European Young Innovators Festival 2022/23
Join Us for a Digital Innovations Celebration: Embracing European Values, Women's Equality & Environmental Justice
Every year, the WSA Europe Community meets with one clear objective - connecting those who use digital technology to achieve the UN SDGs. The European Young Innovators Festival 2022/23 is aiming for sustainable impact and long-lasting relationship building between Styrian organizations and their European peers.
From April 26 to 28, the European Young Innovators 2022, students from UniVation, experts, peers, and friends came together in Graz, Austria, to experience an inclusive, purpose-driven and truly European learning journey on the topic DIGITAL INNOVATIONS FOR EUROPEAN VALUES, WOMEN EQUALITY & ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.
What happened in Graz?
Day 1, April 26, was warmup and arrival day for all international delegates coming to Graz. After a Get-together at the Murinsel, the city of Graz hosted the European WSA community in the city hall, offering a Welcome Reception and European Lightning Talks to learn more about the City of Graz and get quickly introduced to the European Young Innovators 2022.
Day 2, April 27, was dedicated to the urgency of crises the world society has to handle, with a focus on European perspectives. The morning was filled with talks, discussions, perspectives on European values and solidarity, climate change and purpose driven entrepreneurship. The afternoon was dedicated to solutions to these challenges. More than 30 young digital impact entrepreneurs from Graz, Europe, Asia and Africa present their concrete local solutions around “Citizen Engagement”, “Health, Well-Being & Education”, “Climate Change & Environment” and “Inclusion & Gender Equality”. The audience was invited to actively comment and contribute - be prepared for inspiration and mutual learning.
The young digital entrepreneurs consisted of:
- Local Heroes, Startups from Styria:
- European Young Innovators 2022
- mPreneur Winners
Day 3, April 28, was action day. In decentralized workshops, roundtables and mentoring sessions participants could upgrade their skills for extended impact – may it be scaling, video creation, impact measurement, or storytelling; for ecosystem shakers, civil servants and managers, or community builders. The afternoon was reserved to explore Graz while strengthening connections and getting ready for the Award Ceremony & Closing Party @ Dom im Berg.
The European Young Innovators, mPreneurs & winners of UniVation 2022 got their moment on stage, and the overall European Young Innovators got announced - and they are:
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Safe YOU, Armenia
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Girls Global Ready, Poland
KEY PARTICIPANTS in Graz
Egidija Rolytė
Senior Adviser of Innovation and Technology Group
Vilnius City Municipality
Lithuania
Juliane Bogner-Strauss
State Councillor for Health, Care, Sport and Society
Das Land Steiermark
Austria
Diana Materi
Urban Economic Development Specialist | International Relations Aficionado
Stadt Graz
Austria
Dr. Günter Riegler
City Councilor for Economy, Tourism, Culture, Science and the Building and Facilities Authority
Austria
Connor Sattely
Independent Consultant
Connor Sattely Consulting
Netherlands, United States of America
Panayiotis Andreou
Assistant Professor in Computing
School of Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus
Cyprus
Irene Polycarpou
Professor of Technology and Innovation in Education, Head of the School of Sciences
University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus
Cyprus
Carolina Rossi
ESNA Head of Network & Strategic Initiatives I SXSW Advisory Board Member | WSA Advisory Board Member I IE Business School Professor I SOSV Fellow
Europe Startup Nations Alliance
Chile
Tanja Madžarević
Business Development Manager
Education Development Center Inc.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
What happened online?
On November 30, 2022, the online part of the European Young Innovators Festival took place. After the festival opening by WSA Chairperson Peter A. Bruck, 2 panel discussions delved deeply into the subject matter: "Hack the Crises. European Ways" and "Creative Industries driving social change". Right after this the European Young Innovators 2022 pitched their innovative solutions to inspire the audience and convince the international jury to become the next European Champions.
More about the Panel DiscussionsWatch the pitches
KEY PARTICIPANTS online
Maximilian Lakitsch
Department Global Governance (Institute for the Foundations of Law)
University of Graz
Austria
MEET THE JURY MEMBERS
Diana Materi
Urban Economic Development Specialist | International Relations Aficionado
Stadt Graz
Austria
Tijana Jakovljević
Project coordinator
Forest and Climate – Afforestation for Future Generation
Serbia
Attila Horányi
Director (BA program Design Culture)
MOME - Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design
Hungary
Gregor Cerinšek
Project manager and researcher
IRI UL - Institute for Innovation and Development of University of Ljubljana
Slovenia
Abdul Rahman AlAshraf
Intelligent Automation Solutions Expert | Social Tech Entrepreneur
Berenberg
Germany
Darko Bozhinoski
Postdoctoral researcher
Cognitive Robotics, 3mE | Delft University of Technology
Netherlands
Panayiotis Andreou
Assistant Professor in Computing
School of Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus
Cyprus
Irene Polycarpou
Professor of Technology and Innovation in Education, Head of the School of Sciences
University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus
Cyprus
Thomas Duenser
Director of the Office for Financial Market Innovation
Government of Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein
Natasha Lazarovska-Trajcheski
Co-founder and Executive Board Member
Startup Macedonia
North Macedonia
Mariam Kakhidze
Senior Analyst of State Budget and Strategic Analysis Department
State Audit Office of Georgia (SAOG)
Georgia
Have a look at the European Young Innovators Festival 21/22
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