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.

 

PROGRAMIMPACT REPORTPICTURES

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:

 

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:

 

KEY PARTICIPANTS in Graz

 

Clara Tripodi

Social Franchising Project Manager

SPEAK Share your World

Portugal

Adam Montandon

WSA Online Jury 2023

Curator & license holder TEDxOdense

Denmark

Atabo David

Youth Ambassador Network Africa

WSA

Nigeria

Egidija Rolytė

Senior Adviser of Innovation and Technology Group

Vilnius City Municipality

Lithuania

Minh Ngoc Nguyen

Country Director Business Development Austria

AIESEC

Austria

Paul Mayer

Chief Digital Officer (CDO), General Manager (Prokurist)

capito

Austria

Gerald Bruchmann

CEO/Owner

SpaceLeon

Austria

Konstantin Pollanz

Managing Director and Co-Founder

HerzensApp GmbH

Austria

Barbara Eibinger-Miedl

County counsel Styria

Land of Styria

Austria

Werner Koele

CEO & Founder

SteadySense GmbH

Austria

Debbie Adams

CEO

BAS Enterprises KG

Austria

Juliane Bogner-Strauss

State Councillor for Health, Care, Sport and Society

Das Land Steiermark

Austria

Robert Höldrich

CEO

Dr. Robert Höldrich KG

Austria

Ina Thomann (Lino Leum)

Musician KUG

Musician KUG

Austria

Christa Kloibhofer-Krampl

Marketing & Kommunikation

Next Incubator - Energie Steiermark AG

Austria

Lorenzo Chiappani

Marketing und Project management

Impactory

Austria

Alia' Al-Wir

Country Manager

AIESEC

Austria

Dolores Daniel

Investor Relations

Latitude59

Estonia

Dominic Ellwardt

Youth Representative Austria

UNESCO

Austria

Eberhard Schrempf

Managing Director

Creative Industries Styria

Austria

Paul Zwölfer

President

Ideentriebwerk

Austria

Hannah Wundsam

CEO

Austrian Startups

Austria

Diana Materi

Urban Economic Development Specialist | International Relations Aficionado

Stadt Graz

Austria

Eva Hiesmair

Co-Founder & COO

Content Creation School

Austria

Greta Maria Ziegler

Startup Management

Green Tech Cluster

Austria

Daniel Langer

CEO

Impactory

Austria

Philipp Maier

Digitalization and Innovation Manager

Volkshilfe Wien

Austria

Denby Elizabeth Royal

Branding & Partnerships Lead

Arbor

Canada

Lorenz Inou

Marketing, Content | Student

Instadrive GmbH | HTW Berlin

Austria, Germany

Gernot Schröck

Project manager

Next Incubator - Energie Steiermark AG

Austria

Dr. Günter Riegler

City Councilor for Economy, Tourism, Culture, Science and the Building and Facilities Authority

Austria

Elisabeth Stiegler

Boardmember

Gründungsgarage

Austria

Angelika Mitteregger

Project Manager Economic Development, Startups & Innovation

Stadt Graz

Austria

Jan Kaczmarek

President of the Board

MOST Foundation

Poland

Ana Maria Alvarez Monge

CEO & Founder

Migrapreneur

Costa Rica/Germany

Josine Bakkes

Coach, University Lecturer & Community Architect

Netherlands

Georg Nistl

Innovation Manager

Next Incubator - Energie Steiermark AG

Austria

Balazs Horváth

Digital Strategist & Community Builder

Tech In The City

Hungary

Mustafa Özer

Head of business development and strategy

imece

Türkiye

Lena Hödl Köninger

Venture Architect

Trive studio

Austria

Uli Grabenwarter

Deputy Director

Equity Investments at European Investment Fund (EIF)

Austria

Bernhard Puttinger

CEO

Green Tech Cluster Styria

Austria

Sabrina Petutschnig

Executive Assistant & Event manager

Science Park Graz | ESA BIC Austria

Austria

Martin Mössler

Managing Director | SPG & Ambassador | ESA IAP Austria

Managing Director | SPG & Ambassador | ESA IAP Austria

Austria

Bernhard Weber

UNIcorn Graz

Austria

Sebastian Diaz

CEO LeaP

LeaP

Chile

Pia Frizberg

Mental & Emotional Health Coach

Freelancer

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

Ana Brigovic

Business Development Manager

ACT Group

Croatia

Carolina Rossi

Director of WSA Chile

European Startup Nation Alliance

Chile

Paul Hughes

Director

Paul Hughes Live

Netherlands

Odeta Iseviciute

Events Support

WSA

Lithuania

Jóhann Malmquist

Professor and serial entrepreneur

University of Iceland

Iceland

Kenneth Bone

Managing Director

Seasus

Malta

Alfredo Ronchi

General Secretary

MEDICI Framework

Italy

Mathias Haas

Founder and CEO

SuperSocial

Austria

Herman van Oorschot

Media enterpreneur

Fullmoon Interactive Solutions

Netherlands

Tanja Madžarević

Business Development Manager

Education Development Center Inc.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dritan Mezini

Senior consultant and Managing Director

DM Consulting Services

Albania

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

 

Zora Jaurová

President

Creative Industry Forum Slovakia

Slovakia

Bernd Fesel

Interim CEO

EIT Culture & Creativity

Austria

Maja Lalić

President

Mikser

Serbia

Maximilian Lakitsch

Department Global Governance (Institute for the Foundations of Law)

University of Graz

Austria

Daniel Langer

CEO

Impactory

Austria

Artem Kornetskyy

Co-founder & CEO

School of ME NGO & Ukrainian Social Venture Fund

Ukraine

Gica Trierweiler

Co-founder

Instituto Beaba

Brazil

Tanja Wehsely

CEO

Volkshilfe Wien

Austria

Peter A. Bruck

WSA Chairperson

World Summit Awards

Austria

 

 

MEET THE JURY MEMBERS

 

 

Diana Materi

Urban Economic Development Specialist | International Relations Aficionado

Stadt Graz

Austria

Christos Vaitsis

Business Creation and Innovation Lead Consultant

EIT Health Austria GmbH

Greece

Caroline Assaf

Global Community Lead

WSA

Italy

Eva Hiesmair

Co-Founder & COO

Content Creation School

Austria

Greta Maria Ziegler

Startup Management

Green Tech Cluster

Austria

Agne Talalaite

Project Manager

#walk15

Lithuania

Daniel Langer

CEO

Impactory

Austria

Philipp Maier

Digitalization and Innovation Manager

Volkshilfe Wien

Austria

Denby Elizabeth Royal

Branding & Partnerships Lead

Arbor

Canada

Lorenz Inou

Marketing, Content | Student

Instadrive GmbH | HTW Berlin

Austria, Germany

Andras Bodo

Founder

Colibr.

Hungary

Elisabeth Stiegler

Boardmember

Gründungsgarage

Austria

Angelika Mitteregger

Project Manager Economic Development, Startups & Innovation

Stadt Graz

Austria

Diana Ionita

Head of Digital

GEYC

Romania

Balazs Horváth

Digital Strategist & Community Builder

Tech In The City

Hungary

Frank Lorenz

SVP Product Development AS EMEA

dormakaba AG

Austria

Lena Hödl Köninger

Venture Architect

Trive studio

Austria

Elene Jvania

Co-founder and Co-CEO

Impact Hub Tbilisi

Georgia

Tomás Pessoa e Costa

Founder

dioscope

Portugal

Tijana Jakovljević

Project coordinator

Forest and Climate – Afforestation for Future Generation

Serbia

Sabrina Petutschnig

Executive Assistant & Event manager

Science Park Graz | ESA BIC Austria

Austria

Attila Horányi

Director (BA program Design Culture)

MOME - Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design

Hungary

Florian A. Gloßner

Founder and CEO

Agile Process GmbH

Germany

Magdalena Kubów

PHD I Management

SWPS University

Poland

Stephen Vickers

United Kingdom

Michael Terler

Professor

FH CAMPUS 02

Austria

Sarah Klein

Managing Partner, Publisher/Chief Editor

Bunny Island, Tea after Twelve

Germany

Arnau Gifreu Castells

Lecturer, researcher and producer / Audiovisual + Multimedia + Transmedia + Immersive

Spain

Gregor Cerinšek

Project manager and researcher

IRI UL - Institute for Innovation and Development of University of Ljubljana

Slovenia

Dimitar Jovevski

Associate Professor

University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”

North Macedonia

Liisi Org

CEO

Latitude59

Estonia

Avgi-Maria Atmatzidou

Founder & President

Mykonos Multimedia Festival

Greece

Abdul Rahman AlAshraf

Founder, FreeCom

Software Engineer and Consultant, MHP - A Porsche Company

Germany

Sanja Cancar

Research associate

Austria

Paul Bonea

CEO

Bonea Creative Studio

Denmark

Nadja Petrović

Professor

High school ,, Nada Dimic”

Serbia

Darko Bozhinoski

Postdoctoral researcher

Cognitive Robotics, 3mE | Delft University of Technology

Netherlands

Amila Mujkić

Student

University of Pennsylvania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dženana Selimović

Electrical Engineering Student

University of Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Geena Whiteman

PhD Researcher

Cardiff University

United Kingdom

Dušica Birovljević

Founder

Legal Lifestyle Magazine

Serbia

Arman Atoyan

Co-Founder & Product Manager

X-TECH, CityBugs, ARLOOPA

Armenia

Cristina Pop Tiron

PhD Researcher

Babeș-Bolyai University

Romania

Leila Hadžić

Co-founder

NGO “Laboratorium” Tuzla

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Giorgi Chakvetadze

Head of State Budget Analysis unit

State Audit office of Georgia

Georgia

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

Ediola Pashollari

Secretary General

World Assembly of Youth

Albania

Mikalai Kavaleuski

Secretary

TIBO Internet Award Competition

Belarus

Ana Brigovic

Business Development Manager

ACT Group

Croatia

Thomas Duenser

Director of the Office for Financial Market Innovation

Government of Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein

Georg Woschnagg

Co-Founder

goood network

Austria

Damjan Damjanović

Co Founder

Health Tech LAB

Serbia

Gica Trierweiler

Co-founder

Instituto Beaba

Brazil

Sandra Fazenda Almeida

Executive Director

APDC – Digital Business Community

Portugal

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

Kambis Kohansal Vajargah

Head of Startup-Services

Austrian Federal Economic Chamber

Austria

Ilkka Kurkela

Director

Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Finland

Pavel Varbanov

EU Projects coordinator

European Software Institute – Center Eastern Europe

Bulgaria

Odeta Iseviciute

Events Support

WSA

Lithuania

Jóhann Malmquist

Professor and serial entrepreneur

University of Iceland

Iceland

Mathias Haas

Founder and CEO

SuperSocial

Austria

Herman van Oorschot

Media enterpreneur

Fullmoon Interactive Solutions

Netherlands

Abbas Adel

Technical Project Owner

smava GmbH

Egypt

Dritan Mezini

Senior consultant and Managing Director

DM Consulting Services

Albania

Have a look at the European Young Innovators Festival 21/22

 

 

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