The partners of the European Social Innovation Campus (ESIC) project met in Brussels on 22-23 May. At the European heartland, they discussed the development of future curricula, met stakeholders and reflected on the European nature of social innovation.
The second consecutive project meeting took place in Brussels and was organised by Odisee University of Applied Sciences. At the project meeting, Bart Henssen (director of Odisee’s Center for Sustainable Entrepreneurship) and Tinneke Timmermans (director of Odisee’s Research and International Office), among others, presented a comprehensive overview of Odisee’s remarkable and versatile activities as a higher education institution. The Centre for Sustainable Entrepreneurship (CenSe) at the Odisee University of Applied Sciences captures the needs of businesses directly, emphasising sustainable entrepreneurship, socio-economic sustainability, circular economy, digitalisation, and competencies of the future. These areas are essential for fostering the twin transition towards a sustainable and digital economy.
Both CenSe and ESIC share a common mission: advancing research, lifelong learning, and providing services to society while enhancing competencies for social innovation. This alignment underscores the importance of research and practical application in driving social innovation.
In Brussels, the ESIC Team started working together to outline the guidelines for the social innovation curriculum and also for the digital campus where the curricula produced by the project will be made available to higher education, secondary education and social economy actors.
During the spring, the project has carried out an extensive literature review to identify the skills and critical competences needed to generate social innovation. This work has continued with interviews with stakeholders and working life actors in each country. The future curriculum and content will draw heavily on this research.
The project meeting also reinforced a common understanding of the interface between social innovation and social entrepreneurship and the transnational features of the social economy ecosystem. This was also greatly helped by the project stakeholders, among whom we had the pleasure to meet Sarah de Heusch, Director of Social Economy Europe, and Tomas De Groote of the Belgian innovation accelerator Sociale Innovatie Fabriek for a knee-to-hip discussion.
As we move forward, the collaboration and insights gained from this meeting will be instrumental in driving the ESIC project’s mission to train, connect, and stimulate social innovators across Europe.