Over 25 million Europeans are out of work. On top of that, many people are stuck in low-paid jobs or sense that they have few opportunities on the job market – sometimes because of their gender, age or a handicap. This Competition invites any European to come up with new solutions to create new opportunities for work, and for better work.
The aim of the European Social Innovation Competition is to find the best social innovation solutions to help people move towards work or into new types of work. It includes a strong mentoring component for shortlisted entries. Now the three best proposals (indicative maximum) have been awarded with a prize of 20,000 euros.
The winners are:
Matt @matjahu who describes himself with the following words: Open design, open source, open everything enthusiast. LabombilladeEdison and Community Catalysts, a social enterprise that supports small, local care & support services.
Social Innovations
Social innovations are innovations that are social in both their ends and their means – new ideas (products, services and models) that simultaneously meet social needs (more effectively than alternatives) and create new social relationships or collaborations. They are innovations that are not only good for society but also enhance society’s capacity to act.
Social innovations take place across boundaries between the public sector, the private sector, the third sector and the household. The European Union has a rich history of social innovation. These solutions find new ways of meeting social needs and create tools for social policy and investment. Social innovation is growing into a vibrant and creative field.
Follow the winners on Twitter: @CommCats @LabombilladeEdi & @matjahu
This Competition is launched by the European Commission in memory of Diogo Vasconcelos. A second prize competition will be launched in 2014.
Picture: Social Innovation Barcamp - Copyright Halan via Flickr
