On 26 March 2025 project partners and representatives of the Joint secretariat of the Danube Region Programme met at the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina to analise the first  year of the project implementation. The meeting was officially opened by:

 

Ph D, Vjekoslav Vuković, vice president of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovinа     

               

Ph D Tarik Zaimović, rector of the University of Sarajevo

 

Ralitsa Zhekova, project manager WE.Circular

 

Amir Hujić, head of unit „EU and projects“

 

The representatives of the Joint Secretariat of the Danube Region Programme (DRP) provided valuable feedback and acknowledging the achieved results of the project in support of women entrepreneurs in their transition to circular business models. During the meeting the partners not only presented their key outcomes, but also outlined the future steps for training, mentoring and innovation support. The positive evaluation on behalf of the JS additionally motivated the consortium to continue with even greater enthusiasm.

 

 

 

Later throughout the day the project focused the attention towards the wider audience through dissemination event, during which the project training programme was presented and the results from the Innovation contest.

 

The Evaluation committee selected 36 finalists from 12 countries from the Danube region, who will receive specialised support in the circular economy. from Bulgaria, these are:

- winner - SizeSense

- finalist - Bubalux

- finalist - Shen Bulgaria Ltd
 

Sixteen more companies were included in the reserves list, with some of the partners expressing their desire to provide additional support to some of them to develop their business ideas.

 

Good practices – Success stories from Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

The event also presented successful circular companies, led by women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, among which RCB Production (recovered carbon black), Empress Innovative Healthy Underwear и Pricha Cool Bazaar. Their stories served as inspiration for the future entrepreneurs in the field of sustainable business. The discussions in Sarajevo were enriched with good practices from Hungary, presented by the partners  PBN and MGFU, among which:

 

Design Terminal Womenture – initiative for support of women entrepreneurship 

 

Start IT Up Art & Business Compass Workshop – support for creative industries 

 

Visa She’s Next Programme – programme for funding and mentoring of women entrepreneurs   

 

Successful Bosnian circular businesses also shared their challenges and successes, providing a real-world perspective on the benefits of implementing circular business models.

 

On March 27, 2025, the project partners visited the Center for Advanced Technologies, where they learned about the business incubation programs and the opportunities for starting and developing sustainable companies.

 

 

The next partner meeting will take place in Maribor, Slovenia, in May 2025, where best practices from Slovenia and Croatia will be presented, and the WE.Circular training program will be finalised.