Recent testimonies of successful business networking - Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme
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Clara Urbinati (Netherlands)
Age: 28
Company name: (Start-up)
Sector of activity: Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
"The exchange experience has proved successful and fun for both of us and I really enjoyed the stay abroad. I strongly hope I will have the opportunity to collaborate with my host entrepreneur Joana Valle, again in the future as it would be really helpful to have a connection with a company abroad.”
Joana Valle (Portugal)
Age: 32
Company name: Joana Torre do Valle / www.cave.com.pt (4 years of experience)
Sector of activity: Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
"It was a pleasure to work with Clara she has a very strong work ethic that allowed us to have a positive partnership during the exchange period. Her personal vision about architecture and our way of work are very similar therefore the collaboration was really positive.”
Period of exchange: 05/2018 until 08/2018
Duration of exchange: 2.5 months
Clara Urbinati is an architect from the Netherlands, who discovered the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs from a friend who recommended it to her. As she saw it as an excellent opportunity to improve her skills, knowledge as well as a way to learn more about the European architectural market notably the labour rules of a small architectural firm abroad, she decided to apply in March 2018.
Joana Valle from Portugal, is the owner of Joana Torre do Valle, an architecture and arts studio based in Lisbon. Clara contacted her directly to propose a collaboration in the framework of the programme who was thrilled about the idea of working with someone from other countries and sharing her entrepreneurial experience.
She flew to Portugal in May 2018, where she met Joana and her team. From the beginning to the end of the exchange, Clara was involved in the various aspects ranging from creative bureaucratic, to executive and design process that characterise an architectural project to the management and organisational issues of a company.
Both Clara and Joana have worked together on project such as apartment renovations, the design of a private villa as well as the proposal for a public pavilion. They have collaborated on the projects since the first design phase to the presentation of the final documents and drawings to clients and municipality.
This experience has helped Clara to achieve her goals which was to learn further about architecture in a another EU country, sharing at the same time her passion for the profession with fellow experienced architects. Furthermore, Clara has met relevant stakeholders of the sectors such as young architects suppliers and local experts, which has helped her create connections that she hopes will be useful when starting up. From her side, Joana has had the opportunity to improve the organisational and administration aspects of her practice as well as create a more productive and open environment.
For more information, please contact the local contact points involved in the exchange:
New entrepreneur's contact point:
Conceptwin (Castelo Branco, Portugal)
Host entrepreneur's contact point:
Quarter Mediation (Utrecht, Netherlands)
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