BERLIN and BRUSSELS, March 21,
2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Win one of the three €50,000 prizes for innovations
empowering young people
On 20th March, the 2018 edition of the European Social
Innovation Competition was launched in Paris. The competition, run by the European
Commission, aims to foster and showcase social innovations, ideas
and projects across Europe. Under
the heading RE:THINK LOCAL, this year's edition is looking for
ideas to empower young people to seize and create economic
opportunities in their local area by means of new technologies and
new ways of working. The three winning projects will be awarded
€50,000 each for ideas that use local characteristics to create
opportunities for youth in a changing economy.
"In recent years, the economy has been changing rapidly
- there are many new ways to do business, use technology
or work. In some regions and local communities, these changes have
brought prosperity, in others people are struggling to adapt and
those who can are moving to seek jobs elsewhere. To help create
opportunities locally, the 2018 edition of the European Social
Innovation Competition looks for new ideas to boost the chances for
young people in their local communities. The three winning projects
will be awarded €50,000 each to help them get their ideas off the
ground and make a real difference," said Sławomir Tokarski,
Director of Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing from the European
Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and SMEs. He also added that the best ideas might
be scaled-up or replicated across Europe and was particularly happy to see the
competition launched in Paris.
The launch programme included insights, challenges and case
studies from innovators and experts coming both from France and all
over Europe, such as OuiShare,
SenseCube / MakeSense, Voxe, Ashoka
France, Mondragon Team Academy, Fondazione Mondo Digitale
and Projektfabrik. It also explored approaches to support young
people who struggle to find a footing in their local economy.
While new technologies and new ways of working already benefit
certain sections of society and certain places, other areas
threaten to be left behind. Young people must be able to fully
participate in the economy and to make the most of new
opportunities by developing new, adapted skills and capabilities,
regardless of where they live.
This year's challenge is for ideas and projects that make use of
technologies or approaches to work that revitalise regions or local
communities that risk losing their young people and their talents
due to lack of economic opportunities.
Ideas could include but are not limited to:
- Initiatives that use new technologies and ways of working to
provide opportunities for marginalised youth within their local
communities;
- Ideas that assist young people who wouldn't otherwise have
become innovators in creating their own opportunities for smart,
inclusive and sustainable employment in their local
environment;
- Ideas co-created with young people to respond to specific
requirements in their local community for skills, experiences and
opportunities;
- Solutions to improve the quality of life and financial security
of youth in irregular work;
- Innovations that provide information, advice and guidance to
young people so they can navigate the options in the new
economy;
- Programmes that equip the next generation of workers with
skills that allow young people to harness technological
change.
The competition calls on social innovators, entrepreneurs,
students, designers, tech enthusiasts, educators, doers and makers,
movers and shakers - people who have a great idea and want to turn
it into an initiative that's beneficial for their community and can
be applied in other locations, too. Individuals, groups and
organisations from the European Union and Horizon 2020 associated
countries.
The competition process includes tailored business development
coaching for the semi-finalists, namely thirty of the most
promising applications, who will be selected by a jury of experts
and invited to a social innovation mentoring academy in
Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in July. In
the final round following submission of detailed business plans,
the three prize winners will be selected by the jury. Through this
process, the most innovative ideas and initiatives are enabled to
achieve sustainable impact.
Organised since 2012 in memory of the Portuguese politician and
social innovator Diogo Vasconcelos,
the European Social Innovation Competition runs with a new theme
each year, focused on addressing a different issue in Europe each time.
Applications are open until 27 April
2018 (12:00, noon Brussels
time). For full details please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/innovation/policy/social/competition/
For questions about applications, please contact:
info@socialinnovationprize.eu
Follow us on Twitter: @EUSocialInnov #diogochallenge
Subscribe to the competition newsletter:
http://eusic.challenges.org/newsletter/
About European Social Innovation
Competition
The European Social Innovation Competition, launched in memory
of Diogo Vasconcelos, is a challenge
prize run by the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) of the European Commission
across all EU countries and a number of Horizon 2020 countries, now
in its sixth year. The theme of the 2018 competition is RE:THINK
LOCAL and seeks to identify and promote innovations in tools and
products, services, business models, and collaborations that create
opportunities for economic participation of young people on the
basis of the characteristic features of their locations or local
communities.
The Competition is organised by the European Commission,
supported by Nesta, Kennisland, European Network of Living Labs,
Ashoka, and Scholz & Friends.
For information about previous competitions and winning
projects, see: http://eusic.challenges.org
Contact:
Dr. Anne Bostanci
PR Consultant
Scholz & Friends Berlin GmbH
tel +49-30-700186-607
fax +49-30-700186-599
anne.bostanci@s-f.com