PRESS RELEASE: Social(i)Makers – summary of results achieved in 2018
The Social(i)Makers project aims to improve social innovation capacities by working with financiers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and citizens on how to generate new lively ecosystems as a bottom-up result of their interactions. In 2018, we established a transnational educational programme to train and connect social innovators through a central Europe-wide learning and innovation community. Our activities focused around four main elements:
- the development and promotion of the Social Innovation Academy
- organisation of on-site workshops in each partner country
- organization of festivals in each partner country
- hosting webinars
Social Innovation Academy (SIA), a free online course consisting of seven modules which guide users through the entire cycle of social innovation, was launched on 10th September 2018. The course builds on the expertise of the Social(i)Makers partners, which spans the entire scope of social innovation - from becoming an active citizen to creating, funding and implementing one’s own solutions to the societal challenges of today. As of January 2019, over 2700 users had signed up to the course. The SIA remains open for registrations and is available to all interested.
In order to build on the knowledge gained though the Social Innovation Academy, each project country held a series of on-site workshops. Each workshop corresponded a module of the SIA and was conducted by an experienced trainer. In total, project partners conducted 65 workshops which attracted a turnout of 1652.
To further introduce participants to the aims of the project, Social(i)Makers project partners held one-day festivals in their respective countries. Activities carried out during the festivals ranged from practical workshops, where participants brainstormed particular social innovation challenges, to panel discussions, and film screenings. In total, the seven festivals attracted 740 visitors. Reports from a number of the festivals are available at https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/Social(i)Makers.html
Additionally, the project hosted two webinars, titled “Can Blockchain be a tool for Social Innovation” and “Is Europe financing Social Innovation”. In total, the webinars attracted 121 participants.
The projects’ day-to-day activities can be followed through our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, as well as the website.
Makers-A4-ENG-DRUK.png "infographic")
