A full audience of social innovators, entrepreneurs and policy makers gathered in Paris on 20 March 2018 to mark the launch of this new edition of the Competition and to discuss the challenges and opportunities for social innovation in France and across Europe.

This year’s theme – RE-THINK LOCAL is looking for ideas that will create long-term opportunities for young people by providing them with the means to succeed in today’s economy. These ideas should enable young people to acquire necessary work-related skills, secure fulfilling and financially rewarding jobs, and enhance their own social and economic prospects within their local communities.

The competition gives the opportunity to applicants to become social innovators, access professional coaching, develop their network, and seize the chance to receive a 50.000€ award for their idea. As part of the program, 30 semi-finalists will participate in a two-day summer academy programme offering tailored business development training, which will be taking place in Romania.

ENoLL Director, Zsuzsanna Bòdi and Effective Member, Penny Evans (KWMC) led the session on ‘Place-based solutions to empower young people in a changing economy’. Zsuzsanna gave a motivational speak based on the motto ‘think local, act global’, and how citizen-engagement through Living Labs can guarantee the sustainability of social innovation initiatives.

Penny Evans chaired and moderated a panel discussion on a wide range of topics such as ‘How to measure the impact of social innovation’ or ‘how can citizens be heard at the EU level. The panel was formed by Zsuzsanna Bòdi (ENoLL),Jose María Luzarraga (Mondragon Team Academy), and Beata Nagy (Projektfrabrik).

NEXT engagement opportunities for ENoLL members:

• 7 assessors (+ 3 reserve) will be needed between 27 April and 25 May to double assess 250 entries. An Open Call will be published shortly. Deadline for expressions of interest 5 April.

• 5-7 local mentors form Living Labs across Europe to deliver a workshop at the Academy and support applicants remotely in specific areas of the social innovation journey.

Find out more about the competition