The 2nd ESF+ SI+ Advisory Board meeting took place in Vilnius

On the 4-5th of May, the second ESF+ Social Innovation+ Initiative Advisory Board meeting took place. This was the first in-person advisory board meeting. After months of remote collaboration, this was a unique possibility to share ideas, advice and expertise and see each other’s faces in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Seven of the nine members of the Advisory Board participated in person: Jeroen Jutte, Filipe Almeida, Dominika Tadla, Valtteri Karhu, Madeleine Clarke, Audronė Ališauskienė and Neringa Poškutė. Two more, Bianca Polidoro and Prunelle Gorget, joined remotely.

First day: inspiring activities and valuable discussions

The first day started with a visit to the Teltonika EMS Technology Centre in Molėtai, Lithuania, where Paulius Rutkauskas and Tadas Markevičius showed the guests the technological process life cycle, and Martynas Osauskas introduced Telemedic innovations. This was followed by a visit to Vinted where Elena Vėgelytė shared the company’s success story.

After a busy half-day of new impressions, the Advisory Board members arrived at the ESFA building, where they were met and welcomed by Director Lina Nevinskienė.

Jeroen Jutte, Head of the European Social Fund+ Unit, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission, also gave a welcoming speech and the working session started.

During the working session, Migle Aleksonytė, Head of the project management group of the ESF+ SI+ Initiative, gave an update on the ALMA call progress and presented plans for the other calls for proposals.

Asta Jurgutė, Head of Social Innovation Competence Group of the ESF+ SI+ Initiative, presented the new vision of the European Competence Centre for Social Innovation for collaboration with the National Competence Centres for Social Innovation in the 25 participating EU countries. Jurgutė presented the vision as “an idea that, I believe, will not only serve as a basis for our cooperation, but which must evolve into a value-added and sustainable system for the benefit of all parties involved.”

A debate on the 2024 thematic priority took place.

After the working session in the evening, the members of the Advisory Board moved to a networking event organised by the Social Enterprise and Innovation Forum at Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, where Jerone Jutte gave a welcome speech to all the social enterprise and innovation enthusiasts, and highlighted the meaning of the SI+ Initiative, while reminding the audience that ESFA will lead Europe on this path.

Second day: participation in the Social Enterprise and Innovation Forum

The following day was dedicated to the Social Enterprise and Innovation Forum, which took place in the Constitution Hall of the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania and in which ESFA participated as a partner of the event.

ESFA was also the organizer of a panel discussion that explored the ways in which the social innovation spearheaded by the ESF+ SI+ initiative can help solve today’s problems in EU countries, and how those results can be disseminated and learnt upon. 

Jeroen Jutte, Head of European Social Fund+ Unit, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission, emphasized that when it comes to the well-being of citizens, we should talk not only about economic but also social well-being, based on fundamental human rights. “Even in the current situation, when all sectors are fighting for limited resources, even in this context, we have to think about social welfare first, create innovations and use them to benefit people. The European Social Fund will allocate three billion euros to support social innovation projects. It is necessary to identify the good examples of social innovations and apply them in other European regions by involving the European residents in disseminating them, providing them with career opportunities,” Jutte emphasised.

Jutte continued noting how the increased need for the development of social innovations in Europe is what led to the establishment of the ESF+ SI+ Initiative: The aim of the initiative is to spread good examples, encourage one country to learn from others, learn from each other mistakes, and help create and innovate at EU level. “The experience gained in Europe in previous years can be useful not only at the community level but also outside the EU,” Jutte stressed in his speech.

Jutte mentioned that financial support is essential, but cooperation, networking, and pooling of wisdom and knowledge are equally important. “With such a strong foundation, we will achieve enormous progress in the field of social innovation,” he emphasized.

During the Forum, Neringa Poškutė, head of ESFA’s Social Innovations and International Initiatives Department and director of the ESF+ SI+ Initiative, introduced the goals and stages of the implementation of the initiative she leads. Poškutė mentioned that the ESF+ SI+ Initiative will be implemented by the European Competence Center for social Innovation in two main streams: Social Innovation Grants (publishing calls for project applications at the EU level) and Knowledge Sharing.

In her speech, Neringa Poškute emphasized the initiative’s goal: to promote the use and application of pilot social projects, localized social innovations, and community-initiated development on a broader scale throughout the EU. The overall objective is to create a European community of social innovation experts and support organizations and promote evidence-based strategies for social innovation and policy reforms.

“We believe that the ESF+ SI+ Initiative will respond to the social challenges that have recently arisen in the EU countries and will accelerate the exchange of experience and good practices between EU countries,” Poškutė said.

“Communities of Practice and networks will promote cross-border cooperation between ESF+ bodies and support structures. National Competence Centres for Social Innovations, contact points of the Employment and Social Innovations Program, and other parties interested in the application and development of social innovations will be important structures contributing to the successful existence and operation of the ESF+ SI+ initiative in EU countries,” Neringa Poškutė explained.

The ESF+ SI+ Advisory Board members Filipe Almeida, Dominika Tadla, Valtteri Karhu and Madeleine Clarke, during the second Social Enterprise and Innovation Forum session, also shared their experiences, thoughts, country challenges, and pieces of advice regarding the implementation of social innovations in their countries.

The session was moderated by Risto Raivio, Senior expert of the European Social Fund+ Unit, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission.

The Advisory Board members’ visit and the ideas they shared are going to provide valuable inspiration for the future work of the ESF+ SI+ team.