“Social Innovation in the Metropolitan Regions of Vienna, Stockholm and Berlin: Insights and Outlook” Berlin, June 10th
u.bus - Regional Development and European Project Management - Gormannstr. 14 10119 Berlin - phone +49 30 61629640 - fax +49 30 61629643 www.berlin-transfer.net - www.ubus.net Editor of this report: Nina Roßmann
Table of Content Editorial ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Keynotes Speeches .................................................................................................................................. 3 Social Innovation and the Labour Market (Peter Ramsden) ............................................................... 3 The European Commission’s perspective (Aurelio Fernández López) ................................................. 8 Project Presentations during our discussion rounds ............................................................................. 12 Creation of Social Innovation ............................................................................................................ 12 Graefewirtschaft e.V. ..................................................................................................................... 12 RUFFBOARDS ................................................................................................................................. 13 Social Impact GmbH ...................................................................................................................... 14 Networking Europe........................................................................................................................ 15 abz*kompetent und gesund (abz*austria) .................................................................................... 16 Internet café ZwischenSchritt (Samariterbund Austria) ................................................................ 17 Implementation of Social Innovation ................................................................................................ 18 Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee and the project spacelab ............................................... 18 JOBLINGE ....................................................................................................................................... 20 Volkshilfe Österreich: THARA (Verena Fabris und Gordana Djordjevic) ........................................ 21 Transfer of Social Innovation ............................................................................................................. 22 Blixtjobb......................................................................................................................................... 22 Schülerpaten.................................................................................................................................. 23 Jobbtorg ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Panel Discussion: How do we become social innovators and what is the role of transnational exchange? .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Conclusions............................................................................................................................................ 27 Annex: List of Participants ..................................................................................................................... 29
Editorial Youth and long term unemployment, social exclusion or demographic change: We are today facing challenges that demand new responses. The European Commission has made social innovation an essential ingredient of the new programming period and considers “the development of new ideas, (products, services and models) to meet social needs” key to supporting a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy. Such social innovation can “create new social relationships or collaborations [which are] not only good for society but also enhance individuals’ capacity to act.”1 Staffan Carlsson, Swedish Ambassador to Germany, emphasised in his welcome address that the different European countries have different experiences in tackling societal challenges deriving from the crisis. This provides the opportunity to “learn from each other”, as Mr. Carlsson invited the audience to do in his welcome address. This was the aim of our conference: Often, innovation arises from the melting of different ideas and perspectives. We wanted to build on this potential, bringing together ideas from three different cities and discuss these with the different stakeholders involved from the public and private sector as well as civil society. Also Boris Velter, State Secretary at the Berlin Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women’s Affairs highlighted the importance of transnational exchange in tackling the challenges of metropolitan areas: Problems like youth unemployment or social exclusion often manifest themselves and concentrate in big cities. On the other hand, the strong interconnection in cities like Stockholm, Vienna and Berlin also provides a favourable environment for social innovation, which Mr. Velter called “a catalyst for development”. Our two keynote speakers, Peter Ramsden from URBACT and Freiss Ltd and Aurelio Fernández López from the General Directorate for Employment gave insights into the scope and strategic embedding of social innovation. In the subsequent discussion rounds, 12 projects from the three different regions presented their work. From a big labour market administration which has made social innovation an integral part of its way of working to small social enterprises exploring new ways of socially responsible production and service delivery, they reflected the broad range of social innovation. In this documentation we have assembled the most important insights from our conference and compiled a collection of innovative practice from the three cities. We hope that you enjoy reading it and receive one or more ideas and inspirations for your work. Our special thanks go to the Swedish Embassy and the Berlin Senate Department of Labour, Integration and Women’s Affairs and all the contributors of our conference who were ready to share their knowledge and experience. Best regards,
Klaus-Dieter Paul, Managing Director, u.bus GmbH 1
EU Guide to Social Innovation, http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/newsroom/detail.cfm?LAN=DE&id=597&lang=de
Keynotes Speeches Social Innovation and the Labour Market (Peter Ramsden) Peter Ramsden is a Pole Manager for the EU URBACT programme helping cities to exchange and learn from good practices, as well as managing director of the micro-consultancy Freiss ltd, also focusing on social innovation and local development. He has worked in the European Commission, in the Regional Development Agency movement, in the public and private sectors and various think tanks. He co-wrote the EU Guide to Social Innovation2 and the guidance for Community-Led Local Development CLLD3 in Europe and was the lead author of the OECD paper “Innovative Financing and Delivery Mechanisms for Getting the Unemployed into Work”4. Peter Ramsden gave an overview on the process and scope of social innovation. He pointed out the essential role of the public sector and emphasised the need to involve all the stakeholders – above all the target group – and to focus on results. Part of his presentation also focused on the chances of innovative financing. He started his presentation with a photo of the first job center or „Labour Exchange“ set up by Winston Churchill in 1909. Since then, much has changed: flexibility increases at the expense of security, the “necessity entrepreneur” is by now a common phenomenon and some make ends meet only by patching a portfolio of different jobs and projects, especially in the creative sector, and also many university graduates are unemployed. However, there are certain groups who are disproportionally hit by these labour market problems: Migrants, lone parents, especially single mothers, young people and the disabled are struggling especially hard to gain a foothold in the labour market. Social innovation is a method to tackle these challenges to be applied now. For as it is now “the problems are still innovating faster than the solutions“, as Peter Ramsden put it, who wishes we would return to the stream of ambition and optimism we had in the post war 1940s to 1960s when the welfare state was invented. It now has to be re-invented and social innovation is a part of this. What is social innovation? Social innovations are new ideas (products, services and models) that simultaneously meet social needs (more effectively than alternatives) and create new social relationships and collaborations. However, social innovations also need to be “innovations that are not only good for society but also enhance the individual’s capacity to act“ – which is something, the labour market policy of the past has been failing at. Hence, the challenge now lies in empowering the users of social services. Addressing the audience, he emphasized that “all of you are social innovators” and that innovation is “not just a thing for google and facebook.” Instead, “it can be a deliberate thing to do when people decide to innovate.”
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http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/presenta/social_innovation/social_innovation_2013.pdf 3 http://www.aeidl.eu/en/news/latest-news/822-guide-du-clld-pour-les-acteurs-locaux.html 4 http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/New%20financial%20approaches%20FINAL.pdf
Social entrepreneurship plays an important role as social enterprises can be more nimble than the public sector and make change happen. Still, social innovation is not all about social entrepreneurship. It is the public sector that “holds the ring” and enables social innovation by creating the space in which it can happen.
The role of the Public Sector What is needed therefore is a dynamic transformation in how the Public Sector works. Instead of merely managing human resources, public authorities should be shifting to building capacity for innovation. What is needed is a shift from random innovation to a conscious and systematic approach to public sector renewal. Along the whole chain of governance, from the EU level to municipalities, authorities need to understand what social innovation is and how they can contribute to it. Instead of running tasks and projects they should be conductors “orchestrating processes” of co-creation as they are the ones who can promote social innovation in a systematic manner across and beyond the public sector. Peter Ramsden led the audience through the different stages of creating and scaling innovation: After the idea creation in the prototyping phase, it is important to adopt a design thinking process and adjust an idea until it really works. If necessary, things have to be tried out 20 times before they are ready to be sustained. Especially in the prototyping phase, mutual learning is important. Accordingly, Peter Ramsden pleaded for the creation of networks and “a free movement of ideas” across Europe. Transparency is key to achieve the transfer of ideas: In order to spread a good idea it needs to be known. Open source is important to foster innovation – a precondition that is especially relevant in social economy running on public sector money. He indicated that scaling can be hugely controversial as not every idea can be implemented at a larger scale. Sometimes spreading might be more appropriate. Systemic change might not be the answer to every question. Sometimes, gradual incrementalism is the road to take. “Tweaking” or improving many small things at various points in the sense of the marginal gains theory can make the system a little bit better.
Tailored solutions Tailored, more personalised solutions are needed. Peter Ramsden emphasised the need to break the supplier market, which many labour market services are. The first step to innovate is to know what the clients need: Users are key sources of information to make innovation happen. Especially with groups far away from the labour market, however, it is not always easy to assess what their needs are. This is where innovators need to think like product designers developing tailored solutions adapted to local labour markets. To illuminate how the rules of product design can be applied to service design Mr. Ramsden gave the example of the Copenhagen youth jobcenter. It was found that the jobcenter’s young customers disengaged from the services and repeatedly missed appointments. To understand why these young
people were not satisfied with the services provided, the jobcenter engaged anthropologists who spent time with the young people and developed ideas how the jobcenter could become more welcoming. They found that the jobcenter was perceived as “unfriendly” with too much bureaucracy and that the language used was confusing to the young people. The result of the anthropologists’ findings was the introduction of a host welcoming the young people into the jobcenter and giving them directions and information on where to turn to, as well as information leaflets, posters and more visual “maps” guiding the people through the different services. The Copenhagen jobcenter’s approach shows how innovation develops in a co-production process – which in this case means listening to the customers of services and tapping into the knowledge of the users of a specific service. Doing so, services can be designed and delivered that meet users’ needs more effectively. However, such a co-production requires trust, which, in the case of the Copenhagen young unemployed, first needed to be established through a neutral third party, i.e. the anthropologists5. Innovative products in labour market services could include apps indicating new job openings or an app to cancel appointments. If people do not show up for job center appointments for whatever personal reasons they may have, time and resources are wasted (and job center customers usually be punished for this). If there were an app to cancel missed appointments, the job center customers’ situations could be better taken into consideration and freed capacities used more effectively. Financing social innovation After explaining pre-conditions and different ways of social innovation, Peter Ramsden also gave a brief overview on ways of financing social innovation:
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micro finance, micro credit and peer-to-peer lending (e.g. Kiva): Kiva distributes money lent by private lenders to a particular cause promoted by people without access to banking institutions via microfinance institutions on five continents.
diaspora finance: The money migrants send back to development countries has become more important than overall development aid.
Alternative currencies – time banks, air miles, LETS local exchange trading systems, point money, internet money. Alternative currencies can also create social capital. Time banks, which can help people know each other and share different tasks, have proved to be very important in the context of health and care for the elderly. They can reactivate elderly people and contribute to foster active aging where people risk of becoming too passive. Alternative currencies, especially LETS schemes might also help those who have been away from the labour market in regaining confidence by contributing to local trade on a small scale.
More on the Copenhagen youth job center’s approach: http://www.philasocialinnovations.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=548:ge nerating-innovation-listening-involving-and-co-producing-with-unusual-suspects&catid=21:featuredsocial-innovations&Itemid=35
Impact investing and Social Impact Bonds6: Impact investing describes socially responsible investment, in which the social gain is more important than the financial. The aim is the biggest possible societal benefit while ensuring asset preservation or even a moderate financial return. Social Impact Bonds (also known as “Pay For Success bonds”) are a public private financial instrument, in which bond holders (private investors) get a return – that is are paid back by the state – only if they achieve target social impacts. In such a multistakeholder approach, social service providers agree to achieve measurable social impact. The intervention is financed by private investment capital. If the desired impact is achieved, the private investors are paid back not by the social service provider but the state. As an example, Peter Ramsden referred to the Peterborough Prison Bond scheme which aimed to reduce recidivism of short term inmates which lies at 70%. Reduction needs to be by 7.5% p.a. over 5 years to achieve return.
Crowd funding: On crowdfunding platforms like kickstarter money is collected through individual contributors who do not receive any returns but just want to support a certain project. Crowdfunding is usually seen as a new concept and has undoubtedly received a major boost through internet platforms like kickstart or indiego but, as Peter Ramsden pointed out, the concept is actually quite old: An early crowdfunding project is the Statue of Liberty: In 1884, the Americans had to build a pedestal to accommodate the gift of the French but initially couldn’t collect enough money for the construction. Only through a crowdfunding campaign gathering 100,000 dollars through micro donations of mostly less than a dollar could the Statue be finally installed. Peter Ramsden estimates the impact crowdfunding can have on the creative sector as very important. Regarding fighting social exclusion and poverty, however, he is “not convinced”.
Challenges (e.g. Bloomberg challenge): In challenges ideas for solving local problems may be awarded. For creating apps for example hackathons have proved to be very efficient.
Summarising the new financial models, Mr. Ramsden called the innovation of financing social services a major area, where we are only at the edges. However, finance is also “where the dragons lie”: Many of the financing options are quite risky and often bring only mixed results as for example the ERDF initiative JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas). Social Impact Bonds are currently seen as a silver bullet but might turn out to be a Faustian Pact as they are very complex and might lack transparency and accountability. Mr. Ramsden’s advice therefore is to test and pilot them first and to closely examine the results based on control groups. For more on innovative financing of social innovation please refer to Mr. Ramsden paper for the OECD “Innovative Financing and Delivery Mechanisms for Getting the Unemployed into Work”: http://www.oecd.org/site/leedforumsite/publications/FPLD-handbook7.pdf
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On SIBs in Germany: http://www.betterplace-lab.org/de/blog/erster-social-impact-bond-indeutschland
Conclusion Summing up his presentation, Peter Ramsden pointed out that for really achieving systemic change one has to:
reframe the question
move away from “end of the pipe” solutions and
focus on results
Most approaches in the labour market are what Peter Ramsden refers to “end of the pipe solutions”: Instead of fixing the problem many labour market projects are just cleaning up the mess of problems that happened years earlier when someone didn’t get proper education in school, got into drugs or in short, when something in some person’s live went wrong that we haven’t been able to fix. This is what he means with “reframing the question”, i.e. getting away from solving “end of the pipe” problems and improving what gets into the pipe. Mr. Ramsden pointed out that most of the examples mentioned so far are “tweaks”, little adjustments making the system a little bit better in the sense of the marginal gains idea that changing many small things in different places can have an impact. However, he suggested that sometimes it is the system itself that has needs re-thinking. One way of doing this is to look at results but this is also where “the dragons lie”. One should acknowledge when the system is not working. For example is despite multiple interventions no progress is made as in the case of a family in Swinden: Mr. Ramsden showed a slide with a photo of a long wall with many postits, each post-it representing a local authority or other public agency intervention with a single family over years. The cost of this family for the public purse is 250 000 EUR per year and despite all these interventions, the well-being of this family has now improved. For Peter Ramsden, one solution lies in bringing together results and finance. As it is now, the financial system does not reward the people who actually make the change. In general, investment for social interventions (like the nursery provision or training schemes) comes from a local authority but the saving is accrued by the national governments. The problem then arises of how to make this finance circuit “virtuous”, i.e. rewarding the people who make the change happen, results and finance flowing together. This is where the above mentioned finance solutions come in. Social Investment Bonds are one way of doing this as they incentivize positive behavior. But the question, Mr. Ramsden raises at the end, is if the private sector loop is really needed or if a stronger focus on results might be enough. Therefore measurement, social experiments with randomised control groups, value for money and measurement of social returns on investment is key. Finance, according to Mr. Ramsden, can be part of systemic change but “only if the other cogs are working as well”. He concluded his speech with a warning on technocratic solutionism. Some systems fail for the same reason banks have failed: The banking system worked for the bankers, not for us, and also other systems are at risk of being run by vested interests. Peter Ramsden’s PowerPoint presentation is available at our website here.
The European Commission’s perspective (Aurelio Fernández López) Social innovation for more effective social services and evidence based policy making
Aurelio Fernández López is Policy Officer at the European Commission's DG for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, Unit Social Policies Innovation and Governance. His previous EU positions include Chairman of the EU Social Protection Committee and Counselor Coordinator for Employment and Social Security of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU. Before this, he was Chairman of the United Nations Commission for Social Development in New York and Adviser of the Secretary of State for the Social Security Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in Spain. In his speech, Aurelio Fernández López gave an outlook on the strategic embedding of social innovation, highlighting how social innovation can be used as a tool for social policy making at local, regional, national and European level. He describes social innovation as a tool to be used in social policy making at all levels in order to render social policies and services more efficient and effective, mobilise local actors and integrate various stakeholders – all with the overall objective to find answers to complex social challenges and reach the targets set in the Strategy Europe 2020. He emphasized the role of public authorities in achieving greater sustainability and systemic change by scaling up social innovation in cooperation with partners and stakeholders and highlighted the importance of measuring results in order to achieve more evidence based and socially more effective policies. Three Perspectives of Social Innovation Mr. Fernández López started with describing the current challenges that require a new approach: Youth and long term unemployment have been rising as have inequality, child poverty and homelessness. The European Commission's response to the crisis are the Employment Package, the Youth Guarantee and the Social Investment Package – drafted with the overall objective of reaching the targets of the strategy Europe 2020, that is to lift at least 20 million people out of poverty and social exclusion by 2020. However, the EU is not making enough progress on this target. To sustain our social protection systems and to move closer to the Europe 2020 target, national welfare systems must be modernised. These reforms need to take into account structural trends, such as increased ageing, changing family structures and changing labour market patterns in the 21st century. To achieve this, social innovation is needed and should be understood as a tool to be connected to the different policies. Social policy innovation therefore means that social innovation is connected to the process of updating and reforming social and employment policies. Together with the modernisation of employment and social sector public administrations and services and the support to social economy and social entrepreneurship7 these are the three perspectives of social innovation.
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see also Declaration following the conference "Social Entrepreneurs: Have your Say!
The Social Investment Package (SIP) The Social Investment Package (SIP) gives guidance to Member States on how to render their social policies more efficient and effective in response to the significant challenges they currently face. It provides a strategic social investment approach to the modernisation of social policies and the reforms of social welfare systems. The SIP is an EU level response to counter the increasing inequality in the EU and the impact of the crisis that led to an increase in social exclusion and poverty. Social Investment means investing in people’s skills and capacities. It means to address people’s different needs, develop personalised responses to activate their skills at the different stages of people’s lives and put a stronger emphasis on prevention. For tackling inequalities and disadvantages early is one of the best ways to overcome education inequality and help children live up to their full potential. To find these solutions, social innovation is needed and should be embedded in policy making and connected to social priorities, such as implementing country specific recommendations (including through the use of the European Social Fund). In short, the SIP is an EU level response to:
foster social protection systems that prevent against risks, respond as early as possible and respond to people's needs throughout their lives
activate and enable benefits and services to support people's inclusion in society and the labour market
contribute to more effective and efficient spending to ensure adequate and sustainable social protection
The SIP has a clear focus on social policy innovation: It aims at embedding innovation in evidencebased policy making (with regard to the transfer and scaling of social innovation) and supporting and creating an enabling environment for innovators and social entrepreneurs.
What is needed for social innovation and the implementation of the SIP? Like Peter Ramsden, Mr. Fernández López highlighted the need of offering people tailored benefits and solutions in order to capacitate them. There’s also a need for joining up quality education, training, lifelong learning opportunities and job search assistance, along with housing support, health services and adequate social assistance. Thirdly, public spending can become more effective and efficient; simplifying benefit administration can save time, money, and make accessing support easier. Improving the targeting of some benefits and services can also be helpful in ensuring that those most in need receive adequate support. A key point, Mr. Fernández López emphasized is the role of public authorities. Only with the involvement of public authorities can sustainability and systemic change be reached. Other lessons learned include the need to develop broader partnerships and to adjust methodologies for measuring social outcomes.
A stronger focus on returns and results is needed to promote evidence based policies and make public spending more effective. In the Progress axis of the new EaSI programme, social experimentation is promoted. Using a control group methodology it is tested if a certain project has a significant impact or not. The reason behind this is that, as it is put in the EU Guide to Social Innovation, “what Europe lacks is not only social innovation, but also its scaling-up and capacity to influence the policy frameworks. On the other end, policy reforms are insufficiently based on evidence as well as evaluation of their impacts.” The focus on measurement and results allows to assess what has worked and what has not as a precondition for the transferability and scaling-up of social innovation and evidence based policies. He also emphasized the importance of supporting and creating an enabling environment for innovators and social entrepreneurs.
The Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) The aim of EaSI is to support Member States with their social policy innovation and reform of social services and will help them with measuring social outputs. Besides, training and capacity building activities will be provided. The umbrella programme combines the three programmes Progress (61% of the budget), EURES (18% of the budget) as well as a Microfinance and Entrepreneurship axis (21% of the budget). Progress aims to develop and disseminate analytical knowledge, promote mutual learning and will also support NGOs while the objective of EURES is to foster a closer cooperation between the EU Commission and Member States’ public employment services in order to encourage mobility (for more information see: programme brochure (also available in German and Swedish). EaSI also provides funding for helping the creation and scaling-up of social enterprises. The Social Enterprise axis in the EaSI programme will help social enterprises access finance via public and private bodies which provide loans and other financial instruments to social enterprises. It will not directly provide loans to social enterprises. Mr. Fernández López emphasized the role of social entrepreneurs who contribute to widening the supply of social goods and services and creating inclusive new employment. They also tend to bring together different actors and adopt participatory organisational forms enhancing the co-production process. The European Commission in cooperation with MS will ensure that the programme is consistent with other Union action such as the European structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs) in particular the ESF. Equally, synergies should be pursued with other research and innovation programmes such as Horizon 2020.
Social Innovation and the ESF The scope for innovation has been enhanced for the ESF in the programming period 2014-2020 with the regulation stipulating that “Member States shall promote social innovation”. Member States are responsible for identifying the themes for social innovation corresponding to their specific needs in their Operational Programmes and/or during implementation (Art 9 ESF regulation). Since social innovation is intended to increase the effectiveness/efficiency of social policies, DG EMPL expects the regional authorities to select their most pressing social challenges, which should be addressed by the ESF investment priorities. There is also the possibility of a priority axis devoted to social innovation and of an increasing of 10% in the co-financing rate.
Conclusion Mr. Fernández López described social innovation as a tool to be applied to policy themes identified by Member States. The framework for social innovation is there, now it is the responsibility of the Member States to implement it part of their reforms in line with the Social investment package. Special attention should be given to pursue broad partnerships between public authorities, the private sector and civil society to deliver better results. Social innovation is needed to tackle today's challenges and sustain our social protection systems. The important thing therefore is to connect social innovation to all social and employment policies and to focus on results in order to achieve more evidence based policies and a more systemic implementation of social innovations. Social innovation should not be seen as a punctual commitment but a systemic task. Therefore public authorities are needed as they are the ones who can make the change happen and initiate broader partnerships among the various stakeholders.
Aurelio Fernández López presentation is available at our website here.
Project Presentations during our discussion rounds The PowerPoint slides of our presenters can be accessed online at: http://berlintransfer.net/index.php/de/themen/soziale-innovationen/conference-documentation
Creation of Social Innovation Graefewirtschaft e.V.
Graefewirtschaft e.V. is a social enterprise creating jobs for migrants and refugees in the borough of Berlin-Kreuzberg. Graefewirtschaft runs different businesses:
a restaurant, “die Weltküche”
a catering service
kitchens catering for schools, kindergartens and daycare centres
a canteen kitchen in the Berlin district of Marienfelde
household services and und care for the elderly
The different businesses employ 50 people and produce 90% of Graefewirtschaft’s income. The remaining 10% come from public funding as currently for the project SoJung in the framework of the ESF. Graefewirtschaft was founded in 2009 by long-term unemployed migrants and Germans. Migrants and asylum seekers are often denied access to the German labour market because of difficulties with the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad or an unclear residence status. This is the gap where Graefewirtschaft comes in, empowering migrants and refugees through secure jobs, in which they can bring in and develop their competences. At the same time, services are created that reflect the culturally diverse district with the different businesses having been developed based on local needs in the neighborhood and the skills and capacities of the migrants. Heike Birkhölzer is Chairperson of Technologie-Netzwerk Berlin e.V.; Director of Graefewirtschaft e.V. The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
RUFFBOARDS
Under the slogan “second chance for people and boards”, the social start up RUFFBOARDS produces uniquely designed, highend longboards by upcycling used snowboards in a highly integrative production process: Employing ex-offenders in the manufacturing process, social impact is maximized. Relapse figures in Austria resemble those in most other countries with around 40% committing another crime offense; among the 14-17-year-olds this figure is even higher with close to 70%. The first production round has been produced in cooperation with the association NEUSTART offering re-socialisation aid to ex-offenders – in the long term, however, RUFFBOARDS wants to employ the ex-offenders directly. Combining ecological and social consciousness, Ruffboard found a gap in the market, appealing to the LOHAs segment (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability). In her presentation, Melanie Ruff describes RUFFBOARD’s concept but also the obstacles that she and her co-founder Simone Melda had to face during the prototyping phase. For as Peter Ramsden explained in his keynote address, social innovators need to be prepared to test and adjust their ideas “20 times if necessary”. When it was clear that they needed to outsource their production, they decided to add a social component to their ecological consciousness. The first idea was to foster women in technical work. Their ideal cooperation partner for this was a production company led by a woman – which they couldn’t find. Their next choice was to have their longboards produced by a socially disadvantaged group. The choice fell on former prisoners, who, as explains Melanie, “are probably the disadvantaged group with the smallest lobby”. Ruffboards first tried to have their boards produced directly in prison workshops. But the right partner for this could not be found and they had to find a new solution. The result was that they now produce with ex-offenders in cooperation with NEUSTART, an organisation with more than 50-year experience with the integration of ex-offenders. However, the plan is to directly employ more than 50 ex-offenders until 2016. RUFFBOARDS was among the finalists of the European Social Innovation Competition: http://socialinnovationcompetition.eu/410/ The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
Social Impact GmbH
Nobert Kunz, Managing Director of the Social Impact GmbH, gave a presentation on how the creation, implementation and scaling up of innovative ideas can be supported. Building on networks, crowdfunding and the exchange of ideas and design thinking processes, Social Impact GmbH provides various support mechanisms for social entrepreneurs. In the start-up phase, social entrepreneurs are Norbert Kunz, Managing offered financial consulting and are provided with an idea finding as well as Director crowdfunding platform and can be supported in establishing partnerships with welfare organisations. To guarantee a lasting impact, coaching is also provided in the stabilising and scaling up phase. Networking and the sharing of ideas are fostered in co-working labs and special support is offered of social start-ups in rural areas. The non-profit Social Impact GmbH was founded in 1994 – under the name of iq consult – as an organisation for innovative qualification. Since then they have developed products and services that aim to contribute to ensuring sustainability and social exchange. Since 2011, Social Impact offers support to social entrepreneurs from the business idea up to the scaling of successful projects in the framework of the Social Impact programme consisting of:
Social Impact Start: a scholarship programme supporting social entrepreneurs in their start-up phase (in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Leipzig; in Vienna, Zurich & Munich hosted by IMPACT HUB
Social Impact Lab: a co-working space providing a platform for social entrpreneurs consulting & qualification offers, shared services, networking, events and co-working space (currently Berlin and Hamburg)
Social Impact Consult: consulting on spreading and scaling up social businesses
Social Impact Finance: a crowdfunding platform
Social Impact Net: an online platform with tools to develop a conclusive concept
Social Impact Local; support for projects for regional development in the rural area.
Social impact GmbH offers numerous services (e.g. consulting, co-working and network) in all aspects of social entrepreneurship, promoting the creation of products or services for disadvantaged groups (49% of scholarship holders), of empowerment/donation or aid projects (15% of scholarship holders) or web 2.0 based solutions (36% of scholarship holders). The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
Networking Europe
Peter Ramsden, in his keynote speech, argued for a “free movement of ideas”, highlighting the importance of mutual learning. The aim of the Stockholm based, ESF-funded project Networking Europe (conducted from March 2012-June 2014 by the Sensus Study Association, represented by Maria Fladvad) was exactly this: Innovation not always develops out of something completely new. Often, new solutions come about through the melting of different ideas. The project has built on this potential and aimed to develop various skills through increased cooperation with other EU Member States, especially those in the Baltic Sea region. A special focus was on enhancing skills that help creating a more inclusive labour market. To achieve this, networks were built, in particular around the Baltic Sea region in some of the areas prioritized by the EU Commission for the upcoming Structural Funds period (2014-2020). Networking Europe comprised the following networks:
Entrepreneurship and social innovation
Employment and labour mobility
Fight against Poverty and social exclusion
Stockholm Roma Network
The networks aimed to identify and link organizations and already existing networks in the Baltic Sea region possessing real knowledge in the areas concerned, or alternatively to create new such networks where they may still be missing. The purpose was to maximize the spread of new knowledge and expertise, and to lay the groundwork for the launch of fresh projects - all in time for the above Structural Funds period. Networking Europe not only connected stakeholders across countries but also across sectors: In the study visit across the Baltic Sea Regions representatives from municipalities, local and national authorities took part alongside representatives from NGOs and social businesses. Networking Europe was financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
abz*kompetent und gesund (abz*austria)
The project abz*kompetent und gesund (translation: abz*competent and healthy) by abz*austria started in 2011 with the aim of enhancing the conditions and work satisfaction of female mobile care workers aged 35 and older. The care sector is largely female and low paid while requirements are complex and societal recognition low. Conditions can be improved and women employed in the mobile care services strengthened only through a joint effort of the different stakeholders. With abz*kompetent und gesund this is achieved through a close cooperation with companies in the mobile care sector and the integration of stakeholders in the field of health, social and employment policies. The success factor, as Daniela Schallert, Managing Director of abz*austria explains, is to “involve as many perspectives and actors as possible�. Some of the burdens in the care sector are due to information, communication and coordination deficits with other relevant systems influencing the general working conditions. Consequently, the involvement of aspects like preventive health care, burn out prevention and further education and training is essential. Another important success factor is the involvement of stakeholders from all the different staff levels and professional backgrounds. Exchange within and across organisations was proven to be highly appreciated and successful. A lesson learned from the first project round was for example that impact can be increased by addressing and empowering employees at lower managerial level as they hold a key position when it comes to preserving employability and motivation of mobile employees. Another focus of the project lies on researching and discussing international best practice in human resources and competence development. abz*kompetent und gesund (abz*competent and healthy) is funded by the ESF (European Social Fund) and WAFF (Vienna Employment Promotion Fund). The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
Internet café ZwischenSchritt (Samariterbund Austria)
Founded in April 2013, the internet café ZwischenSchritt is a day centre for formerly homeless persons aiming at closing the digital gap for the target group and counter exclusion. The project’s primary target group are formerly homeless people; it does not matter, however, if they live in one of Vienna’s homeless shelters or already have their own apartments. ZwischenSchritt is based Gertrud Unterasinger picture credit: www.samariterbund.net
on a peer-to-peer approach: The people who run the internet café are formerly homeless persons themselves.
Claiming different services like benefits or allowances increasingly requires written or online requests. At the same time, there are fewer social facilities which can take over this task for formerly homeless people. This is where ZwischenSchritt comes in, empowering the target group in several ways, as explained Gertrud Unterasinger, responsible for the management of the internet café ZwischenSchritt: They broaden their computer and online skills and – especially the team members, i.e. those formerly homeless persons who teach the internet skills – learn how to re-integrate into a regular daily structure and acquire and develop competences. As a consequence, they might be able to gain a foothold on the first or second labour market – allowing for a fluctuation that lets one of the internet café’s visitors take over their role as team member. In this way, people who struggle with their everyday life receive help for self-help as they recognise that they can take charge of their lives again. ZwischenSchritt was nominated for the SozialMarie prize in 2014.
Implementation of Social Innovation Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee and the project spacelab
Austria is a pioneer in tackling youth unemployment: Like Finland, it already has adopted a vocational training guarantee that serves as a model for the European wide Youth Guarantee. Young people in Austria who cannot find a regular job or vocational training offer within three months can start vocational training in state funded training workshops – and later change to vocational training in companies if possible. Vienna has its own Vocational Training Guarantee, which puts special emphasis on a cooperative strategy providing an example of how the problem of youth unemployment can be tackled in a joint effort by the different actors involved from schools, public authorities and social partners to the Public Employment Service. In order to guarantee a smooth collaboration between the different stakeholders, a coordination unit was set up. For, as explains Dr. Eva Krennbauer, responsible for municipal labour market policy at waff (Vienna Employment Promotion Fund) and member of the coordination unit, conflicts of interests or systems often reveal themselves through quarrels on the project level. These disagreements are solved by the steering group who tries to establish if the problem lies on the concept, target or also system level and to find solutions in the best interest of the target group. This coordinated approach, which is top-down as well as bottom-up, allows to detect “system errors” and to evolve the system at all levels – a “laborious path”, according to Dr. Eva Krennbauer, which, however “very well makes sense”. Vienna's Vocational Training Guarantee, launched in 2010 provides an extensive offer for young people on Vienna's labour market aiming at training and qualifying young people beyond compulsory school level. The target group includes all young people in Vienna between 14/15 (when they complete compulsory school, i. e. grade 9) and 21 (completed 20th year of age). as a model for the European Youth guarantee For further information on Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee please refer http://www.waff.at/html/en/index.aspx?page_url=Wiener_Ausbildungsgarantie&mid=369
to:
The project spacelab The main objective of spacelab is to create professional perspectives for young people. A central part of the project is open youth work where social workers reach out for the youth in public places. The project, which was awarded the Austrian ESF innovation award in 2013, shows convincing results with 36% of the participants having started a scholar career, an apprenticeship, other qualification programmes or got employed in 2013. 95% of the young people who have participated in the project for more than three months stated that they got a vocational perspective.
In “spacelab” different institutions that provide training, information and advice and/or support for young people work together under a cooperative strategy. Namely, these are: the Vienna Board of Education, the Public Employment Service Vienna, the Federal Social Welfare Department for Vienna, the Vienna Employment Promotion Fund, the MA 13 – Education and extracurricular youth support, and the social partners. Activation, career orientation, planning the future: spacelab – production school Vienna (PS Wien), spacelab for short, constitutes a modular offer for youth and young adults aged 15 to 25, who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Based on many years of experience in this field, the project represents a low-threshold institution within the framework of Vienna‘s Vocational Training Guarantee and has several locations in Vienna. The project is implemented in a modular approach:
open youth work: young people are contacted by youth workers in public places, shopping malls or parks ‘developing perspectives’: with coaches young people develop plans for their future Daily training: in the different spacelabs (environment, creative and spacelab girls); participants get a pocket money of 10 EUR per day or, if they take part for six months in the framework of a ‘workshop training’, an allowance by the Public Employment Service
Spacelab is funded by waff, the Vienna Employment Promotion Fund (Wiener ArbeitnehmerInnen Förderungsfonds), and by AMS Vienna, the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice), with a budget of 3.5 million euros. Furthermore, the project is supported by Vienna’s Municipal Department 13 (MA 13: Education and Youth Work), which provides infrastructure and personnel from its Association of Youth Centres in Vienna. The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
JOBLINGE
About 8% of young people in Germany have problems entering the labour market. JOBLINGE – initiated by The Boston Consulting Group GmbH und die Eberhard von Kuenheim Stiftung der BMW AG – brings together stakeholders from the public and the private sector as well as civil society in order to help these young people to integrate into the labour market. In the six months JOBLINGE programme, young people acquire key competences in on-the- job trainings. They are accompanied by the JOBLINGE staff and voluntary trained mentors. 65 % of the young people find an employment or enter an unsubsidized vocational training programme within a company after they finish the JOBLINGE programme. JOBLINGE is organised through local charitable limited companies (gemeinnützige Aktiengesellschaften – gAGs). Shareholders are companies, the public sector, foundations and individuals. The local charitable company (gAG) is managed by a social entrepreneur and controlled by the Supervisory Board members of the participating companies. All those involved use their networks in order to establish cooperations with companies which are ready to take on JOBLINGE participants as apprentices or employees.
Richard Gaul
Richard Gaul, Honorary Board of Joblinge, is the owner of Zehle-Gaul-Communications. Between 1985 and 2006, he was head of communications and head of public affairs at BMW. The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
Volkshilfe Österreich: THARA (Verena Fabris und Gordana Djordjevic)
In 2005 the Volkshilfe Österreich started the initiative THARA aimed at integrating Roma and Romnija into the labour market. THARA’s aim is the integration of Roma and Sinti into the labour market in order to improve the socio-economic situation of the target group in Vienna and to create awareness in society for the existing inequalities and discriminatory practices Roma and Sinti are faced with.
Klaus-Dieter Paul, Gordana Djordjevic and Verena Fabris (from left to right)
Fostering the concept of upward mobility through education and vocational qualification in Roma/Sinti communities Roma/Sinti are empowered by means of education and qualification in order to improve their chances of gaining employment and/or creating other means of income. Community work is an important element of THARA, allowing for communication with the various Roma groups in order to gather information about the needs of the communities. Great importance is also given to networking with other associations, projects and NGOs working in a similar field. Other staples of the project are counselling services for Roma and awareness raising workshops mostly for NGOs, labour market institutions and projects and organisations in the health sector which are run by THARA employees and the Roma themselves. Created in the framework of an EU project and since then funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, THARA has developed and implemented a series of successful labour integration measures for Roma and Romnja. What makes THARA special is the selfunderstanding of its work that regards labour market integration and ethnic identity not as separate but connected fields. With this integrative approach THARA aims at contributing to a fruitful coexistence between Roma and non-Roma in the world of work. In their presentation, Verena Fabris und Gordana Djordjevic put a special focus on the project Thara Biznis (2013-14) aimed at fostering Roma entrepreneurship, reflecting the interest of the Roma population – who have traditionally been engaged in trade – in self-employment. The project focused on empowering the target group through small business coaching workshops and connecting, enhancing the visibility and supporting Roma and Sinti founders and entrepreneurs. The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
Transfer of Social Innovation Blixtjobb
The aim of Blixtjobb is to empower and reintegrate homeless and/or people living with substance abuse into society by procuring them occasional jobs like easy construction work, gardening, painting or cleaning. The idea is to integrate the target group through entrepreneurship instead of social work. They get a regular pay for their work. 30% of customers are individual households and 70% companies, many of whom regard this commitment as part of their corporate social responsibility. The project is financed through the customers buying the services that Blixtjobb provides.
Johanna Nordenskjöld
Blixtjobb can be seen as a method that creates empowerment, reduces substance abuse as well as marginalisation and exclusion. On a national economic level it has the effect of moving people from receiving benefits to contributing to society by the payment of personal taxes (taxes are deducted from wages by Blixtjobb) as well as empowering the individual. In their presentation, Johanna Nordenskjöld, Operational manager, and Victoria Engman-Broadley, Development Manager, explained how the idea for Blixtjobb was transferred from Oslo. The concept was tailored to the needs of the target group expressed by the individuals in interviews during field studies, conducted by Kirkens Bymisjon (The Church City Mission) in Oslo. As in Oslo, the team leaders supervising the Blixtjobb workers have a background with dependency problems themselves. Unlike the Oslo project, Blixtjobb, however, was not able to procure public funding, which is why they started small in 2011, from the start project costs have been covered by companies who are ready to pay a little more for the services delivered, financing Blixtjobb’s work on top of the regular wage for the workers. The project was able to produce very positive results: Substance abuse among the Blixtjobb workers decreases as their empowerment and sense of belonging and meaning increases. An obstacle the project leaders encountered is that the target group is largely seen as not being capable of working. At least they are not encouraged to do so by welfare regulations that do not ”promote” earning: like in Germany, extra money earned is largely deducted from welfare benefits. Blixtjobb is conducted by Stockholm City Mission (Stockholms Stadsmission), a 160 year old social institution that aims to help children and young people in need of adult support; families in crisis; young single parents with financial difficulties; young adults with psychological problems; young parents needing support and advice; elderly people living in solitude; homeless men and women struggling with substance abuse and/or psychological problems. Stockholm City mission runs several assistance and therapy centres as well as social enterprises such as second-hand shops, production of handicrafts and a restaurant and bakery allowing people outside the labour market to acquire skills and earn some money; they are supported by a job integration program. Besides, Stockholm City
Mission manages schools and educational institutions as well as Swedish language courses for immigrants. The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.
Schülerpaten
Schülerpaten Dachverband e.V. organises one on one tutoring between mentors and mentees. Mentors, usually university and doctorate students, are matched with children from families with migrant backgrounds. Sherief El-Helaifi, Co-Founder, Board Member, Head of Public Relations at Schülerpaten and student at Technische Universität Berlin, explained how, unlike most other mentoring projects, Schülerpaten focuses on the family and peer Rudolf Netzelmann, Sherief El Helaifi and environment instead of schools. The reason behind this is that the Camilla Näslund migrant families’ relationships with the schools are often not conducive to establishing meaningful mentoring relationships. Tutoring takes place in the privacy of the mentee’s home, opening up a whole new world to the mentor and facilitating intercultural education of both mentor and mentee. Thus, the concept of Schülerpaten is based on encouraging contact between people with higher education and children with different cultural backgrounds and fewer educational opportunities. People with different social and cultural backgrounds meet and learn from one another, which leads to increased respect and a potent reduction in prejudices. Through increased civil volunteering, social isolation is defeated. As a result, these otherwise partly parallel societies grow into one of cooperation and benevolence. The concept of Schülerpaten has already been transferred to Frankfurt am Main and the Ruhr region. Further locations are planned. In order to spread the concept across Germany Schülerpaten builds on its network. For instance, mentors or mentees who leave Berlin to study or work in other German cities transplant the concept to these new locations. Success has proven them right: the project is very well received by the altogether almost 400 mentees and their families and well recognised by the specialist community as illustrated by the various awards Schülerpaten already has received.
Jobbtorg
Jobbtorg is an initiative of the Stockholm Labour Market Administration introduced In 2008 to activate and bring back into work unemployed people who are dependent on social welfare benefits. Part of Jobbtorg’s mission of working is to test initiatives trying out new ways of working for different projects and single out the best ones to develop regular activities at Jobbtorg. Camilla Näslund, Coordinator Labour Market Administration at Jobbtorg Stockholm, gave a presentation on Jobbtorg’s approach to foster innovation: Jobbtorg is conducting different projects with the aim to try out new methods and ways of working, the best of which are then adopted as regular activities at Jobbtorg. Two of these singled out projects that were implemented on a larger scale as regular Jobbtorg activities are FILUR and Merit: Camilla Näslund
FILUR is a project aimed at young unemployed people with special difficulties integrating into the labour market. FILUR combines a self-strengthening method with the module “Try out a job”. The basic idea with Merit was to work as a bridge between young people and the regular activities at Jobbtorg in form of preparatory initiatives and try-it-out activities. Further information on Jobbtorg, FILUR and Merit can be found in the brochure “Jobbtorg Stockholm – The Stockholm Model reduces unemployment among young people”.
Panel Discussion: How do we become social innovators and what is the role of transnational exchange?
From left to right: Robert Nyholm, EU Fund Coordinator, Arbetsförmedlingen; Antje Knuth, Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women’s Affairs, Vocational Qualification Unit; Maria Fladvad, project manager of “Networking Europe”; Dr. Peter Schloegl, Managing Director of the Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational Training; Andreas Scholz-Fleischmann, Executive Board of Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR) and Chairman of Leadership Berlin – Netzwerk Verantwortung e.V.
The panel discussion centered around the chances of transnational exchange, the importance of the involvement of different actors and the organisational and cultural requirements needed to foster innovation. The social challenges we are facing today – demographic change, migration or youth unemployment to name but a few – have a transnational dimension. Besides, barriers to but also potential risks of the concept of social innovation are the same for the different European countries and are worth the exchange of best practice. Our moderator Klaus-Dieter Paul launched the panel by addressing Dr. Peter Schloegl, Managing Director of the Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational Training (öibf) on the potential risks of social innovation. Mr. Schlögl referred to Peter Ramsden’s keynote speech highlighting the need to “reframe the question”. Social problems such as youth unemployment always need to be put into the wider context. Instead of focusing on the single factor of the unemployed youth, we should ask ourselves: “What is the situation that produces the problem?” or even: “Who benefits from youth unemployment?” Projects – innovative as they may be – can produce only selective effects. In order to achieve a systemic perspective one has to be able to close the loop back to the system that produces the problem. Like Peter Ramsden, Peter Schloegl warns of a too technocratic approach. The risk is that scalable projects remain in the prototyping phase when the relevant actors miss the bigger picture shying back from introducing revolutionary components. Another question directed at Peter Schloegl was “Does social innovation always start in the gaps of a system?” Drawing the comparison to the health area Peter Schloegl suggested to ask the question if “social innovation is meant as first aid or general health policy” or rather: “Are we helping a bunch of people or are we solving a social problem?” Again, he drew the line to the ‘bigger picture’ or the
importance of the societal backing needed to turn a small into a big movement. What must not be forgotten is that an innovation is only an innovation when it is accepted by the market; only if it is accepted by the target group does it have social impact as Norbert Kunz, Managing Director of the Social Impact Lab GmbH contributed from the audience. What is essential for this – and this was later picked up by contributors from the audience – is a certain mindset, the readiness to take risks or at least to try out something new, daring to take unconventional decisions. This might imply a change of culture or even a “break the rules” culture, as Victoria Engman-Broadly from the Stockholm City Mission put it. This applies for the public sector as well as companies, where the term “social intrapreneurship” receives more and more attention as Peter Kromminga, Managing Director of UPJ, pointed out. Or as Mathias Kuhlmann from the Berlin ESF administration put it: “How innovation and bureaucracy can fit together is a discussion we still have to have.” How companies can bring in their knowledge and contribute to fostering social innovation is shown in initiatives like Leadership Berlin – Netzwerk Verantwortung e.V. The initiative’s chairman, our panelist Andreas-Scholz Fleischmann, Executive Board of Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR), illuminated the role of companies in promoting social innovation. Bringing in private sector know-how and networks, projects can be implemented and processes triggered that would not be possible in the same scope otherwise. Networking initiatives like Leadership Berlin or JOBLINGE, represented at our conference by honorary board and former head of public relations at BMW, Richard Gaul have the flexibility and low level of bureaucracy that fosters innovation and allow for the mobilisation of the know-how of the involved stakeholders in the social innovation process. Contributing from the audience, Mr. Gaul highlighted the chances that lie in the cooperation of public and private sector and the civil society as well as the need for individual, tailored services (as is the case with JOBLINGE, where there is one voluntary mentor per mentee). Besides, the different stakeholder networks may also serve as testbeds for the modernisation of organizational cultures. Accordingly, a stronger involvement of funders might also prove beneficial. More often than not innovation is created through the combination of different perspectives. Chances for the latter lie not only in the cooperation of the different stakeholders but also in transnational cooperation as Maria Fladvad, coordinator of the project “Networking Europe” highlighted. The aim of this project was to exchange knowledge and experience. The moderated exchange through projects like Networking Europe also allows for laying the groundwork for developing new project ideas through the exchange with other European countries. This project brought together not only stakeholders from different European countries but also from different sectors. Maria Fladvad highlighted that the involvement of all stakeholders from the beginning is essential. She still sees room for improvement regarding the involvement of NGOs whose knowledge is needed to build capacity. Still, Ms Fladvad perceives a resistance to let them take part from the beginning. Regarding cooperation and exchange, also Antje Knuth from the Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women’s Affair, Vocational Qualification Unit, considers further action to be necessary in the field of vocational education and training to promote a closer cooperation between the single actors. This means that in project funding, priority should be given to collaborative and cross-sectoral approaches.
Addressing Robert Nyholm, EU Fund Coordinator, Arbetsförmedlingen, moderator Klaus-Dieter Paul directed the discussion towards funding opportunities for social innovation within the European Social Fund (ESF) and EU programmes. Arbetsförmedlingen, together with Försäkringskassan, is responsible for distributing the ESF in Sweden and will have an important role in the new funding period of the ESF in Sweden. What Robert Nyholm wishes for in the new funding period are more interdisciplinary, inter-ministerial approaches, more research and dialogue as well as a strong commitment to integrating companies. Furthermore, the knowledge of small creative projects should be used in further developing policy approaches. He pleads for more transnationality and European mobility, for which adjustments in the assurance law might be necessary in order to prevent pitfalls.
Conclusions Social innovation is facilitated by cross-sectoral cooperation, i.e. the systematic interconnection of the public and private sector, companies, social economy and civil society organisations – with the result of such a ‘co-creation’ process being bigger than the contribution of each individual partner. Sometimes, incentives for new solutions come from within society itself – as it is the case with Graefewirtschaft, which was founded by both refugees and native Germans. But even if a project is implemented “top down”, it has become clear that the target group is the most important source of information in developing a successful approach. The latter was shown by several of our presenting projects: For the development of Blixtjobb an idea finding workshop with the target group and other stakeholders was organised and the Roma project THARA works very closely with Roma community organisations. Also Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee is based on a close coordination and constant feedback loop between the operational and coordination level, showing that processes need to be not solely top-down but also bottom-up. To solve today’s complex social challenges different levers need to be pulled which requires the involvement of the different stakeholders. Fulfilling this potential might require a re-think, as our keynote speaker Peter Ramsden highlighted. We need to move away from “end of the pipe solutions”, as he called it, and change what gets into the pipe: Preventive measures – as promoted in the Social Investment Package – are needed. To assess which of these have an impact, a stronger focus on results is necessary. The latter is incorporated in various EU programmes, in particular EaSI, and the ESF which aim at supporting public authorities to create and up-scale social innovation by “orchestrating processes of co-creation, creating new solutions with people, not for them”8. The EaSI/Progress programme provides the possibility of social experimentation, that is, to test innovative solutions, measure them and then upscale the best ones with the help of the ESF. Public sector authorities are encouraged to use these mechanisms to test and upscale innovative measures and to facilitate systemic change.
8
EU Guide to Social Innovation, p. 14
However, not every innovation can be up-scaled, as Peter Ramsden pointed out. Sometimes spreading is more appropriate in order to achieve improvements in different parts of the system, thereby also improving the system as a whole in the sense of the marginal gains theory. With such a broad approach, social challenges can be tackled, bringing Europe closer to the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. And most importantly: Ideas for social innovation come from a great variety of stakeholders. Every one of us can be a social innovator. It only needs the courage to go new ways, allowing for changing social relationships and new forms of collaborations that can tackle old problems in a new way. Changing perspectives can promote such a re-think. Understanding different perspectives through transnational exchange can help trigger the development of new ideas. Also, as Peter Ramsden highlighted, good practice should be spread in the process of transnational exchange and mutual learning, allowing for innovative ideas to be applied elsewhere. This was the case with the project Blixtjobb, which was transferred from Oslo. Participants and contributors at our conference agreed that the cooperation between the three regions Stockholm, Vienna and Berlin should be continued and deepened in the future. Their motivation for this wish? All three regions face comparable challenges but may have found different solutions for tackling them. We hope that our conference has also contributed to the creation and spreading of new ideas and further cooperation!
Annex: List of Participants
Conference “Social Innovation in the Metropolitan Regions of Vienna, Stockholm and Berlin: Insights and Outlook” date: 10.06.2014, time: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m Contact data of the participants Name
Company
Project/ Department
Position / responsible for…
Christiane Arndt
c.arndt@zizberlin.de
zukunft im zentrum GmbH
„QSInova“
Project Manager
Reiner.Aster@gsub. de
gsub - Gesellschaft für soziale Unternehmensberatung mbH
Dr. Reiner Aster
Managing Director
Society for Social Business Consultancy Jörgen Bergwall
jorgen@valideringsf Nordiskt orum.se Valideringsforum AB
Jean-Christophe Binetti
binetti@convis.com
Heike Birkhölzer
h.birkhoelzer@tech net-berlin.de
Kathrin Brandt
kathrin.brandt@lvbb.brandenburg.de
Teresa Carlsson-Szlezak
teresa.carlssonszlezak@gov.se
Development Manager
CONVIS Consult & Marketing GmbH
Graefewirtschaft e.V.
Vertretung des Landes Brandenburg beim Bund Representation of the Land Brandenburg to the Federal Government Schwedische Botschaft in Berlin Swedish Embassy in Berlin
Berliner Entwicklungsagentu r für Soziale Unternehmen und Stadtteilökonomie BEST Chairperson of the Board Berlin Development Agency for Social Enterprises and Neighbourhood Economy BEST
Erste Botschaftssekretärin Förste ambassadsekreterare
Name
Jennie Dau
Quintessenz jennie.dau@gmx.de Konferenzdolmetschen GbR
Gordana Djordjevic
gordana.djordjevic @volkshilfe.at
Charlott Edselius
charlott.edselius@a Arbetsförmedlingen rbetsformedlingen.s Swedish Public e Employment Service
Employment Adviser
Sherief El-Helaifi
info@schuelerpaten Schülerpaten e.V. -berlin.de
Co-Founder
Victoria EngmanBroadley
victoria.engmanStockholms broadley@stadsmiss Stadsmission ionen.se Stockholm City Mission
„Blixtjobb”
Development Manager
Verena Fabris
verena.fabris@volks Volkshilfe Österreich hilfe.at
“THARA”
Head of Unit Social Policy
Aurelio Fernández López
Company
Volkshilfe Österreich
European Commission
Project/ Department
Position / responsible for…
Interpreter
„THARA“
Career Guidance and Information
DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Unit Social Policy Officer Policies Innovation and Governance
Maria Flavad
maria.fladvad@sens Sensus us.se
„Networking Europe“
Henrik Flor
henrik.flor@buerger Stiftung Bürgermut mut.de
OpenTransfer Camp, Head Senior Editor & Enter Magazin Concept Developer
Richard Gaul
kontakt@joblinge.d e
Joblinge gAG Berlin
honorary Board of Directors and Mentor
Eva-Maria Henckel
abuplus@abuplus.c om
ABUplus International GmbH
Managing Director
stefan.hermansson @arbetsformedlinge n.se maria.kiczkahalit@lok-berlin.de
Arbetsförmedlingen Swedish Public Employment Service
Stefan Hermansson
Maria Kiczka-Halit
Antje Knuth
LOK e.V.
Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Integration und Antje.Knuth@senaif. Frauen berlin.de Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women's Affairs
Project Manager
Managing Director
Bereich Arbeit und berufliche Bildung Vocational Qualification Unit
Name
Company
Project/ Department
Position / responsible for…
Managing Director
Michael Kraft
michael.kraft@sued südost e.V. ost-ev.de
„Junge Roma in Berlin“ „young roma in Berlin“
Dr. Eva Krennbauer
Wiener ArbeitnehmerInnen eva_krennbauer@w Förderungsfonds (waff) aff.at Vienna Employment Promotion Fund
“spacelab”
Network Coordinator municipal employment policy
verakrick@ubus.net u.bus GmbH
XENOS Panorama Bund
Project Manager; Moderator of the Conference
Vera Krick
Peter Kromminga
Mathias Kuhlmann
peter.kromminga@u UPJ e.V. pj.de Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Technik und mathias.kuhlmann@ Forschung senwtf.berlin.de Senate Department for Economics, Technology and Research
Managing Director
Norbert Kunz
Kunz@socialimpact. Social Impact Lab GmbH de
Managing Director
Susanne Landgren
Landgren@convis.co CONVIS Consult & m Marketing GmbH
Communication and Design
Dr. Anja Lietzmann
a.lietzmann@kosqualitaet.de
Project Coordinator
Camilla Näslund
camilla.naslund@sto Jobbtorg Stockholm ckholm.se
k.o.s GmbH
u.bus GmbH u.bus GmbH – Regional Development and European Project Management in Berlin Stockholms Stadsmission Stockholm City Mission Arbetsförmedlingen Swedish Public Employment Service
Rudolf Netzelmann
rnetzelmann@ubus. net
Johanna Nordenskiöld
Johanna.Nordenskjo ld@stadsmissionen. se
Robert Nyholm
robert.nyholm@arb etsformedlingen.se
Brigitte Oberhoff
Brigitte.oberhoff@in Internationaler Bund ternationalere.V. bund.de
Coordinator Labour Market Administration
„XENOS Panorama Bund“
Project Manager “XENOS Panorama Bund” Moderator of the „Transfer“ discussion rounds
“Blixtjobb”
Operational Manager
EU Fund Coordinator
Wohnungslosenhilfe
Name
Company
Karin Oster
oster@bbj.de
BBJ Consult AG
General Manager
Klaus-Dieter Paul
kdpaul@ubus.net
u.bus GmbH u.bus GmbH – Regional Development and European Project Management in Berlin
Managing Director Moderator of the panel and the discussion rounds on “creation of social innovation”
Karin Paulsson
karin.paulsson@sigt Sigtuna municipality una.se
Dr. Diana Peitel
gsub – Gesellschaft für soziale diana.peitel@gsub.d Unternehmensberatung e mbH gsub- Society for Social Management Consulting
Peter Ramsden
Peterramsden2@gm Freiss Ltd ail.com URBACT
Nina Roßmann
u.bus GmbH u.bus GmbH – Regional nina_rossmann@ub Development and us.net European Project Management in Berlin
Melanie Ruff
office@ruffboards.c RUFFBOARDS om
Daniela Schallert
daniela.schallert@a bzaustria.at
Dr. Peter Schlögl
öibf - Österreichisches Institut für peter.schloegl@oeib Berufsbildungs forschung f.at Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational Training Vienna
abz* austria
Project/ Department
„Berlin Transfer“
Position / responsible for…
Project Manager gsub Europe
Thematic Pole Manager Economic Development at URBACT
„Berlin Transfer“
Online Editor Berlin Transfer Moderator of the discussion rounds on “creation of social innovation” Co-Founder and CEO
„kompetent und gesund“ „competent and healthy”
Managing Director
Managing Director
Name
Company
Project/ Department
Kontakt- und Beratungsstelle (KBS) zur sozialpartnerschaftli chen Begleitung der Umsetzung des ESF in Brandenburg 2007-2013 Project Manager (an information and contact service for the ESF implementation in Brandenburg 20072013, involving the social partners) Project Manager; Moderator of the discussion rounds on “creation of social innovation”
Bente Schmiade
Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund bente.schmiade@dg (DGB) b.de German Trade Union Confederation
Regina SchmidtRoßleben
rrossleben@bildung Bildungsmarkt e.V. smarkt.org
Andreas ScholzFleischmann
Berliner Netzwerk Andreas.ScholzStadtreinigungsbetriebe Verantwortung e.V. Fleischmann@BSR.d (BSR) network e Berlin City cleaning responsibility company
Frank Schröder
f.schroeder@kosqualitaet.de
Bianca Schulz
b.schulz@aiic.net
Bijan Sellahi
Cordula Simon
Gertrud Unterasinger
sellahi@ubus.net
Position / responsible for…
k.o.s GmbH
Managing Director
Interpreter u.bus GmbH u.bus GmbH – Regional Development and European Project Management in Berlin
Cordula.Simon@bez Bezirksamt Neukölln irksamtDistrict Office Neukölln neukoelln.de Arbeiter-Samaritergertrud.unterasinger Bund Wien @samariterwien.at Workers' Samaritan Federation Vienna
CSR Regio.Net
Project manager “CSR Regio. Net”; Moderator of the „Transfer“ discussion rounds
Advisor on Europe
Internetcafé "Zwischenschritt"
Manager
Name
Margrit Zauner
Project/ Department
Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Integration und Frauen Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women's Affairs
Boris Velter
Ellen Wölk
Company
ew@woelkundwoel k.de
wölkundwölk
Margrit.Zauner@se naif.berlin.de
Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Integration und Frauen Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women's Affairs
Position / responsible for…
State Secretary for Labour at the Berlin Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women's Affairs
Bereich Arbeit und berufliche Bildung Vocational Qualification Unit
Head of Vocational Qualification Unit