Watch:
The 2017 European Social Innovation Competition was launched by the European Commission on 28th of February in Athens, Greece, inviting the Europeans to offer new, dynamic ideas for digital inclusion, cooperative economy, interconnection and skills development.
The European Social Innovation contest is organised since 2012, in memory of the Portuguese politician and pioneer of innovation Diogo Vasconcelos, with a new theme every year, focusing on addressing an issue that concerns Europe. This year the Competition is titled “Equally Rebooted’, aiming to make technological change and digital transformation more inclusive.
Launching the competition in Athens, together with the Deputy Minister of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity, Ms. Rania Antonopoulos, the Head of European Commission Representation in Greece, Mr. Panos Karvounis stated:
The economic crisis, the need to create growth and jobs in Europe require finding new ways of action. We need to create an inclusive society, a society that gives each one the opportunity to explore and develop their talents and prosper. We should seek for actions, that besides creating growth and jobs for all, will have added value to the society and the local communities, so that everyone can benefit from them and hope for a better future. That is why the starting today of the European Social Innovation 2017 Competition is extremely important. It is an important message to all social innovation stakeholders in Greece; who plan to cooperate with the authorities to realise social innovation in our country. I am particularly happy that the contest is hosted this year in Athens, a city that is all that the social innovation involves: the development, cohesion and democracy.
Τhe competition is open to entrepreneurs, students, social innovators, designers, high technology enthusiasts, educators, individuals and organisations from across the EU and the countries participating in the European Horizon 2020 programme.
The competition will help the most innovative ideas and proposals to achieve sustainable results. Thirty of the most promising applications will be selected for the semi-finals and their creators will be invited to coaching academy for social innovation in July, in Madrid, to develop their ideas. The three most effective projects will receive each one a prize of EUR 50,000 at the awards ceremony to be held in October in Brussels
The competition is open for entries until Friday, 7th of April 2017.
More information about the phases, the rules and the timeline of the competition you can find here.