Social Innovation Responsive Environments NETwork

Project Information

SIRENE

Grant agreement ID: 101096077

DOI

10.3030/101096077

Project closed

EC signature date 21 October 2022

Start date 1 November 2022

End date 31 October 2024

Funded under

• European innovation ecosystems

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 499 893,18

Coordinated by

SHINE 2EUROPE LDA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SIRENE (Social Innovation Responsive Environments NETwork)

Reporting period: 2023-11-01 to 2024-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The main aim of SIRENE is to support the growth of social innovation ecosystems towards the implementation of eco-friendly and sustainable community-based services for SHAFE (Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments), promoting the broad adoption of high-quality smart living solutions, combining the housing sector and ICT infrastructure.

SIRENE connects stakeholders from all EU countries and beyond, that are working together to develop a Social Innovation framework and supporting tools, to:

• Increase awareness of innovation actors on social innovation concepts, methods and the skills to leverage them.

• Make social entrepreneurs aware of potential business opportunities, funding and investment around SHAFE.

• Create alliances and synergies between different stakeholders within ecosystems and between ecosystems.

• Ensure that business actors have access to social innovation and entrepreneurial knowledge.

• Unleash the potential of social innovation ecosystems on SHAFE.

The desired impact of SIRENE is to improve the wellbeing and housing conditions of the European population by empowering social and private entrepreneurs.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During its course, SIRENE developed a Social Innovation Framework on Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments (SHAFE), co-created throughout the project with its almost 60 experts from around Europe and beyond. This overarching document brings together information material for citizens, tools to support innovators, knowledge and information about recent developments, learning opportunities and implementation steps checklists.

The Social Innovation Framework is publicly and openly available as part of the SIRENE toolkit on the project’s website: www.sireneproject.eu. Its five main components are:
1. a manual for innovation actors on SI methods and concepts.
2. a capacity-building framework for social entrepreneurs.
3. a hands-on toolkit of networking and learning exchange initiatives.
4. a sustainability strategy.
5. a blueprint of good practices available in the form of an interactive map
In addition to these five building blocks, the Social Innovation Framework also includes a review of the trends and challenges in Europe affecting the implementation of SHAFE.

The state-of-the-art review for social innovation ecosystems on SHAFE was fully developed and the work progress led to the proposal of a new model: the Trans-national local-sphere model for social innovation in the context of Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments. Besides the official deliverable, a scientific article was published in open access, sharing this output with the research community.

The SIRENE Expert Hub had active engagement of 57 experts from 27 EU-countries plus 5 from other countries, who collaborated in the co-creation of the project results, supported by a tailor-made online platform allowing for knowledge exchange and networking.

The SIRENE toolkit also includes 3 information packages – for citizens, investors, and innovation actors, as well as 8 science cafés, 12 capacity-building webinars, 13 videopills, as well as 2 promotional videos, one presenting SIRENE and another reporting the results, focused on the European roadshow.

The sustainability strategy was developed and synergies with different initiatives were undertaken with material results, such as joint events and publications.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The desired impact of SIRENE is to improve the wellbeing and housing conditions of the European population, by empowering social and private entrepreneurs. In particular, we focus on the improvement of lives of people with fewer opportunities due to poor health conditions, frailty or finances, as the main aim is to promote and support a more active and healthier life. By delivering the Social Innovation framework and tools for creation and nurturing ecosystems in the area of Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments, we are strongly convinced that we are creating first successful steps for a more inclusive society.

In what concerns societal impacts, SIRENE will lead to better opportunities to age in place and to continue independent living with the support of user-friendly responsive smart living environments. In this way, the perceived quality of life of European citizens will improve.

On the economic side, the SIRENE social innovation framework will lead to more sustainable systems, that focus on prevention, and adaptation to citizens’ needs instead of leading to high costs related to medication and institutional care. The improved and sustainable SIRENE framework also aims to lead to fewer investments on the ever-repeating number of IT pilots’ costs.

As for knowledge impacts, the SIRENE social innovation framework and other deliveries laid the grounds for an even better understanding of user needs, costs and benefits of responsive smart living environments, and led to new developments in housing and ICT scenarios.

Besides the Social Innovation Framework with its components and the Expert and Digital Hub, the SIRENE project delivered a set of tools and resources, including all of the co-creation and informative sessions hosted during the project – including expert-hub meetings, capacity-building webinars, science cafés, video pills, as well as dedicated sessions on the topic of financing and sustainability.

Additionally, the Sustainability Strategy provides knowledge and tools for innovation and business actors to support the development of sustainability plans for SHAFE initiatives and projects. This document provides step-by-step guides on how to perform stakeholder analysis and market studies, as well as examples of business modelling tools.

The SHAFE Foundation will now sustain the results of the SIRENE project and expand them in future projects, funding opportunities and networks.

logo of the SIRENE project