What was the European Social Innovation Competition 2018?
‘Re:think Local’ called for the most innovative products, services, business models and collaborations that empower young people to participate fully in a changing economy, up-skilling them for new employment opportunities. Ideas led by young people and those that addressed local challenges or created value at community level were particularly encouraged. It was funded by the European Commission.
Impact of the Competition
- 70% of semi-finalists agreed that the Competition allowed them to form new partnerships
- 27 of the 30 semi-finalist teams indicated that they had made use of the Social Innovation Toolkit
- 29 of the semi-finalist teams included end-users in testing their solutions
- 97% of semi-finalists felt supported by being part of a peer-to-peer network of social innovators in Europe
- 80% of semi-finalists agreed that the Competition gave exposure to their project
Impact Prize Winner
In 2018, an Impact Prize was also awarded to the 2017 semi-finalist able to demonstrate clear social impact:
The 2018 Impact Prize winner was Mouse4all, a social micro-enterprise based in Madrid, Spain: The world is becoming mobile, but millions of people are being left out of this technological revolution. Persons with motor disabilities cannot use or have difficulty using a touch screen, the physical interface of most mobile devices. Mouse4all has created a product to enable users to access Android tablets and smartphones with alternative input devices: switches, adapted mice, trackballs and joysticks. Mouse4all is boosting the independence and autonomy of people by increasing accessibility to their Android device.
700 entries...
were put forward for the 2018 European Social Innovation Competition, demonstrating a wide breadth of amazing ideas
In a first for EUSIC...
the Awards Ceremony featured a Funders’ Fair, where all finalists and semi-finalists were given the opportunity to meet and network with investors
20 different nations...
across Europe were represented in the 2018 edition of the competition
- Carina Lopes, d-lab (Mobile World Capital Barcelona), Spain
- Klaus Schuch, ZSI (Centre for Social Innovation), Austria
- Magdalena Zawodny-Barabanow, Urban Network BoostInno (Gdansk Municipality), Poland
- Mikkel Andersen, DANSIC, Denmark
- Norbert Kunz, Social Impact, Germany
- Sabine Biesheuvel, Blue City, Netherlands
- Stavros Tsompanidis, Phee, Greece
- Taoufik Vallipuram, OuiShare, France
- Vincenzo Linarello, GOEL – GruppoCooperativo, Italy