The first workshop of the Community of Practice on Social Innovation took place

On Thursday, February 23, the first online workshop of the Community of Practice on Social Innovation, called “ESF+ Programs: Social Innovation in Practice”, took place.  This workshop was designed for ESF+ Managing Authorities (MAs) and focused on the Social Innovation priorities in ESF+ programmes. The focus of this meeting was to share the overall EU picture of the Social Innovation Priority in ESF+ programmes, allow all ESF MAs to position themselves in the overall picture and discover the variety of approaches across the EU and Discover practical tools designed to help ESF+ MAs implementing the Social Innovation Priority efficiently. The workshop had a vast number of participants from 25 EU countries.

As Risto Raivio (European Social Fund+, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission) emphasized in the opening speech of the workshop, the goal of the Community of Practice on Social Innovation is the constant exchange of insights and information in the form of continuous mutual learning: “The Community of Practice on Social Innovation is an opportunity for authorities and other relevant stakeholders to ask questions and share experiences, to become a unique and authentic learning platform in the social field,” Mr. Raivio said.

Two speakers from Sweden and Cyprus, Johnny Karlsson (National Coordinator, Swedish ESF-council) and Socrates Melis (Planning Officer at Government of Cyprus, DG GROWTH – Ministry of Finance), presented different approaches towards the social innovation priority in their ESF+ Programs.

During the seminar, community experts Armelle Ledan and Vera Egreja Barracho made interactive presentations focused on two key issues: Framing social needs and selecting relevant, innovative projects, and Planning, upscaling and transferring successful projects. The speakers identified and examined interesting examples from ESF+ programmes and discussed resources and tools from the EU guides “Social experimentation: A practical guide for project promoters” (aimed at supporting project promoters in preparing social experimentation proposals), and “Scaling up Social Innovations: Seven steps for using ESF+”.

The presentations and discussion helped community members and guests to understand what social innovation is in practice and how it can be analysed and adopted in the ESF+ framework.