Second Regional Stakeholder Meeting and Workshop in Crete
The second regional stakeholder workshop of the Interreg Europe GRANDIS project was organised by the Region of Crete on Wednesday, 12 March 2025, in Heraklion, Crete.
This ‘Challenge Mapping’ Design Thinking workshop brought together women entrepreneurs, experts, policymakers, and regional stakeholders to identify and map the pressing challenges faced by women-led SMEs in navigating the green and digital transition.
The workshop built upon the outcomes of the first Empathy Design Thinking workshop, progressing from identifying experiences to formulating actionable challenge statements. Participants were divided into four thematic working groups – Culture & Work-Life Balance, Skills, Access to Finance, and Support Services & Networks – and worked collaboratively to share their experiences, identify key issues, and co-create their challenge statements, which were then presented to the attending policymakers.
Recurring themes identified during the workshop included:
- Lack of time due to women’s multiple roles
- Challenges in balancing work and personal life
- Limited access to up-to-date and easily accessible information on entrepreneurship
- Difficulties in accessing support networks
- Limited availability of tailored funding opportunities
Participants also highlighted the importance of:
- Childcare support
- Structured mentoring programmes
- Integration of the twin transition (green and digital) at all stages of education
The results were presented in plenary to a panel of regional policy representatives, who welcomed the participants’ proposals and expressed their support for continuing the dialogue towards the development of a new funding tool specifically aimed at women entrepreneurs.
The findings of the workshop will directly contribute to shaping improved, gender-tailored regional policies. Notably, they are expected to feed into proposals for updating the Regional Smart Specialisation Strategy (RIS3) of Crete 2021–2027, strengthening support mechanisms for female-led innovation and entrepreneurship in the twin transition.