The report from the Eurodiaconia seminar on supporting the development of social services and new approaches to meeting needs is now online and can be downloaded here.
From 12-13 May Eurodiaconia members gathered at Diakonie Österreich’s offices in Vienna to exchange experiences on innovation and development in social services, from gathering information on needs of the community or service users, supporting an idea to become reality through to scaling up a project. Participants also discussed the concept of innovation, and the recommendations and principles of innovation found in the Social Platform’s paper on “meaningful” social innovation.
The group visited the AmberMed service (celebrating its tenth year in 2014); an integrated health centre for those without insurance run by Diakonie Österreich and the Austrian Red Cross. They heard how volunteer doctors, assistants and interpreters assist thousands of people a year through medical advice but also through health promotion and prevention activities.
Members heard about the outcomes of the Innoserv project and of research in Germany into innovation processes in the not-for-profit sector. The final sessions sought to get to the root of challenges and barriers to innovation both in the external environment, and internally; how to create an organisational culture where service improvement is promoted and innovation can flourish.
A toolkit for members on service development and innovation will be developed based on the discussions and information gathered during the seminar. For more information please contact Theresa Schlage.