On June 25-26, 2013 the 10th European Microfinance Network (EMN)
annual conference was held at the Clarion hotel in Stockholm, Sweden.
More than 200 attendees gathered with the common purpose of finding
new strategies and innovative ideas to improve microfinance in
Europe.
The
theme of this year's conference was 'Innovative Pathways for European
Microfinance'. Fasiel Rahman, EMN president, described the conference
as “interactive" with "more people integrated in the
discussion.” Key stake holders were represented at the conference,
including practitioners, professionals, academics, politicians, and
bankers.
The
two-day conference included simultaneous workshops on the different
facets of improving microfinance in Europe. Several attendees
commented on the success of the JASMINE Initiative (Joint Action to
Support Microfinance Institutions) workshops.
EMN
was chosen to implement a new project within JASMINE called
‘Microfinance Development Services'. The workshop was open to all -
individuals, micro entrepreneurs, micro enterprises and other people
and organizations interested in microfinance in Europe.
Another
standout workshop at this year's conference was the 48 hour
Innovation Race. This continuous discussion platform was based on the
work of Kaj Mickos, Professor Emeritus in Innovation Techniques at
the The Innovation
Plant.
“We
started producing innovations in a limited time,” Mickos said.
Mickos described the race as a “highly organized process where we
follow a route map that does not start with good ideas, it starts
finding interesting problems.”
The
groups began with Problem Mapping, which led to Problem Verification
to test if there was a real problem. Ola Syse, designer at the
Innovation Plant, said “it was interesting to map out where the
problems in Europe are.”
He
explained that a major objective of the Innovation Race was to
reinvent services that were not working in some countries by using
preexisting models to create new models that would work in a broader
market.
Syse
was in charge of the "youth" group in the race. One
solution this group developed was called 'I wish.' Syse explained,
“'I wish is a sort of geographical mapping of the market where we
ask people living in the cities want they miss or what they want to
have in their neighborhood.” Individuals who want, for example, to
have a bakery in their neighborhood go into the service and post the
demand. Then, visitors to the forum vote and and entrepreneurs can
see where the demand for business is.
Workshops
gave attendees the platforms necessary to discuss new strategies for
microfiance, but this conference also created important networking
opportunities for organizations. The City of Stockholm invited all
attendants to a reception in the City Hall, the same location of the
Nobel Prize dinner. NEEM
(Network for Entrepreneurs from Ethnic Minorities), a partner
organization of the conference, invited everyone to a dance at the
hotel following the closing remarks.
Neoklis
Stamkos, entrepreneur from KEPA, a private company with headquarters
in Thessaloniki, Greece, explained that he fulfilled his objectives
during the two-day conference because “we met the people that we
wanted to meet.” Stamkos added that KEPA is building their
organization and this conference enabled them to find the appropriate
people to provide advice and connections.
Meagan
Andrews, research assistant from ICF
GHK,
explained that “I thought [the conference] provided a lot of
different perspectives on ways to overcome the unique challenges for
the microfinancing industry in Europe.”
One
comment that perhaps summarized the achievements of the 10th annual
conference was from Joseph Toindepi from the Faculty of Education,
Health and Science University of Derby. “The conference was very
productive because it focused on the important and relevant issues of
entrepreneurship and innovation which are key to the future
development of microfinance in EU,” Derby said.
Next
year, on the 19th of June, Lisbon will host the 11th EMN annual
conference under the slogan “Employment - Challenges and
Opportunities of Microfinance.”
