Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Consolid8 (Consolidating deep & inclusive social innovation ecosystems)
Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2025-01-31
Consolid8 is a European Hub for Social Innovation Ecosystems. We bring together social innovation actors from various European countries and jointly streamline the value chain for social innovators.
The project developed 5 capacity building programs programs to enhance the capacity of social innovators. The lessons learned from the implementation of these programs were leveraged through the development of a European accelerator, within which another 13 social innovation ecosystems were supported using a methodology already created and validated by DEEP Ecosystems. The consolid8 festival held in Brasov, Romania, in 2023 showcased worldwide social innovations and fostered new ideas development under a hackathon with more than 100 registrations.
The project also encompassed the development of 2 crowdfunding campaigns for social innovators, conducting 1 research on an alternative funding program for social innovation aimed at local public authorities, and testing and presenting 12 social innovation models with the potential for expansion and replication.
The project developed 5 capacity building programs programs to enhance the capacity of social innovators. The lessons learned from the implementation of these programs were leveraged through the development of a European accelerator, within which another 13 social innovation ecosystems were supported using a methodology already created and validated by DEEP Ecosystems. The consolid8 festival held in Brasov, Romania, in 2023 showcased worldwide social innovations and fostered new ideas development under a hackathon with more than 100 registrations.
The project also encompassed the development of 2 crowdfunding campaigns for social innovators, conducting 1 research on an alternative funding program for social innovation aimed at local public authorities, and testing and presenting 12 social innovation models with the potential for expansion and replication.
Pilot programs:
Romania
In Romania two crowdfunding campaigns were successfully developed & funding targets were met. The crowdfunding campaigns were hosted on the consolid8 crowdfunding platform. UEFISCDI developed a research on an alternative financing program for social innovation for local authorities (civic crowdfunding).
Italy
Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini has created a directory of alternative means of financing for social innovations. Also, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini together with the project partners produced a report on the current state of the innovation ecosystem in Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Greece and Ireland.
Ireland
Ireland initiated a mission to enhance entrepreneurial skills by hosting 7 workshops at Techstars Startup Weekend Social Innovation Dublin. Additionally, they produced 7 podcast episodes on scaling social innovation, featuring interviews with social entrepreneurs and other stakeholders.
Greece
Kollektiva delivered a peer-to-peer capacity building that aimed to outline and discuss solution-based approaches to Diversity-Equity-Inclusion-Accessibility in the social and cultural innovation sector and the need for their implementation in Greece in both the public and private sector. 35 Greek SI and Cultural innovation experts were involved through the capacity building program. KOL also developed a series of five podcasts, in which we discussed cultural and social innovation in the Greek context with experts in the field.
Slovenia
Slovenia hosted a conference on Social Impact and Social Innovation, featuring a co-creation workshop where CN presented social innovation concepts from the SEED project. The focus was on bridging traditional innovation stakeholders with social impact organizations. A panel and co-creation activity addressed wider access to financing social innovations, introducing crowdfunding as an alternative. An eBook and video has been created, detailing a list of successfully scaled social innovation initiatives and social enterprises in Slovenia.
Between September 22 and 24, 2023, consolid8 Festival took place, bringing together keynote speeches, panels, satellite events, interactive activations, workshops, and exhibitions in Brasov, Romania.
In 2024, we ran the consolid8 ecosystem accelerator for social innovation ecosystem builders. From more than 140 applications, we selected 13 ecosystems that we supported via a 6 weeks intensive program, including a demo day held in Krakow, in November 2024.
Outcomes:
-We enabled active participation of social innovation actors in the 5 pioneering ecosystems through targeted capacity building programs that included workshops, conferences and a European festival in Brasov. We are achieving long-lasting effects by harvesting the lessons learned in implementing the pioneering programs and multiplied them through a European accelerator for another 13 ecosystem builders.
- We facilitated the access to alternative financing alternatives through crowdfunding for at 2 initiatives in Romania and we enabled more visibility on alternative financing mechanisms (including private financing) for social innovations by making available information on financing programs for social innovation for local authorities, one toolkit on impact investing for social enterprises, workshops on financing opportunities and a cocreation process on financing social innovators for innovation ecosystems stakeholders
- We presented 21 innovation models with potential of scaling and replicability during the project activities (consolid8 festival, YourY podcast, Kollektiva podcast, Center Noordung e-book).
Romania
In Romania two crowdfunding campaigns were successfully developed & funding targets were met. The crowdfunding campaigns were hosted on the consolid8 crowdfunding platform. UEFISCDI developed a research on an alternative financing program for social innovation for local authorities (civic crowdfunding).
Italy
Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini has created a directory of alternative means of financing for social innovations. Also, Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini together with the project partners produced a report on the current state of the innovation ecosystem in Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Greece and Ireland.
Ireland
Ireland initiated a mission to enhance entrepreneurial skills by hosting 7 workshops at Techstars Startup Weekend Social Innovation Dublin. Additionally, they produced 7 podcast episodes on scaling social innovation, featuring interviews with social entrepreneurs and other stakeholders.
Greece
Kollektiva delivered a peer-to-peer capacity building that aimed to outline and discuss solution-based approaches to Diversity-Equity-Inclusion-Accessibility in the social and cultural innovation sector and the need for their implementation in Greece in both the public and private sector. 35 Greek SI and Cultural innovation experts were involved through the capacity building program. KOL also developed a series of five podcasts, in which we discussed cultural and social innovation in the Greek context with experts in the field.
Slovenia
Slovenia hosted a conference on Social Impact and Social Innovation, featuring a co-creation workshop where CN presented social innovation concepts from the SEED project. The focus was on bridging traditional innovation stakeholders with social impact organizations. A panel and co-creation activity addressed wider access to financing social innovations, introducing crowdfunding as an alternative. An eBook and video has been created, detailing a list of successfully scaled social innovation initiatives and social enterprises in Slovenia.
Between September 22 and 24, 2023, consolid8 Festival took place, bringing together keynote speeches, panels, satellite events, interactive activations, workshops, and exhibitions in Brasov, Romania.
In 2024, we ran the consolid8 ecosystem accelerator for social innovation ecosystem builders. From more than 140 applications, we selected 13 ecosystems that we supported via a 6 weeks intensive program, including a demo day held in Krakow, in November 2024.
Outcomes:
-We enabled active participation of social innovation actors in the 5 pioneering ecosystems through targeted capacity building programs that included workshops, conferences and a European festival in Brasov. We are achieving long-lasting effects by harvesting the lessons learned in implementing the pioneering programs and multiplied them through a European accelerator for another 13 ecosystem builders.
- We facilitated the access to alternative financing alternatives through crowdfunding for at 2 initiatives in Romania and we enabled more visibility on alternative financing mechanisms (including private financing) for social innovations by making available information on financing programs for social innovation for local authorities, one toolkit on impact investing for social enterprises, workshops on financing opportunities and a cocreation process on financing social innovators for innovation ecosystems stakeholders
- We presented 21 innovation models with potential of scaling and replicability during the project activities (consolid8 festival, YourY podcast, Kollektiva podcast, Center Noordung e-book).
Between September 22 and 24, 2023, consolid8 Festival took place, bringing together keynote speeches, panels, satellite events, interactive activations, workshops, and exhibitions.
Highlights of the consolid8 Festival Experience
consolid8 Talks: This two-day event on September 23 and 24, 2023 showcased the latest trends in green technologies. Participants had the opportunity to connect with sustainability experts and visionaries. Renowned international figures in green technologies, such as Neil Harbisson and Daan Roosegaarde, were among the invited speakers. In addition to the Talks area, the festival featured educational workshops for children on topics like circular economy, passive houses, and robotics, a Hackathon dedicated to social innovation and green technologies, satellite events covering Product Development, Web design, and Front-end Development, as well as an interactive activation zone where visitors could experience the latest trends in green solutions.
consolid8 Hackathon: This energetic event brought together over 100 individuals with brilliant minds and captivating ideas. After three intense days, the results were so impressive that four winning teams were selected:
The Solar Network received the top prize of 1000 euros for developing a groundbreaking solar panel system enhanced with IoT technology.
Diaspatch Bay secured the second prize with their automated trucking management software.
Osowa, creators of an innovative solution in the travel industry, claimed the third place.
Anima Mundi won the special prize from Eviden Romania. They tackled the challenging issue of increasing urban wildlife and deforestation, developing a comprehensive solution. Because our partners were so impressed by the team’s skills, they were recruited on the spot and will benefit from mentorship and an internship opportunity.
The Consolid8 Social Innovation Ecosystem Accelerator ran in 2024, for 13 social innovation ecosystems from Europe. The accelerator facilitated new collaboration opportunities for the members of the accelerator.
Highlights of the consolid8 Festival Experience
consolid8 Talks: This two-day event on September 23 and 24, 2023 showcased the latest trends in green technologies. Participants had the opportunity to connect with sustainability experts and visionaries. Renowned international figures in green technologies, such as Neil Harbisson and Daan Roosegaarde, were among the invited speakers. In addition to the Talks area, the festival featured educational workshops for children on topics like circular economy, passive houses, and robotics, a Hackathon dedicated to social innovation and green technologies, satellite events covering Product Development, Web design, and Front-end Development, as well as an interactive activation zone where visitors could experience the latest trends in green solutions.
consolid8 Hackathon: This energetic event brought together over 100 individuals with brilliant minds and captivating ideas. After three intense days, the results were so impressive that four winning teams were selected:
The Solar Network received the top prize of 1000 euros for developing a groundbreaking solar panel system enhanced with IoT technology.
Diaspatch Bay secured the second prize with their automated trucking management software.
Osowa, creators of an innovative solution in the travel industry, claimed the third place.
Anima Mundi won the special prize from Eviden Romania. They tackled the challenging issue of increasing urban wildlife and deforestation, developing a comprehensive solution. Because our partners were so impressed by the team’s skills, they were recruited on the spot and will benefit from mentorship and an internship opportunity.
The Consolid8 Social Innovation Ecosystem Accelerator ran in 2024, for 13 social innovation ecosystems from Europe. The accelerator facilitated new collaboration opportunities for the members of the accelerator.