Within its mission to support entrepreneurship in Belgium, Pulse Foundation often faces questions such as how to provide solutions, share advice or be an ally to decision-makers to ultimately unlock the potential of entrepreneurship? “The idea for BE.Entrepreneur originated in 2023 from a question we raised in anticipation of the upcoming elections: What can make Belgium more successful? Entrepreneurship crystallised as a recurring theme. Instead of drafting another memorandum, we thought, Why don’t we gather the ecosystem to unite our voices and formulate specific suggestions on how to enhance entrepreneurship in Belgium?’” Emmanuelle shares about her initial thoughts that sparked the BE.Entrepreneur initiative.
For Emmanuelle, it was an easy decision to approach Belgium’s 40 under 40. The societal value of entrepreneurship is a driving force for both organisations, “we are very similar in our DNA”, as Emmanuelle describes the collaboration. Laurent Coulie, co-founder and CEO of Belgium’s 40 under 40 shares that “given that the 40u40 Community is composed of entrepreneurs, by profession or by attitude, Emmanuelle approached us in May 2023 with the idea of launching BE.Entrepreneur together. In our Community, we see that societal impact is driven by a sense of responsibility and an entrepreneurial mindset to address the challenges. This is the type of postures we want to foster in society.”
Itinera Institute “came with the research and academic expertise, we needed a think tank like them”, Emmanuelle explains. Karel Volckaert, COO of Itinera Institute, explains they believe in entrepreneurship as a source of value creation for society. “With Itinera we ask ourselves questions such as how we can make Belgium a better country, what are the obstacles, what is holding us back? These were questions we explored with Laurent and Emmanuelle as well.” For Karel, to tackle challenges like boosting entrepreneurship, alliances are needed. “We need collaborations to get our society on the right track, just by building an alliance, to work together, to exchange, we foster change. Itinera Institute’s mission is to make this country a better place, Pulse mission is to promote entrepreneurship and 40u40 prepares the next generation of leading voices in this country. Everyone brings something to the table and with our various competences, we can focus on this question: what is holding entrepreneurship back and how can we facilitate it?”
“Once gathered together, we quickly aligned to the direction and needs for the project”, Emmanuelle shares. First, an ecosystem had to be built. Among the participants were around 60 entrepreneurs, organisations, and academia, from north and south of Belgium, including many of the Alumni and Fellows of the 40u40 program. Next, brainstorming sessions were held to gather recommendations from the entrepreneurial community and identify what should be done to boost entrepreneurship. Laurent explains how “to carry the voices of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, we have chosen to initiate a process of co-creation, with the emergence of key ideas from the ground up. This way of working was important to us as we did not want to approach the topic from the top down, to talk about theoretical ideas, tell what has to be done, nor to vouch for a massive, systemic reform that would have landed nowhere.”
The first brainstorming session took place in November 2023. Emmanuelle recalls that “after the first session we already had a clear image of what direction we wanted to take. This came as a surprise to me because the participants were all coming from different sectors, but everyone seemed to be aligned on what should be done.” She summarises three main questions that surfaced after the first gathering: “How do we optimise the financial investment by the state in entrepreneurship? How do we ensure innovation reaches the market in the best way possible? And how do you make entrepreneurs? The brainstorming sessions were about tackling those questions. We gathered around 25 concrete propositions that we concentrated on for their impact and feasibility.” Karel points out how he deemed the sessions “a privilege to witness. It was insightful and I am very happy with the preparatory work we did.”
The collective work of these brainstorming sessions was enriched by months of research, conducted between November 2023 and April 2024, to identify best practices within Belgium and internationally, to study the impact of these and reflect on their potential outcome in the Belgian context. The appeal of suggestions was determined based on a combination of three factors: “their transversal reach across different stages of the entrepreneurial journey, their tangible and documented impact in terms of societal value creation and their feasibility in the short and long term”, Laurent shares.
BE.Entrepreneur indicates three main axes to focus on:
Read more about the study:
In April 2024, the results of this collaborative work were documented in a report and were presented on April 22nd, 2024, in TheMerode at the BE.Entrepreneur event. The afternoon was set off with a presentation of the BE.Entrepreneur initiative, unveiling its strategy and approaches to gather implementable recommendations to boost entrepreneurship. The proposals were met with great interest and set the stage for the first panel discussion “Let’s talk about solutions” with Prof Reed Stevens, Hans Constandt and Emmanuelle Ghislain uncovering further the ideas behind “boost, enable and educate.”
The second panel discussion explored the future of entrepreneurship in Belgium with representatives of different political families. Thomas Dermine, Alexia Bertrand, Yvan Verougstraete, Barabara Trachte, Peter Van Ropmuy and Matthias Diependaele joined the panel discussion, led by Luigi Sementilli, a 40u40 Alumnus, who skilfully moderated the discussions with an energy that was truly contagious. He shares that “the audience anticipated an event with a great focus on solution-oriented discussions, and this is what BE.Entrepreneur offered. The preparation and input were, for me, very interesting and engaging, especially in regards to the best cases from abroad and the confrontation with the political decision makers. During the political panel, the participants truly focused on solutions rather than problems, embodying a positive mindset. They avoided blame and adhered to a constructive discussion. The greatest success in my view was fostering dialogue on this important topic of entrepreneurship and to establish a link between communities.”
One goal of the event was “to get people talking, to inspire and to unlock the potential for entrepreneurship in Belgium by having entrepreneurs and the Belgian policy makers sit down together and enter into a dialogue,” Karel highlights. For Emmanuelle, the event was an occasion to present the results and amplify the entrepreneurial voices to a broader audience and inspire change. “We want to gather the voices, inspire people and by the end of the day, if we are 100 people spreading the same ideas, something will happen,” she points out.
Another objective is to provide decision-makers with actionable and data-driven solutions that encourage impactful actions from innovators and change-makers. Emmanuelle shares that “our goal for the day is to have people who will make decisions to know that solutions exist and that those solutions are at disposal. We want them to know about the possibilities and ensure they know we are here to help. The event is also only the kick-off for something bigger, we are here to help them make it feasible and to start the discussion.”
Lieselot Declercq is the co-founder & CEO of d-teach and a Fellow of Cohort 2023. The title of BE.Entrepreneur, the referral to Belgium and the personal dimension through “be”, sparked her curiosity about the event. “I’m a social entrepreneur and I was curious to know how we can support and help Belgium boost entrepreneurship, especially in regard to the education section of Boost, Enable and Educate.” There were leaning moments at the event Lieselot appreciated, such as the presentation of the BE.Entrepreneur study, “it gave me a lot of insights and I was struck by the statistics for example, such as the fact that a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with mental health problems in Belgium”. The education panel was another highlight for Lieselot, “for me, investing in the entrepreneurial skills of youngster is a very appealing thought, I see a mismatch between the needs of companies, the job market and the education sector, the proposal to invest and empower the entrepreneurial skills of youngsters between 10 and 14 was an interesting suggestion,” Lieselot shares.
Sebastien Deletaille, co-founder and CEO of Rosa and Alumni of Cohort 2021 Spring, participated in the brainstorming sessions as well as the April event. He highlights the complexities of creating change, saying that “to create motion, a huge number of actors are needed, whether it’s actors from the ground, or actors that are decision makers. At the BE.Entrepreneur event, both were represented, they have done a great job tackling the right questions, offering solutions, and bringing the right people around the table to invite them to be part of this momentum.” For him, the success of the day was to create an impulse. Sebastien shares that “when you’re bringing together many stakeholders who don’t know each other, the idea is to let people share their perspectives and their opinions, and also trying to create the enthusiasm to have them start working together. This was a dimension present at the event I liked a lot, the breakout rooms for example were a good initial step in this direction. Now, the next step is what’s going to happen after the event, how to get people in motion? We got the ball running, but now it is important to keep these messages on top of the agenda during the election season and afterwards”.
The event on April 22 was a milestone in the journey, and a starting point to enable a more entrepreneurial Belgium. With the ideas being presented, and the ecosystem brought together, the next crucial step is to maintain momentum in these discussions and translate recommendations into practical implementations. Emmanuelle lays out the next steps, saying “we now focus on advocacy, working collaboratively with politicians post-election to sustain the conversation. We are looking to identify ambassadors who can help us convey our message and who can work with us on recommendations based on the directions the elections will take. Looking ahead, our goal is to broaden our network of contacts to enhance awareness and understanding of the topic, ultimately transitioning from recommendations to implementation.” The next months will be crucial to move BE.Entrepreneur forward, “we want to ensure our suggestions will be included in the next government agreement. The voices of the Belgium’s 40 under 40 Community are a vital asset in this mission. By gathering and utilising their insights, we can effectively convey and enrich the message ”, Emmanuelle points out.
