Social innovation thrives when communities and leaders come together. At the third edition of the consolid8 Festival in Bucharest, the high-energy panel “Ecosystem building & social impact: The WHY and the HOW behind systemic change” brought together representatives from our 5 National Competence Centres to share their perspectives and explore future collaboration opportunities across sectors.
Under the inspiring moderation of Raluca Prelucă, senior consultant at fonduri-structurale.ro and co-founder of consolid8, the discussion tackled common challenges in social innovation and discussed concrete pathways for sustainable impact across the social innovation ecosystem in Europe.
Key insights from our speakers:
🔹Aurelija Morkeliūnaitė (project coordinator Social Innovation+ Initiative; European Social Fund Agency) reminded us that the EU is actively funding social innovation projects with European-level impact, and that the new call under Social Innovation+ is now open: https://lnkd.in/dzgVkvpX
🔹Tadej Slapnik (blockchain-for-good visionary and CEO of Tolar HashNET) emphasised that technology, and even AI, can serve social innovation, not replace it. When anchored in core values, digital tools become multipliers for systemic impact.
🔹Marianna Kondylidou (global public policy expert with experience in 30+ countries) highlighted that profit and social value are not mutually exclusive. Through Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and strategic planning, companies can align both, as shown in a powerful case where a Greek SME turned a small island into a zero-waste community, now a national example.
🔹Gianluca Salvatori (vice president of Italian Competence Center for Social Innovation (ICCSI) and pioneer in cooperative innovation) reminded us that while political will exists at European level, the field remains fragmented. Social innovation actors often fill the gaps left by the market or the state, proving that systemic resilience is being built from the ground up.
🔹Danijela Paska (researcher & ecosystem builder at ACT Grupa Croatia) underlined a key shift: young people are actively seeking careers with social purpose. They are ready to lead, but need ecosystems, organizations, and funding mechanisms that reflect their ethical and social commitments.
Through collaborative partnerships and by empowering all stakeholders as co-creators of change, we are planting the seeds of innovation to grow and scale throughout the SEED2SCALE network.
Many thanks to the consolid8 team for all your efforts in raising awareness of social innovation. It was an inspiring deep dive into building a stronger ecosystem for societal impact.
