EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - HOME - Social Innovation Academy



IO6. Online Social Innovation Academy communityVersion: 2August 2019Lead organisation for this deliverable: Limitless1905444500Project co-funded by the European Commission ERASMUS+ Programme Contract number: 2017-1-LU01-KA202-023925 Start date of the project: September 2017 Duration: 2 yearsDissemination Level of the documentPUPublicXPPRestricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)RERestricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services)COConfidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)CONTENTS TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PAGEREF _Toc19528396 \h 41.OBJECTIVES OF IO6 PAGEREF _Toc19528397 \h 52.TASK 1: PAGEREF _Toc19528398 \h 52.1.OBJECTIVES PAGEREF _Toc19528399 \h 62.2.METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc19528400 \h 62.3.RESULTS PAGEREF _Toc19528401 \h 63.TASK 2 PAGEREF _Toc19528402 \h 73.1.OBJECTIVES PAGEREF _Toc19528403 \h 73.2.METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc19528404 \h 73.3.RESULTS PAGEREF _Toc19528405 \h 74.TASK 3 PAGEREF _Toc19528406 \h 94.1.OBJECTIVES PAGEREF _Toc19528407 \h 94.2.METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc19528408 \h 94.3.RESULTS PAGEREF _Toc19528409 \h 95.TASK 4 PAGEREF _Toc19528410 \h 175.1.OBJECTIVES PAGEREF _Toc19528411 \h 175.2.METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc19528412 \h 185.3.RESULTS PAGEREF _Toc19528413 \h 196.TASK 5 PAGEREF _Toc19528414 \h 196.1.OBJECTIVES PAGEREF _Toc19528415 \h 196.2.METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc19528416 \h 196.3.RESULTS PAGEREF _Toc19528417 \h 207.Appendix PAGEREF _Toc19528418 \h 20EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe aim of this IO was to ensure the proper engagement of the stakeholder community during and mostly after the project and lay the foundations for the sustainability of the SOCIA and its community beyond the lifetime of the project. The sustainability (social, technical and economic) stands or falls with the support of an active community of users and interested stakeholders. As such this IO identified the relevant target groups and stakeholders.Task 1 was dedicated to mapping the landscape of target public in Europe in general and especially in the partnering countries. An in-depth mapping exercise was conducted and all target groups were defined based on their characteristics in relation to the project. The map succeeded in identifying the means to engage the target groups in the activities of the project and was completed with a set of recognised players on EU level beyond the participating countries.Task 2 included the mapping of other stakeholders who could ensure the sustainability of the Social Innovation Academy concept. The initial list of the relevant stakeholders from the preparational work, aided in the identification of the stakeholders having the capacity to generate high awareness among the wider constituency, and contribute to its sustainability. The methodological approach followed in this task was an adapted version of stakeholder salience model by Mitchell et al.With the input extracted by the analysis of Task 2, in Task 3 we actively involved the representatives of the given target groups in project activities (interviews, consultations, testing, validation, feedback, multiplier events etc.) to ensure their engagement and support for the activities of the Academy and sustainability beyond the funding period.Within the Task 4, we have created an (online) community around the Social Innovation Academy concept and ensured their support in the medium and long-term. As the project was progressing, we created an on-line environment and ensured seamless integration with the Academy ?s learning environment.As a final task, we developed the sustainability and mainstreaming strategy, with aspirations of a strategy for promotion and engaging wider European audience. All partners, under the coordination of Eolas have agreed on a strategy that would ensure the sustainability of the results in the medium/long term and to mainstream the results into regular education and training. The exploitable results and long term development ideas were defined and analysed with regards to the value proposition, market readiness, clients, competitors etc. OBJECTIVES OF IO6The main aim of this output has been to ensure the proper engagement of the stakeholder community during and mostly after the project and lay the foundations for the sustainability of the SOCIA and its community beyond the lifetime of the project. The sustainability (social, technical and economic) stands or falls with the support of an active community of users and interested stakeholders. As such this IO have identified the relevant target groups and stakeholders. The creation of such a community has been a process, and could not be done ad-hoc, as such this activity needed to be executed from ‘day 1’ of the project and have guided and accompanied the participation of the target group and stakeholders across all project activities, not only to have their feedback and knowledge but also to start generating interest in the Academy (and thus its community) and engaged them, so as to create a sense of belonging. Appropriate technological environment has catered for the on-line interaction of the (future) community members, with the provision of them with a space to exchange knowledge and experiences. The work done with this community throughout the lifetime of the project has been the basis for the definition and elaboration of the exploitation plan. The latter defined the strategy that partners envisage to ensure social, technical and economic sustainability beyond the project lifetime. This IO has produced a set of tangible results which jointly constituted the basis for the community and the sustainability beyond the project funding: - Strategy that engaged the target public in the project activities and mobilised the stakeholders that could ensure sustainability, by using as a basis the maps of Tasks 1 and 2. - Infrastructure for the on-line community, which included guidelines on its use and the deontological framework, which were also applicable to the local (physical communities). - Sustainability and mainstreaming strategy, which described how the social, economic and technical sustainability (beyond the funding period) of the former IOs, as well as the on-line community, has been made a reality in the medium/long term. The foreseen exploitation plan was the operational part of this strategy and defined the concrete steps and implementation of this strategy. The initial working language of the community has been English to support the international character of the Academy. Automatic translation to all major languages has been provided on the Academy’s website to increase the reach to communities non-fluent in English, though.TASK 1: OBJECTIVES The objective of this task was to map the landscape of the target public in Europe in general and specifically in participating countries.METHODOLOGYAlready in the preparatory activity, we had identified the first set of representatives of the target public, which was then extended and led up to a more in-depth mapping exercise. Here all the partners have identified the relevant target groups in their countries in more detail. Each group was defined and described as per their characteristics in relation to the project, and the means on how to engage them in the specific activities of the project. The map was completed with a set of recognised players on EU level beyond the participating countries. Limitless coordinated this task, based on input from all partners. Limitless was also responsible for the identification outside the participating countries.954281267108Data not made public00Data not made publicRESULTSAn actual analysis of the country, website, potential target audience type, contact person details, relevance to SOCIA, idea how to engage the representatives was made.Concretely, SOCIA has identified the following target public representatives in the partner countries and Europe:Greece: 149Luxembourg: 52Poland: 149Slovenia: 57Spain: 18Europe: 132TOTAL: 557The illustrative picture from one country below shows the identification of the target public representatives. All the partners contributed equally on the mapping, which included the full name of the stakeholders, their titles, location and a summary about their background and field of expertise.954007-236445Data not made public00Data not made publicAll data has been stored on a secure server, with access limited only to consortium members and protected by passwords. Only publically available data has been collected.TASK 2OBJECTIVES The objective of this task was to map other stakeholders who could ensure the sustainability of the Social Innovation Academy concept (incl. social innovation experts, supporters, funders, bloggers, journalists, and prominent leaders).METHODOLOGYFrom the initial list of relevant stakeholders from the preparational work, the task allowed to identify those with the capacity to generate high awareness among the wider constituency, and contribute to its sustainability. An adapted version of stakeholder salience model (Mitchell et al. 1997) was used as a methodological approach here. The analysis was used as input for Task 3. Limitless coordinated this task, based on input from all partners. Eolas together with Found.ation will be responsible for the identification outside the participating countries. RESULTSConcretely, SOCIA has identified the following ‘other stakeholders’ representatives that have the capacity to raise potentially the awareness of the project and aid substantially to its sustainability after the end of the funding period.Greece: 10Luxembourg: 6Poland: 14Slovenia: 5Spain: 3Europe: 25TOTAL: 63The illustrative picture below showcases the current social innovation stakeholders in Europe and the ‘other stakeholders’ with the potential of engaging on the sustainability of the future of SOCIA. There is a plethora of organisations and individuals coming from different European countries that have a relevance to SOCIA. The table includes information over the countries that are established, their website, the potential target audience type, their contact person details, and the power, legitimacy, and urgency they possess to ensure the sustainability of the Social Innovation Academy concept.All data has been stored on a secure server, with access limited only to consortium members and protected by passwords. Only publically available data has been collected.TASK 3OBJECTIVES Within this task we aimed at actively involving the representatives of the above groups in project activities (interviews, consultations, testing, validation, feedback, multiplier events etc.) to ensure their engagement and support.METHODOLOGYTo make sure that the interest raised is sustained beyond the project lifetime, it was necessary to start immediately (already in the preparation period leading up to the project launch) to engage and raise support from identified group ensuring the social, technical and economic sustainability beyond the funding period. As such these underpin the dissemination activities but are inherently different in nature. Limitless coordinated this effort, all partners had actively contributed and intense coordination was implemented with Limitless as Dissemination Manager. RESULTSMain results of presented task are:300+ social innovators have been mapped and contacted to participate in the questionnaire for social innovation skills competence framework, of which 47 successful social innovators have provided responses 10 participants have taken part in central semi-structured interviews on social innovation skills97 self- potential and successful social innovators have carried-out assessments of their social innovation skills 5 experts have provided interviews concerning social innovation skills framework10?people took part in the testing of SOCIA learning environment and content as experts75?people took part in the testing of SOCIA learning environment and content as target audience representatives, from which 65% were females and 35% were males.?33 organisations with a social purpose have been engaged as organizational Friends of Social Innovation Academy.37 experts and practitioners of social innovation have been engaged as individual Friends of Social Innovation Academy.50 experts, practitioners, social entrepreneurs and innovators have written guest content for SOCIA or provided an interview on their social innovation initiatives to Social Innovation Academy.We have received 104 applications to join our Advisory Board and official Friends communities. 8 global Advisors have been selected to actively support the project. 746 people have subscribed to our newsletter. 308 (206 + 102) people participated in SOCIA Multiplier Events.The following screenshots show only a selection of our supporters. Please visit socialinnovationacademy.eu for the most recent state.ii)iii) iv)38702513265908All persons whose photos, contact details, bios, opinions or copyrighted texts are published on SOCIA website have willingly and knowingly provided all the published data and have explicitly agreed to this kind of publications. At any time, they have the right to revoke their contribution.TASK 4OBJECTIVES Objective of this task was to create an (online) community around the Social Innovation Academy concept and ensure their support in the medium and long term.METHODOLOGYLimitless with the input from the other partners, led the dissemination strategy of the content created. The dissemination planning and execution of the available content were based on three channels with the goal to create an engagement of the users with the concept of SOCIA. Limitless, in agreement with the partners, executed the dissemination plan through Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook social media channels.Twitter was the main dissemination social media channel to engage the target audience. The consortium chose Twitter as the main dissemination social media channel to engage people interested in social innovation and for raising awareness of the concept of Social Innovation Academy. Twitter is the social media platform for breaking news and the simplicity of it lies on developing new stories which users can easily interact with regardless of their location. Twitter is a noteworthy platform to track trends. Individuals interested in social innovation and topics related to it can easily source the content disseminated by SOCIA with the use of a certain tool named ‘hashtag’ (#). On Twitter, Limitless followed individuals related on the fields of social innovation, social impact, and social entrepreneurship, by using the aid of hashtags. Also, Limitless sought to create a conversation with the target audience by liking, retweeting and commenting on the posts of the target audience. These actions were necessary to ensure the engagement of the users with SOCIA. Insightfully, the dissemination manager engaged to content related with the fundamentals of the social innovation theory and concepts, so as to showcase a concrete ‘social innovation build’ in the minds of the users.LinkedIn was the second dissemination social media channel to engage the target audience. LinkedIn is established worldwide as a great social media platform to increase business awareness and the loyalty of your customers. With Social Innovation Academy LinkedIn account, the dissemination manager identified companies, interviewees, experts, practitioners, and individuals related to social innovation practices. The engagement was successful and became viable through the sending of requests to connect and by becoming a member of groups related to social innovation. On that reasoning, stakeholders connected to the Academy will help ensure the success of the project in the long-term. Insightfully, LinkedIn is a business focused social networking site, which helped the project of SOCIA to network professionally. Social Innovation Academy’s LinkedIn profile, helped the project build trust among the social innovation community, cultivate a network that could benefit from in the long-term, connect and build stronger relations with related stakeholders. Consequently, LinkedIn was a necessary tool to create the project’s awareness and retain the engaged stakeholders to the Academy.Facebook was chosen as the third dissemination social media channel to connect with the target audience. Facebook was perceived as a legitimate way to reach and engage the identified target audience. The Consortium agreed that it was a powerful means of communicating your aspirations to existing and potential target groups. The engagement of several stakeholders to the Academy became feasible by using references, on the illustrated content, of the several stakeholders presented. On that aspect, the illustrated businesses and individuals had the ability to experience an acknowledging of their work, leading on their engagement to the Academy. Facebook was an excellent means of positioning ourselves as experts and creating traffic.Apart from the above-mentioned engagement strategy followed on the social media platforms, the Consortium engaged further the identified target groups by cultivating a community feeling through the newsletter. The subscribed users received a weekly newsletter with the new content published on Social Innovation Academy’s website and social media channels. Part of the content disseminated came from experts, practitioners and individuals related to the social innovation field of interest. There have been 4 newsletters so far. A great plethora of people expressed their interest in writing a piece of content when they experienced the depiction of other participants in the Academy’s website articles. The aforementioned initiatives showcase the success of the Consortium to engage the relevant stakeholders. Apparently, other actions, such as the help to Sinnergiak to spread their news, illustrate the overall engagement created in the Academy not only with relevant stakeholders but with other European projects as well.One specific example of how the online community has been engaged in SOCIA work was asking all Friends and Advisory Board members for their preferences regarding the future Academy’s content. The response has been really overwhelming and we have received tens of emails suggesting what exactly should be thought at the Academy. The team has kept track of these requests to ensure that, as far as possible and in scope of the project, they would be implemented in IO3.RESULTSMain results of the illustrated task are:5,355 followers on Twitter432 followers on Facebook264 followers on LinkedIn746 people have subscribed to SOCIAs newsletter104 applications to join our Advisory Board and official Friends communitiesTASK 5OBJECTIVESThe goal of this task was to develop the sustainability and mainstreaming strategy, envisaging the strategy for promotion and engaging wider European audience.METHODOLOGYThe partners, under the coordination of Eolas, agreed on a strategy to ensure sustainability of the results in the medium/long term and to mainstream the results into regular education and training. It was reflected in a strategy brief, which was further drilled down in the exploitation plan to guarantee the maximum impact of the project activities and results. A brief market research for the potential exploitation of the results has been conducted as part of the preparatory work for the exploitation plan. Exploitable results were defined and analysed with regards to value proposition, market readiness, clients, competitors, etc. Selected exploitable results underwent an IPR analysis and specific exploitation plans for each were defined, and fed into the overall (operational) exploitation plan.RESULTSThe Sustainability and Mainstreaming document is included as (confidential) Appendix.AppendixSee a separate document (confidential). ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download