Third Meeting of the Irish Stakeholders’ Group - GRANDIS

On 2 April 2025, GRANDIS stakeholders from Ireland’s Western Region met online to take part in a Challenge Definition Design Thinking Workshop. The aim of the session was to identify the key challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the context of the twin (green and digital) transition.

Fifteen stakeholders from across the region attended the workshop. Participants included female entrepreneurs and representatives from a range of enterprise ecosystem organisations: the Western Development Commission, Connected Hubs, Atlantic University Business Innovation Centre, Enterprise Ireland, the New Frontiers Enterprise Support Programme, University of Galway – IdeasLab (enterprise incubation programme), the Western Investment Fund, PorterShed (Business Innovation Centre), ERNACT (Donegal), and WestBIC.

Stakeholders reviewed the outcomes of the Empathy Design Thinking Workshop held in December 2024, as well as results from a recent survey of female entrepreneurs in the region. It was noted that this data will be collated with findings from partner regions across the EU to provide a broader European perspective on the challenges being addressed by the GRANDIS project. Stakeholders expressed keen interest in the upcoming report.

Discussions also highlighted the potential positivity bias in the survey responses, as feedback largely came from entrepreneurs who were either successful or still operating their businesses. It was agreed that engaging with those whose entrepreneurial journeys had not been successful could yield valuable insights into how support systems might be improved.

Another surprising outcome was that childcare was not identified as a significant issue during the consultation process. Stakeholders suggested that this may be due to the fact that many respondents were already well established and not at the early stages of their business journey. It was agreed that further efforts should be made to gather feedback from female-led startups and early-stage entrepreneurs.

Participants then discussed the most pressing challenges facing female entrepreneurs in the region under the following themes:

• Culture and attitudes / Work–life balance

• Skills

• Access to financial support and resources

• Support services and networks

The workshop provided stakeholders with the opportunity to explore these issues in depth and clearly define and specify the most urgent challenges.

Outcomes from the workshop will be circulated in the coming weeks and presented at the next GRANDIS Interregional Learning Event, scheduled to take place in Belgium on 11–12 June 2025.