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EACEA National Policies Platform
France

France

3. Employment & Entrepreneurship

3.10 Promotion of entrepreneurship culture

Last update: 28 November 2023
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  1. Special events and activities
  2. Networks and partnerships

Special events and activities

 

Various institutional bodies promote entrepreneurial culture, including the Ministry of National Education, the ministry in charge of Higher Education , the ministry responsible for the economy, the France Entrepreneur Agency, associations and local authorities, in particular the Regions and municipalities that carry out actions in favour of entrepreneurship and innovation.

A whole multitude of events and activities focusing on the “entrepreneurial spirit” have been organised by the main associations working in the field of youth entrepreneurship and the concerned ministries  :

 

Competitions

They hold competitions to spread the word on young entrepreneurs, and help them get experience with presenting their projects and meet other entrepreneurs and potential financial and commercial partners. Competitions may be at national or regional level. A number of such initiatives are intended to promote entrepreneurship among women  (Créatrice d’avenir, etc.) and the disabled persons. They target specific sectors (environment, technological innovation, etc.) and are usually held annually. Prizes consist of financial endowments and assistance from experienced professionals.

 

Incubators

Other initiatives are designed to spread the word on entrepreneurship among the uninitiated; they include business incubator “open house” days for young people and students, women’s entrepreneurship weeks, startup weekends, the “24h chrono pour entreprendre et innover” for students and doctoral students, and BarCamps.

 

Call for proposals

Organisation of calls for proposals on development of entrepreneurship helps promote it. 

 

Partnerships with the Social  and Solidarity (ESS) Economy Partners

The public authorities pay special attention to the promotion of social entrepreneurship; they collaborate with the ESPER – Social Economy Partner of the Republic NGO (Economie Sociale Partenaire de la République) , as well as with various representatives of the SSE (Social and Solidarity Economy), with a view to promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy’s values in the eyes of France’s young people. Their collaboration is expressed by initiatives at schools and universities throughout the Republic. The ESPER has created a free “Understanding the SSE” (Comprendre l’ESS) exhibition kit available to schools and Regions, as well as a complete kit for schools to use, enabling pupils to set up their social and solidarity enterprises in class.

 

Events

National and regional SSE (social and solidarity economy)  fairs such as “SSE Month” (Mois de l’ESS), which takes place in November, are held every year. They usually include “jobs dating” and lectures along with a variety of other activities.

There are annual national and regional fairs for the social and solidarity economy (SSE) including the “Mois de l’ESS” (SSE month), which takes place in November. During these fairsspeed recruitment, conferences and other events are frequently organised. SSE is also promoted through the Avise website, which is the development portal for the social and solidarity economy (SSE).

 

 

 

 

Networks and partnerships

 

There are numerous young entrepreneur networks seeking to promote youth entrepreneurship developing at all territorial levels, national, regional and local alike, many of them instigated by the public authorities. Some of them specialise in specific economic sectors and are based on partnerships between public operators and private bodies (associations, companies, etc.) :

The Programme Jeun’ESS was launched in June 2011 in the context of a Public/Private Partnership bringing together the State, the Caisse des Dépôts, and six Social and Solidarity Economy companies and foundations. It aims to promote youth entrepreneurship and the SSE and create a network of stakeholders.

The National Confederation of Junior-Enterprises (aims to develop the entrepreneurial spirit and organise and disseminate young people’s knowledge and feedback. It acts as a facilitator, bringing together all active and associate members, in particular through organisation of regional and national events. The Confederation has numerous public partners, including the Ministry of Higher Education.

The AFE (Agence France Entrepreneur) seeks to strengthen and better coordinate national and local policy-making in favour of entrepreneurship, above all in such fragile areas as Urban Policy priority districts (See Glossary), rural revitalisation areas and Overseas France. Its founder members are the State, among the  ARF_National Regions Ngo (Association des Régions de France), the CSOEC – Higher Council of the Order of Qualified Accountants (Conseil supérieur de l'Ordre des experts-comptables), CCI (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) France and the APCMA – Permanent Assembly of the Chambers of Trades and Crafts (Assemblée permanente des Chambres des métiers et de l'artisanat).

A number of regions are provided with regional social solidairity economy resource centres.