27. Jun. 2018

Klaus Schuch (ZSI) and his fellow jury colleagues had a tough job!

Competition was rather stiff with only 30 projects selected to enter the next phase of the competition out of 731 eligible entries from 39 countries.Next stop for the semi-finalists is the intensive three-day training programme called the Academy, which this year takes place in the beautiful city of Cluj in Romania. Here projects receive instruction from experienced social innovators and entrepreneurs, and have the opportunity to develop what for many is just an idea at this stage into a viable business proposition. They are all hoping to secure a place among the ten finalists in the next selection round and to ultimately be one of the winners in November.

The European Social Innovation Competition is an initiative of the European Commission that awards three 50.000 Euro prizes per year to the most innovative ideas developed to address social issues in EU Member States and beyond. Now in its seventh year, the theme this time is RE:THINK LOCAL, calling on projects that make use of the local characteristics of a place in order to create opportunities for young people in our changing economy.

The European Social Innovation Competition takes place every year – each time with a different theme. It is held in memory of the Portuguese innovator Diogo Vasconcelos. Individuals, organisation and companies from all EU Member States and Horizon 2020 associated countries can participate. It is a great opportunity for inspired people to get their social innovation idea off the ground.

A free social innovation toolkit for semi-finalists as well as others who want to develop their ideas can be accessed here: http://eusic.challenges.org/toolkit/

Questions about the competition can be addressed to info@socialinnovationprize.eu

Follow the Competition on Twitter: @EUSocialInnov #diogochallenge

Subscribe to the Competition newsletter here: http://eusic.challenges.org/newsletter/

For informationen on earlier editions and winning projects, visit http://eusic.challenges.org

Related Articles:

• News: Finalists of the European Social Innovation Competition 2018 announced
• News: Winners of EU Social Innovation competition announced
• News: EU Social Innovation Competition 2019
• News: And the winner is ... Austria
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Tags: social innovation