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European Freelancers Week is Open for Registration

European Freelancers Week (#EFWeek) will return in multiple locations across Europe between October 7 – 15, 2017. Freelancers, self-employed professionals, digital nomads, solo-entrepreneurs and coworking spaces can now submit an event during #EFWeek.

Help co-create Europe’s biggest event for freelancers!

What it is

#EFWeek is an annual series of events held under a common branding in different European countries, using a crowdsourced and distributed format. It is the world’s largest annual campaign celebrating independent work and helping millions of Europeans discover the Freelance Economy.

Event proposals can be submitted until September 30, 2017 at www.freelancersweek.org, after which they will be published on the events map and calendar. Event formats may include: meetups, workshops, matchmaking sessions, conferences, networking events, and hackathons. Anyone can register an event and organisers can run their events independently under the #EFWeek brand.

#EFWeek is coordinated by a coalition of national freelancers’ associations in 11 European countries.

It is supported by more than 30 organisations including the European Forum of Independent Professionals, the European Coworking Assembly, the European Committee of the Regions, Smart EU, Euro Freelancers, WeWork, and the Estonian Government E-Residency Program.

Last year

The first ever European Freelancers Week was held from October 17 to 23, 2016. 65 events in 14 countries have been organised all over Europe, from Lisbon to Helsinki.

It was a tremendous success and an estimated 2.000 freelancers have taken part in these events with a 500.000 social media outreach. They were held mostly in coworking spaces. Numbers for 2017 are expected to double.

What’s in it for you

Freelancing is the new normal. More Europeans are freelancing than ever before. There are 10,5 million highly skilled self-employed workers in the European Union alone, the 5% of the total workforce.

Freelancers are the smallest of small businesses and, with a 45% increase since 2004 (Eurostat, 2015), they are the fastest growing segment of the EU labour market.

The tremendous variation of backgrounds, skills and affiliations among independent workers has made it difficult to forge a unified voice that compels attention. The time has come to right that wrong.

#EFWeek is a chance for independent workers to come together and improve their freelance career through learning, sharing, networking and policy action. #EFWeek will ultimately bring more recognition to the value freelancers bring to the European economy and society.

Get involved

#EFWeek is on a mission to help you discover that freelancing is … fun, accessible, mobile and that problems can be overcome but conditions need to improve.

“The European Freelancers Week is an inspiring example of a bottom-up initiative in cities and regions across Europe that supports freelancers as vital contributors to innovation and growth”. – Markku Markkula, President of the European Committee of the Regions

Together we are building a movement for freelancers across Europe. So get your #EFWeek event on the map to give freelancing that extra bit of momentum.

Organisations and individuals willing to support can also become sponsors. We have several sponsorship options, from top-level branding to individual event support. Get in touch with us to find out more.

You can also spread the word by sharing this facebook post, linkedin post and tweet.

Marco Torregrossa is Secretary General at the European Forum of Independent Professionals and Managing Director at Euro Freelancers.