Sofia Development Association held yet another seminar on the design of an institutional model for a Competence Centre for social innovation in Blagoevgrad this week.
The event was hosted by NaChe Academy and attended by representatives of local NGOs, social enterprises, cultural institutions and student associations.
The seminar included speakers from Sofia Development Association and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and the role of moderator was filled by Hermina Emiryan. The event started with the presentation of the “Social Innovations Plus – Centers of Competence (SI PLUS)” project and the research of Sofia Development Association and its partners from the SI PLUS consortium on the different definitions of the term “social innovation”, the identified needs for social innovation at the national level, the good examples of already existing centers from three countries in Europe – Portugal, France and Poland, and the inspiring practices in the field from the Bulgarian side.
Rumen Donev from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy shared with the participants the main priorities of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy in the field of social innovation and the tools available to the Ministry to support social enterprises.
In the discussion panels of the workshop, the participants discussed the possible target groups of such a centre, what should the priority thematic areas of work be, and what activities it should carry out in the first year, as well as by the end of the third year of its operation and development. Possible forms of governance and the legal dimensions of such a hub were also discussed.
At the end of the event, the social-innovations.club platform was presented, which is now accessible to everyone and represents the newest digital space for social innovation in Bulgaria.
The project is funded by the European Commission, the European Social Fund and the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation.
