January 2015 agenda

 

Listed events (for further descriptions of events and links scroll down):

 

 5-9 January 2015, Hong Kong,ThinkYoung Entrepreneurship Winter School

 10-11 January 2015, London, UK, How to launch a start up in 48 hours

14 January 2015, London, UK, National Refugee Women’s Conference: Set Her Free campaign to end detention

14-15 January 2015, Paris, France, International Conference 14 and 15 January 2015-Paris

 15 January 2015, London, UK, Gaining contracts through good contacts

15 January 2015, London, UK, ACEVO Masterclass – Having Courageous Conversations 

15-17 January 2015, Zaragoza, Spain, 2015 Zaragoza Conference

17 January 2015, London, UK, StartUp 2015! The UK's largest StartUp show of the New Year

19 January 2015, London, UK, Engage Communities for Success

 20 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium, Webinar: A New Vision of Value: Connecting corporate and societal value creation

21 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium, Latvia’s EU Presidency: A common EU agenda? 

27 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium, Reflections on the post-2015 agenda: dinner debate

 28 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium, Civil society in Research and Innovation

28 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium, 5th edition of the Ethics in Finance – Robin Cosgrove Prize

28 January 2015, London, UK, Crowdfunding for charities 

 28 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium, Brussels Think Tank Dialogue – State of the Union 2015 – A New Departure for the EU

 

 

      

5-9 January 2015, Hong Kong 

ThinkYoung Entrepreneurship Winter School 

ThinkYoung, “the first think tank that focuses on young people”, the University of Hong Kong and Huawei are launching the 10th edition of the Entrepreneurship School in Hong Kong. 

The programme of the School  will last 5 days and will take place from the 5th to the 9th of January 2015 at the University of Hong Kong, ranked first in Asia. Speakers will be successful entrepreneurs from different fields. At the Entrepreneurship School there are no professors academic books or lectures, simply real entrepreneurs passing on their personal experience in business directly to young aspiring entrepreneurs. The aim of the programme is to enable participants to develop their entrepreneurial ideas and present it to potential partners and investors. Starting from one class with 25 participants in  2011, in 2014 ThinkYoung ran editions for over 300 people in both Brussels and Honk Kong – and continue to grow.

To read more: http://www.entrepreneurshipschool.com/

 

10-11 January 2015, London, UK

How to launch a start up in 48 hours 

In just 48 hours, this course will take your idea for an app or website from the drawing board into the real world, and on the way into the hands of your first customer. You'll learn everything you need to launch, market and monetise a digital product – and have the chance to put all your new skills into practice. This highly practical weekend course provides expert tuition, advice and tailored feedback from Tom Le Bree of rehabstudio, one of the most popular names in seeding and business support for digital startups. You'll learn how to set up your new company, design a website, target your customer base, test your assumptions, market your product, capture users and attract investors. Whether you want to work for yourself full time or launch a digital sideline, this course offers a direct route to joining the digital economy and is an unmissable opportunity for budding entrepreneurs.

To read more: http://www.theguardian.com/guardian-masterclasses/how-to-launch-a-startup-in-48-hours-tom-le-bree-digital-course

 

14 January 2015, London, UK

National Refugee Women’s Conference: Set Her Free campaign to end detention

Join the energy of London Refugee Women’s Forum, Women Asylum Seekers Together Manchester, Women Asylum Seekers Together London, Hope Projects, Embrace, Why Refugee Women – the groups who are leading the campaign against detention.

– Find out what we have done in the campaign so far and how we can work together to end detention

– Workshops include campaigning with the arts, working with the media, campaigning online and organising protests

– Performances from the London Refugee Women’s Forum and WAST Manchester

– Includes the launch of our brand new research on the treatment of women in detention

The  conference is open to everyone who supports justice, peace and solidarity with women seeking sanctuary.

To read more: http://thewomensresourcecentre.org.uk/national-refugee-womens-conference-on-set-her-free-and-the-campaign-against-detention-london/ 

 

14-15 January 2015, Paris, France 

International Conference 14 and 15 January 2015-Paris

The theme of social innovation has emerged over the last decades , and references to it are steadily increasing in the international scientific literature. The growing interest in social innovation can also be detected through the emergence of new institutions dedicated to this theme. The EU includes social innovation in its strategic planning for 2020 ; social  innovation has been explicitly integrated both in the Structural Funds  and in  training programs managed by the Department of Employment and Social Affairs . Public authorities are launching the  INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 14 and January 15, 2015 – Paris Social Innovation , Social and Solidarity Economy , Social Entrepreneurship From The International Perspective To Local Actions. The aim of this conference is to discuss the various forms of this citizens' concept of social innovation which is  still too little known , both in Europe and in other continents, to then look  at its effects on public policies. 

To read more: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/socialinnovationeurope/directory/france/event/conference-internationale-14-et-15-janvier-2015-paris 

 

15 January 2015, London, UK

Gaining contracts through good contacts

This ‘Principle Six’ style event is a great opportunity to tell people about your business or organisation. The aim, quite simply, is to create as many new partnerships and business opportunities as possible in a short space of time, so it’s a high-energy format. There will be plenty of time before and after to have one-to-one conversations with other co-operative and social enterprise people. The event is hosted jointly by Co-operatives London and Hackney Co-operative Developments' 'Pioneering Social Enterprise in Hackney'.

To read more: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/

 

15 January 2015, London, UK 

ACEVO Masterclass – Having Courageous Conversations

Sharing news that you know will be uncomfortable for the recipient to hear is not always easy, but dodging the issue is not the answer! Join us to discover ways to deliver a clear message and ensure that good relationships are maintained and strengthened. Whether it’s news to a team of an organisation restructuring or feedback to an individual on their performance, you’ll learn useful techniques to get your message across more comfortably and skillfully.

To read more: https://www.acevo.org.uk/event/acevo-masterclass-having-courageous-conversations 

 

15-17 January 2015, Zaragoza, Spain

2015 Zaragoza Conference

The UN-Water International Zaragoza Conference in January 2015 will consider the theme "Water and Sustainable Development" and will focus on how to bring the post-2015 international agenda on water and sanitation into action. More than 300 participants from UN agencies and programmes, experts, representatives of the business community, governmental and non-governmental organizations will participate in the 15-17 January 2015 event in Zaragoza, Spain, to draw conclusions based on existing practice and the exchange of views between governments and stakeholders. This event will take place during the final year of the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life,' and participants will contribute to efforts to take stock of and learn from achievements as well as planning the next steps. This invitation-only event also will help UN-Water to prepare for World Water Day, which will focus on “water and sustainable development” in 2015.  

To read more: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/waterandsustainabledevelopment2015/index.shtml 

 

17 January 2015, London, UK

StartUp 2015! The UK's largest StartUp show of the New Year

On Saturday 17th January over 500 entrepreneurs will takeover Somerset House and turn it into a living and breathing entrepreneurial incubator and pitch platform. It will be a one-day free event for 500 aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs. Keynote speeches will be delivered  from top entrepreneurs and business experts. There will be start-up workshops, drop-in sessions and networking opportunities.

This unique event will bring  together some of the UK’s most influential entrepreneurs, business leaders and brightest start-ups – providing detailed and practical insight to start and scale-up your business.

To read more: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/

 

19 January 2015, London, UK 

Engage Communities for Success

In light of the changes in public sector funding now more than ever, organisations need to involve communities in helping them to make tough decisions about services, spending and investment priorities. We know that involving communities can lead to better decision making and getting services right the first time. But how do we do that in a way that involves marginalised groups and those voices unheard in local areas? How do we reach the elderly, many in the migrant community and those who fall below the poverty line? To do this, we need a strategic approach that involves both online as well as face-to-face engagement. This workshop will look at both and discuss how we can develop a strategy for success.

To read more: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/

 

20 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium

Webinar: A New Vision of Value: Connecting corporate and societal value creation

Current sustainability management trends and legislative instruments – such as the European Directive on Non-Financial Information Disclosure – point companies towards not only more transparency on non-financial impacts and performance, but also towards how to build and run integrated and mature sustainability management systems. CSR Europe and its member company KPMG have joined forces to offer this webinar which aims to explore practical approaches to corporate societal value creation. In a recent report, KPMG investigates the issue of externalities and how monetizing and combining these with financial data can contribute to enhancing the societal value of a company.  In parallel, the Maturity and Integration Assessment (MIA) tool of CSR Europe, offers a quick overview of what management processes need improvement in order to make the company internally ready for true value creation. 

To read more: http://www.csreurope.org/

 

21 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium

Latvia’s EU Presidency: A common EU agenda? 

On 21 January European Voice will host a debate to discuss the programme, priorities and preoccupations of Latvia’s presidency of the Council of the EU. The debate will feature questions from members of the European press corps and from our audience of policymakers, diplomats and interest groups. The discussion will be moderated by Tim King, the editor of European Voice. This EV presidency event will be a chance to hear about the presidency country’s priorities and agenda for the following six months. Every year European Voice will run events in Brussels or in the country of the presidency. The EV special report on Latvia’s presidency, published on 18 December 2014, will be presented at this event.

To read more: http://www.europeanvoice.com/event/latvias-eu-presidency-a-common-eu-agenda/

 

27 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium 

Reflections on the post-2015 agenda: dinner debate 

Global development will remain high on the international agenda in the coming year as work speeds up on agreeing and adopting the new post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs will continue the fight against extreme poverty, but also add the challenges of ensuring more equitable economic growth and environmental sustainability. Ambitions are high but implementation of the SDGs will demand a renewed focus and updating of existing financing tools and instruments for development. Clearly, Official Development Assistance (ODA) will remain important but financial flows from new development actors are emerging as an important source of funds for developing countries, especially for the financing of infrastructure.  Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in emerging markets are on the rise as are impact investments, CSR activities, philanthropy and remittances.  Governments are also under pressure to increase domestic resource mobilization, through more effective tax collection and anti-graft measures.  What are the key challenges of the post 2015 era? While poverty reduction is still relevant, what is being done to tackle inequality within countries? Should there be a standalone SDG for gender issues? Is it time to think of the quality of aid, not just the quantity?

To read more: http://www.friendsofeurope.org/event/reflections-post-2015-agenda-dinner-debate-jica-president-tanaka/ 

 

28 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium

Civil society in Research and Innovation 

Public engagement in research has been established as a cornerstone of the responsible research and innovation agenda which pervades all European research funded in Horizon 2020. Such engagement calls for the involvement of a cross section of stakeholders in research such as industry, researchers, policy makers and civil society organisations. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the CONSIDER project (Civil society organisations in designing research governance) organize a conference on Civil society in research and innovation to be held at the EESC premises, in Brussels, on 28 January 2015. The event aims to highlight work undertaken by EESC and the CONSIDER consortium and stimulate debate between representatives of the main stakeholder groups involved in civil society in research. It will contribute to the development of evidence-based research policy in Europe and its member states. By highlighting current practice and factors that influence the success of civil society organisations involvement in research, the event provides insights into good practice that can be the basis of future policy.

To read more: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.events-and-activities-civil-society-research-innovation 

 

28 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium

5th edition of the Ethics in Finance – Robin Cosgrove Prize

MEP Othmar Karas and  MEP Kay Swinburne, in partnership with ACCA are launching the 5th edition of the Robin Cosgrove Prize. It will take place at the European Parliament in Brussels.

The Robin Cosgrove Prize is committed to implementing ideas on how to promote trust and ethical behaviour in all aspects of the finance sector. The Prize will be awarded to the best Innovative Ideas for Ethics in Finance. The award honours the vision of Robin Cosgrove, a bright investment banker, who died at the age of 31. He believed passionately that the lack of integrity and ethical practice in banking and finance could be a major barrier to sustainable economic development. The prize is managed by the Observatoire de la Finance, a Swiss not-for-profit foundation in Geneva, and Dr Carol Cosgrove-Sacks, in partnership with ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

To read more: http://agenda.euractiv.com/events/

 

28 January 2015, London, UK 

Crowdfunding for charities 

This is a workshop for anyone who is looking at ways of getting funding and support for charitable projects. Crowd funding is a growing phenomenon and is being used as an additional source of funding by many organisations. Though it is a powerful method for raising finance and increasing stakeholder engagement it requires very careful planning and involves a lot of resources that need to be carefully deployed. This workshop will explore the appropriate strategies and the tools and techniques to harness this new fundraising tool.

To read more: http://www.dsc.org.uk/Training/Fundraisingtechniques/

 

28 January 2015, Brussels, Belgium

Brussels Think Tank Dialogue – State of the Union 2015 – A New Departure for the EU

For the fifth year in a row, ten leading European Think Tanks will join forces to host the annual Brussels Think Tank Dialogue (BTTD). This will be a unique opportunity to hear leading voices debate pressing issues, forecast major trends for the coming year, and put forward recommendations for the new European leadership. More than ever, guidance is needed.  It will be a full day of debates with: Pierre Defraigne, Executive Director, Madariaga, Aart De Geus, Chairman, Bertelsmann Stiftung, Daniel Gros, Director, CEPS, Giles Merrit, Secretary General, Friends of Europe, Marc Otte, Director General, Egmont Institute, Guntram Wolff, Director, Bruegel, Fabian Zuleeg, CEO, EPC. The BTTD 2015 will focus on such topical issues as:  Revisiting Energy Security;  Towards a single European Labour Market and   Tomorrow’s EU migration policy.

To read more: http://www.egmontinstitute.be/?events=brussels-think-tank-dialogue-state-of-the-union-2015-a-new-departure-for-the-eu