The European Commission has published a new call for proposals which aims to support the setting up national competence centres for social innovation in EU member states.
These competence centres are expected to support social innovation stakeholders through capacity building, knowledge transfer, networking and synergies, both in the context of ESF/ESF+ funding as well as more broadly.
The call for proposal is open for trans-national consortia, which shall support the creation and start of such a competence centres in at least three EU Member States. The call offers two different options for the consortia to meet this minimum geographic requirement.
In this context social innovation refers to activities which are linked to the development, testing, validation and implementation and scaling-up of new (combinations of) products, services, models or practices that meet social needs and resolve societal challenges.
Expected outcomes include:
- The establishment of a competence centre for social innovation recognised as a professional resource by social innovation promoters and stakeholders, academia, local social and economic development organisations;
- An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses regarding social innovation and identification of areas or approaches which could serve as a source of inspiration for other territories;
- A joint blueprint by stakeholders for a strategy and action plan to support social innovation in the country, including support under ESF+;
- An established system to pursue ongoing improvements and adaptations of their tools and methodologies, resources and practices for each competence centre, to achieve a high level of quality through collaboration and networking with the other competence
centres; - A collection of social innovation initiatives initiated or scaled-up/replicated;
The deadline for applications is the 15th of October 2020.
For more information, please visit the Commission’s website.