What was the European Social Innovation Competition 2021?
The 2021 edition of the Competition, ‘Skills for tomorrow’ was looking for scalable social innovations that will contribute to job creation, growth and European competitiveness by helping people, businesses and industries identify, develop and strengthen the skills that will power the European economy’s green and digital future. The Competition was open to early stage ideas that tackle challenges relating to the transition to either, or both, futures including but not limited to identifying and mapping skills gaps as well as approaches to development and training that will support people to reskill or upskill.
This was the ninth year in which Challenge Works had led the consortium delivering the European Social Innovation Competition. The competition is run by the European Commission’s DG GROW with the support of a consortium of partners: Challenge Works, Kennisland, European Network of Living Labs, Ashoka and Scholz & Friends. It was funded by the European Commission.
Why did we do this?
The European economy is changing. The coming years will see a shift towards a green and digital future. These twin transitions present individuals, businesses and industries with exciting opportunities. Understanding the skills that will be needed and how best to develop them will be key to unlocking these opportunities for individuals and organisations alike.
What were we looking for?
This Competition aimed to incentivise, support and reward social innovations that will help people and organisations to identify, develop and strengthen the skills they will need to adapt and thrive in a changing world. The Competition was looking for early stage ideas that tackle these needs in a range of different ways. From innovative solutions that identify skills needs and gaps to skills development approaches, including but not limited to training.
565 entries were submitted to the competition...
from across 39 different EU member countries
A third of entrants...
submitted a new idea that had been in development for 7-12 months only
46.6% of entries...
were made by people identifying as female social innovators