On Saturday 31 October 2015, Mr. Oswald Schröder was announced as the candidate chosen to represent Luxembourg at the 'Ideas from Europe' event of the European SME Assembly to be held from 18 to 20 November 2015 in the Grand Duchy.
For the first time, the 28 Member States of the European Union will be joining forces to unearth the most inspiring visionary ideas for Europe which respond to future societal challenges. To this end, each Member State is required to designate a national candidate who will present their project of idea on the occasion of the 'Ideas from Europe' initiative taking place later this month.
Oswald Schröder was selected from amongst 10 candidates by a jury at a recent event held in Technoport in Esch-Belval. On behalf of Luxembourg, Mr. Schroder will be presenting his project entitled 'P-AID™ - This is Not a Bank', which aims to create a radically different bank to current financial institutions. This would be a European cooperative owned by its customers, with each payment, transaction, credit or investment contributing to charity and the education of adolescents, particularly refugees. In this sense, P-AID™ will carry out only sustainable and responsible investments.
The jury was comprised of Stephanie Damgé of Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg; Tania Brugnoni of 1535°C creative hub; Dr. Eric Tschirhart of the University of Luxembourg; and Frederick Becker from Luxinnovation. This panel was also reportedly particularly impressed with two other finalists, these being Glenn Lawyer with Healthcast, a tool specialising in epidemic forecasting; and Julien Serre with the Notrum Mare 2.0 project, which seeks to create opportunities by linking communities in a bid to solve the refugee crisis.
The seven other projects were offered by Miruna Taralunga and Cristian Corobana, Freedom Smile NG09, Kristian James Horsburgh (trustintalent.lu; Jael Redinha, JaelCuriel; Andra Matrescu, Interactuve Cinemeducation A.s.b.l.; Xavier Mazy, X_Aim; Styliani Parascha, Sustainable Fashion Entrepreneur; and Romain Schmitz, Minijobs.lu.
As the selected winner, Oswald Schröder will be pitching his idea at the European Convention Center on 20 November 2015 to an informed audience consisting in particular of entrepreneurs. During the SME Assembly, an international jury will select a 'top9' from amongst the participating states, with a tenth candidate chosen by the public. These 10 people will present their project at a major event televised on a Dutch national TV channel to be held in the Hague on 31 March 2016.
Photo by Max Di Bartolomeo (Oswald Schrödinger)
