners KA-DER as a learner organization. The event was attended by women entrepreneurs from disadvantaged groups. The Foundation works in one of the biggest and poorest districts of Ankara, called Mamak, providing different services to its target group, connected mainly with overcoming illiteracy, education and vocational training, support in job search and in business start up. The discussion was focused on the achievements and the obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs from disadvantaged groups, who were trained at the Community Center under a Matra financed project. The guests visited several businesses, established by the women trainees with the support of the Association established to the Contemporary Woman and Youth Foundation in order to assist the start up of women’s businesses. Already there are several small businesses established, mainly in the sector of services, which allow those women to overcome poverty, unemployment and social exclusion.

More about the Ankara Roundtable.

At the Sofia Roundtable held on 24 June 2006 the partners from Turkey and Slovakia and the participants from Bulgaria were presented with the results from an enquiry focused on women entrepreneurs. The respondents shared their opinions about the development of women’s entrepreneurship, the problems they face as well as the necessity of mentoring as a learning tool to increase their knowledge and skills in managing their businesses. The roundtable was attended by the learner organisation involved in the project - the Bulgarian Association of Regional Development Agencies (BARDA), representatives of different business women associations, other partner NGOs working in the field, researchers of the issue. The guests visited a shop for handicrafts products, established as an opportunity for women entrepreneurs to sell their products. The shop called Ten Senses is currently run by Integra Association, involved in training women in entrepreneurial skills, who had implemented a joint project on that with CWSP, Sofia (more). As a result were established several business women clubs with the most active one in Sofia, which embraced the idea of Fair Trade and started the shop in 2005.

More about the Sofia Roundtable.

These events were the closing activities of the project.