The European Commission announced the finalists of the 2018 European Social Innovation Competition: The finalists come from 10 different countries – Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine – and work in diverse fields.
They were selected by a jury of international experts, including ZSI Director Klaus Schuch, from among 30 semi-finalists covering a wide range of sectors and activities. These, in turn, were selected from a pool of 729 eligible entries from 39 countries.
| Career Bus brings career orientation to young people living in rural areas by combining innovative technologies and a face-to-face interaction. Traveling to remote places, Career Bus will boost the employability and knowledge of young residents. |
| ConnecTech offers modular coding courses, internships and mentoring from tech professionals to young people with physical impairments in order to expand employment opportunities and promote flexible working conditions. |
| es im-perfect has set up a network of hubs that are helping to save fresh produce that would be wasted in conventional processing settings by turning it into jams, patés and other delicious products. Simultaneously, they offer employment opportunities for young people. |
| GoFundEd is an online crowdfunding platform that enables students and teachers to move towards newer teaching and testing methods in order to equip young people with the relevant skills to find good employment or become successful entrepreneurs in their home country. |
| Heritage Lab teaches established innovation incubation methods to young people in small towns, supporting them in the launch of new businesses and services based on local cultural heritage that deserves appreciation. |
| imagiCase introduces teenage girls to the tech field by providing them with a platform to develop their programming skills by means of fun practical projects such as customising mobile phone cases. |
| MTOP goes digital combines smart offline and online solutions to prepare young qualified refugees to enter the Austrian labour market. Long-lasting working relationships are ensured through post-placement support. |
| REvive Greece combines traditional classroom and e-learning methods to re-skill young unemployed Greeks and refugees in computer programming. It then connects them with companies from the IT sector, so that they can secure internships as software developers. |
| ScOLARgeno empowers secondary school students to act against climate change by supporting them in establishing cooperatives to plan and operate their own school photovoltaic energy generating systems. It hence prepares them to contribute to a more ecological economy of the future. |
| Ulisse is the first ever European digital platform that creates, markets & promotes local travel experiences and full holiday bundles designed by deaf people for deaf people. By doing so, it also fosters international sign language education. |
The three winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on 8 November 2018 in Brussels and will each receive a €50.000 prize to further develop their projects.
Follow the progress of the competition on Twitter: @EUSocialInnov Alternatively, subscribe to the newsletter to hear about all developments first-hand. For tips on how to generate, develop, test and communicate your ideas for social change, download the Social Innovation Toolkit 2018 (pdf).
