The Local Entrepreneurs Forum: A powerful catalyst for social economy

by Ane Erézué

On Friday, July 7th 2023, the second edition of the Local Entrepreneurs Forum took place under the beautiful dome of the Cercle Cité in the heart of Luxembourg City. Organised by Co-Créateurs asbl, which aims at creating synergies between entrepreneurs with social and sustainable projects, it was part of Luxembourg Impact Days, launched by the Ministry of the Economy, Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy and Ministry of Consumer Protection.

The Local Entrepreneurs Forum is a concept originally launched by the REconomy Centre in Totnes, England, 11 years ago, designed to be a catalyst for generating community support around social and sustainable entrepreneurs, and brought to Luxembourg for the first time in May 2022 by Cécile Devroye, founder of Co-Créateurs.

After a welcome by Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot, Cécile opened this year’s Forum with a quote by French writer, farmer and environmentalist Pierre Rahbi encouraging the audience to see love as the conducting power of the new economy:

“The beauty that will save the world is generosity, sharing, compassion, all the values that lead to the fabulous energy of love.”

— Pierre Fahbi

Jay Tompt from REconomy Centre Totnes returned for a second year to host the event, beginning with an introduction to the three stages of the Local Entrepreneurs Forum: first each entrepreneur pitches their project, then there is a short QA session, and finally there is a pledge round where the audience is encouraged to contribute with any form of support that they can provide, whether financial, intellectual or practical.

Then he invited the five selected entrepreneurs to pitch their project in front of the enthusiastic audience in Cercle Cité. Discover each project and how you can support them below!

Lux Urban Farming

Lux Urban Farming was created by Thibault Decaris and Xavier Turquin, two financial consultants who are looking to develop aquaponic farming in Luxembourg. Aquaponics is a circular ecosystem that reintroduces ancestral farming techniques using nutrients from an aquatic system to fertilise the soil of growing vegetables and fruits that clean the water which is then returned to the fish. The motivation behind Lux Urban Farming project is “to reconnect our community to nature through what we eat by developing urban aquaponics systems to produce fresh fruit and vegetables accessible for all, while improving product quality reducing environmental impact.”

Thibault and Xavier Turquin are looking for a plot of land to start up, expertise in agronomics and branding support to launch their project.

Artisan HUB

Coming from a background in economics, Jana Hrivniakova took the leap a couple of years ago to become an artist, but her artistic endeavour quickly outgrew her own home, and she started looking for available and affordable artist spaces in Luxembourg. This turned out to be quite a challenge, so instead of waiting for a miracle, Jana Hrivniakova decided to create Artisan HUB, “a space shared by the local community to create art and more, where anyone with a passion can come and express themselves creatively using shared tools, materials and resources, learn new techniques together, exhibit creations and share experiences.”

To create Artisan HUB, Jana is looking for long- or short-term spaces, mentoring, coaching, sponsors and partners to bring art, artisanship and community together.

GoldenMe

GoldenMe is an NGO working towards a society where all generations have equal access to digital life to prevent some groups of citizens being disconnected from society, family, friends and public life. Co-founded by Mara Kroth and Ann Frausing, GoldenMe organise learning opportunities such as individual support, workshops, intergenerational smartphone cafés, and communication to less digitalised generations through diverse information channels. They are aiming to create, “easily accessible learning opportunities in remote areas, communicate educational offers to their target groups of people 55+, and training retired volunteers to give peer-to-peer support.”

They are in looking for financial support, network growth and help with maintaining social media channels to reach their goal.

Suburban Shelters

Suburban Shelters, created by Mathias Thym, aims to promote local, sustainable and creative tourism within Luxembourg. His project is inspired by Les Refuges Périurbains from Bordeaux where the municipality together with architects have created unique shelters for free use by citizens. Matthias would like to create a similar concept in Luxembourg as “free accommodation in nature-immersive locations open to any Luxembourgish resident one night per person, per month to promote an environmentally- and socially-responsible way of travelling locally and discovering the surroundings through a different lens.”

To reach this goal, Suburban Shelters is seeking support from local authorities, architects and construction professionals, help with networking with interested parties and help with promotion through social and traditional media.

Iam_EBeauty

Iam_EBeauty, founded by Carisa Dias, pitched her project about Luxembourg’s first social beauty salon. With a background as a social assistant, musician and model, she has launched a platform that “aims to offer every woman whatever her origin, status or religion, a caring space where they can find themselves and recharge their batteries.” Well aware of how much difference the time, attention and care of a woman in a precarious situation can make, Carisa offers beauty treatments, sophrology sessions, workshops, clothes swaps and events at a symbolic price to help women rebuild their sense of self and to reintegrate fully in society.

Iam_EBeauty is seeking investors and partners such as local authorities and social services as well as expertise in training to help develop Iam_EBeauty.

*NGO Kinima, photo by Anne-Claire Delval*

At the end of the pitches, the audience was surprised with a rendition of ‘All We Need Is Love’ by The Beatles, performed by the Luxembourgish NGO Kinima, referring back to Cécile Devroye’s initial encouragement to the audience to meet the entrepreneurs’ initiatives and courage with generosity, sharing, compassion and above all, love. Then the hosts went through the needs of each entrepreneur needs and prompted the audience to pledge any form of support they can offer to help the projects develop.

The Community of Dragons

*Entrepreneurs gathered at the end of the event, photo by Anne-Claire Delval*

This part of the event is called ‘The Community of Dragons,’ which is the social impact economy’s version of the BBC TV programme Dragon’s Den. Only here the difference is that both the entrepreneurs and the audience are dragons in one community. And it was indeed incredible to experience the support on all levels and in all forms that flowed from the audience to the entrepreneurs and filled the room with benevolence; physical spaces, financial support, expertise, branding, networking, word of mouth, mentoring and fundraising are just a few of the pledges of support that the entrepreneurs could bring home after this incredibly supportive and eye-opening process.

The Local Entrepreneurs Forum closed with an original song by Kinima, ‘Mir Halen Zezummen,’ (We Hold Together) that lifted the already enthusiastic audience and entrepreneurs up to dance and sing together with the musicians. It was truly an original and life-changing Friday afternoon in Cercle Cité displaying how The Local Entrepreneurs Forum can act as a new and powerful catalyst for the social economy.