European Social Innovation Competition 2017

European Social Innovation Competition 2017

What was the European Social Innovation Competition 2017?

‘Equality Rebooted’ was a challenge prize to equip people with the skills they need to be able to compete in a changing economy, embrace technological progress and create business models that allow everyone to equally seize the opportunities available. It was funded by the European Commission.

Three prizes of €50,000 were awarded to the winning teams at the awards ceremony in Brussels on 26 October 2017.

This challenge was funded by

  • European Commission logo

The winners

A group of people post in front of a half-finished building structure

Buildx

Buildx (UK) aims to democratise housing production; using digital design and distributed production to make it simple for individuals, communities and local businesses to design and build affordable housing for themselves.

A young girl in a grey t shirt with an owl picture on it uses a tablet

Feelif

Feelif (Slovenia) is a multimedia tool for blind and visually impaired people which enables them to feel shapes on a standard touchscreen.

A person is walking away from the camera towards a busy cityscape

SAGA

SAGA (Netherlands) is a peer-to-peer learning platform that reflects and compensates the true value of knowledge and skills exchanged between educators and learners.

Impact Prize Winner

In 2017, an Impact Prize was also awarded to the 2016 semi-finalist able to demonstrate clear social impact:

2017: Bike Project (UK)

The Bike Project refurbishes second-hand bikes to donate to refugees and asylum-seekers, tackling the issue of a lack of mobility, contributing to the users’ independence and access to services. The project donated 1,000 bikes to refugees in the space of a year. A proportion of the bikes received are sold through its trading arm The Bike Shop to generate funds for the project and ensure long-term sustainability.

The finalists

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

788 entries…

were submitted from 40 different countries for the 2017 edition of the prize

66 pieces of coverage…

were achieved in Greece, including national and local television and radio coverage as well as print and online coverage prior

95% of semi-finalists…

rated their experience of participating in the Competition as ‘good’ or ‘very good’

Who were the Challenge Judges?

Other editions of the Competition

What is the European Social Innovation Competition?

Launched in memory of social innovation pioneer Diogo Vasconcelos, the European Social Innovation Competition is a challenge prize run by the European Commission across all EU Member States and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. Now in its 8th year, the Competition acts as a beacon for social innovators in Europe, employing a proven methodology for supporting early-stage ideas and facilitating a network of radical innovators shaping society for the better. Each year the Competition is based around a different issue facing Europe.

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