seed2scale

In Bologna, a festival is rethinking the way we travel and invites people to explore places in a slower and more meaningful way. Visitors are not just tourists, but “temporary citizens” who connect with local life and culture. With hundreds of events and over 700 organisations involved, the festival shows how tourism can support local […]

In this Social Innovation Spotlight episode, we present an initiative from Croatia that has created two living labs where new technologies and social solutions are tested in real-life settings. These spaces bring together elderly people, persons with disabilities, caregivers, and innovators to co-develop solutions based on real needs, not assumptions. With an ageing population and

What if the solution to the housing crisis isn’t building more homes, but using the ones we already have? In Thessaloniki, Greece, an initiative is turning vacant housing into affordable homes for people who need them most. Through a Social Rental Agency, unused apartments are renovated, improved for energy efficiency, and offered to low-income households.

The Social Innovation episode today is about a project in Slovenia that shows how social entrepreneurship can create real opportunities for Roma communities. Through intensive training and focused mentorship, Roma participants developed skills in entrepreneurship, cooperative management, marketing, and administration. They also learned how to turn ideas into concrete business plans, gaining confidence to take

This week, the organisations from the SEED2SCALE consortium met in Zagreb to align on how social innovation can be pushed better from theory to practice. From Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Greece and Romania, the National Competence Centres came together to look at what’s working in social innovation today, and where things still need to move forward.

Many ideas never reach their full potential, not because they lack value, but because they lack the right support. In this episode, we’re turning the spotlight on IKIGAI Social Hub, an acceleration program that empowers young people, aspiring entrepreneurs, and social organizations to transform their ideas into sustainable business models. Designed with the support of

Today’s Social Innovation Spotlight is about a Romanian initiative that supports local communities and fosters positive change in the creative and non-profit sectors. Since 2015, AMBASADA, an initiative by Centrul Cultural PLAI, has offered a shared space where artists, NGOs, and social entrepreneurs can meet, collaborate, and develop their projects. Through co-working, cultural events, and

The SI Festival in Romania was organized by Fonduri-structurale.ro/consolid8, the National Competence Center for Social Innovation in Romania, as part of its mission to consolidate the national social innovation ecosystem and connect it with European-level initiatives.  Following the past editions of the consolid8 Festival, a recurring initiative dedicated to social innovation and cross-sector collaboration developed

In this Social Innovation Spotlight episode, we explore how a Croatian initiative provides immediate access to stable housing without preconditions, along with personalised support such as employment guidance, counselling, healthcare access, and help reconnecting with the community. This approach replaces temporary shelters with long-term stability. As a result, 80% of participants maintain stable housing for

The report encompasses an overview of the implemented actions, according to the C&D strategy for the first reporting period of the project in all the five Countries with actions implemented by all partners. The full report is available here.