Still today, women entrepreneurs in creative industries face many obstacles, notably in terms of access to finance and due to stereotypes. But how to put an end to existing bias? By highlighting the importance of intergenerational support and the need to improve knowledge and count on real role models, our guests - coming from the investment world, the civil society, and the fashion sector, provide with a clear picture of the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the creative industries in their day-to-day, but also concrete solutions at their disposal, such as the women entrepreneurs’ group of the European Enterprise Network.

Today, the fashion industry remains one of the most polluting industries. Although many initiatives are being put in place to make the sector more sustainable, changes to ensure a greener production are still slow, mainly due to the markets complexity. Thus, many questions arise concerning the mitigation of the environmental impact of those creative industries but also in relation with their ethical behaviour.In this podcast, experts from the fashion sector and entrepreneurship provide us with an overview of the needs of creative SMEs in terms of sustainability, understood from an environmental, social, and economic point of view. From exploring new business models to strengthening the cooperation, our speakers share a large set of solutions available to SMEs and creative entrepreneurs, including the sustainability advisors of the Enterprise Europe Network and its Energy Efficiency Action.

Although access to credit remains difficult for creative businesses, there are many financial options within their reach. But how can they access to them? In this podcast, the focus is on the InvestEU programme, a cascade programme that provides repayable forms of support to cultural and creative enterprises through financial intermediaries. Through testimonies from a financial intermediary, a beneficiary SME in the design sector and a programme expert, you will discover how the programme works, what are its benefits and how creative SMEs can benefit from it.

Being an entrepreneur in the creative industries can be a real challenge for many reasons, such as the system complexity or the impressive associated jargon. Although there is no miraculous recipe, some elements, such as skills, remain essential to achieve it. In this podcast, entrepreneurship’s experts and entrepreneurs will discuss the needs of creative entrepreneurs, but also opportunities - such as cross-sectoral collaborations and incubators, and existing solutions like the Europe Enterprise Network, available in an enthralling field mainly based on human connections.