“Social Innovation in the Metropolitan Regions of Vienna,

Stockholm and Berlin: Insights and Outlook”

Berlin, June 10th

u.bus - Regional Development and European Project Management - Gormannstr. 14 -

10119 Berlin - phone +49 30 61629640 - fax +49 30 61629643

www.berlin-transfer.net - www.ubus.net

Editor of this report: Nina Roßmann

Table of Content Editorial ................................................................................................................................................... 2

Keynotes Speeches .................................................................................................................................. 3

Social Innovation and the Labour Market (Peter Ramsden) ............................................................... 3

The European Commission’s perspective (Aurelio Fernández López) ................................................. 8

Project Presentations during our discussion rounds ............................................................................. 12

Creation of Social Innovation ............................................................................................................ 12

Graefewirtschaft e.V. ..................................................................................................................... 12

RUFFBOARDS ................................................................................................................................. 13

Social Impact GmbH ...................................................................................................................... 14

Networking Europe ........................................................................................................................ 15

abz*kompetent und gesund (abz*austria) .................................................................................... 16

Internet café ZwischenSchritt (Samariterbund Austria) ................................................................ 17

Implementation of Social Innovation ................................................................................................ 18

Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee and the project spacelab ............................................... 18

JOBLINGE ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Volkshilfe Österreich: THARA (Verena Fabris und Gordana Djordjevic) ........................................ 21

Transfer of Social Innovation ............................................................................................................. 22

Blixtjobb ......................................................................................................................................... 22

Schülerpaten .................................................................................................................................. 23

Jobbtorg ......................................................................................................................................... 24

Panel Discussion: How do we become social innovators and what is the role of transnational

exchange? .............................................................................................................................................. 25

Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 27

Annex: List of Participants ..................................................................................................................... 29

Editorial

Youth and long term unemployment, social exclusion or demographic

change: We are today facing challenges that demand new responses.

The European Commission has made social innovation an essential

ingredient of the new programming period and considers “the

development of new ideas, (products, services and models) to meet

social needs” key to supporting a smart, sustainable and inclusive

growth in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy. Such social innovation can “create new social

relationships or collaborations [which are] not only good for society but also enhance individuals’

capacity to act.”1

Staffan Carlsson, Swedish Ambassador to Germany, emphasised in his welcome address that the

different European countries have different experiences in tackling societal challenges deriving from

the crisis. This provides the opportunity to “learn from each other”, as Mr. Carlsson invited the

audience to do in his welcome address. This was the aim of our conference: Often, innovation arises

from the melting of different ideas and perspectives. We wanted to build on this potential, bringing

together ideas from three different cities and discuss these with the different stakeholders involved

from the public and private sector as well as civil society. Also Boris Velter, State Secretary at the

Berlin Senate Department for Labour, Integration and Women’s Affairs highlighted the importance

of transnational exchange in tackling the challenges of metropolitan areas: Problems like youth

unemployment or social exclusion often manifest themselves and concentrate in big cities. On the

other hand, the strong interconnection in cities like Stockholm, Vienna and Berlin also provides a

favourable environment for social innovation, which Mr. Velter called “a catalyst for development”.

Our two keynote speakers, Peter Ramsden from URBACT and Freiss Ltd and Aurelio Fernández López

from the General Directorate for Employment gave insights into the scope and strategic embedding

of social innovation. In the subsequent discussion rounds, 12 projects from the three different

regions presented their work. From a big labour market administration which has made social

innovation an integral part of its way of working to small social enterprises exploring new ways of

socially responsible production and service delivery, they reflected the broad range of social

innovation.

In this documentation we have assembled the most important insights from our conference and

compiled a collection of innovative practice from the three cities. We hope that you enjoy reading it

and receive one or more ideas and inspirations for your work.

Our special thanks go to the Swedish Embassy and the Berlin Senate Department of Labour,

Integration and Women’s Affairs and all the contributors of our conference who were ready to share

their knowledge and experience.

Best regards,

Klaus-Dieter Paul, Managing Director, u.bus GmbH

1 EU Guide to Social Innovation, http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/newsroom/detail.cfm?LAN=DE&id=597&lang=de

Keynotes Speeches

Social Innovation and the Labour Market (Peter Ramsden)

Peter Ramsden is a Pole Manager for the EU URBACT programme helping cities to exchange and learn from good practices, as well as managing director of the micro-consultancy Freiss ltd, also focusing on social innovation and local development. He has worked in the European Commission, in the Regional Development Agency movement, in the public and private sectors and various think tanks. He co-wrote the EU Guide to Social Innovation2 and the guidance for Community-Led Local Development CLLD3 in Europe and was the lead author of the OECD paper “Innovative Financing and Delivery Mechanisms for Getting the Unemployed into Work”4.

Peter Ramsden gave an overview on the process and scope of social innovation. He pointed out the essential role of the public sector and emphasised the need to involve all the stakeholders – above all the target group – and to focus on results. Part of his presentation also focused on the chances of innovative financing.

He started his presentation with a photo of the first job center or „Labour Exchange“ set up by Winston Churchill in 1909. Since then, much has changed: flexibility increases at the expense of security, the “necessity entrepreneur” is by now a common phenomenon and some make ends meet only by patching a portfolio of different jobs and projects, especially in the creative sector, and also many university graduates are unemployed.

However, there are certain groups who are disproportionally hit by these labour market problems: Migrants, lone parents, especially single mothers, young people and the disabled are struggling especially hard to gain a foothold in the labour market. Social innovation is a method to tackle these challenges to be applied now. For as it is now “the problems are still innovating faster than the solutions“, as Peter Ramsden put it, who wishes we would return to the stream of ambition and optimism we had in the post war 1940s to 1960s when the welfare state was invented. It now has to be re-invented and social innovation is a part of this.

What is social innovation?

Social innovations are new ideas (products, services and models) that simultaneously meet social needs (more effectively than alternatives) and create new social relationships and collaborations. However, social innovations also need to be “innovations that are not only good for society but also enhance the individual’s capacity to act“ – which is something, the labour market policy of the past has been failing at. Hence, the challenge now lies in empowering the users of social services. Addressing the audience, he emphasized that “all of you are social innovators” and that innovation is “not just a thing for google and facebook.” Instead, “it can be a deliberate thing to do when people decide to innovate.”

2

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/presenta/social_innovation/social_innovation_2013.pdf 3 http://www.aeidl.eu/en/news/latest-news/822-guide-du-clld-pour-les-acteurs-locaux.html

4 http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/New%20financial%20approaches%20FINAL.pdf

Social entrepreneurship plays an important role as social enterprises can be more nimble than the public sector and make change happen. Still, social innovation is not all about social entrepreneurship. It is the public sector that “holds the ring” and enables social innovation by creating the space in which it can happen.

The role of the Public Sector

What is needed therefore is a dynamic transformation in how the Public Sector works. Instead of

merely managing human resources, public authorities should be shifting to building capacity for

innovation. What is needed is a shift from random innovation to a conscious and systematic approach

to public sector renewal. Along the whole chain of governance, from the EU level to municipalities,

authorities need to understand what social innovation is and how they can contribute to it. Instead of

running tasks and projects they should be conductors “orchestrating processes” of co-creation as

they are the ones who can promote social innovation in a systematic manner across and beyond the

public sector.

Peter Ramsden led the audience through the different stages of creating and scaling innovation: After

the idea creation in the prototyping phase, it is important to adopt a design thinking process and

adjust an idea until it really works. If necessary, things have to be tried out 20 times before they are

ready to be sustained. Especially in the prototyping phase, mutual learning is important. Accordingly,

Peter Ramsden pleaded for the creation of networks and “a free movement of ideas” across Europe.

Transparency is key to achieve the transfer of ideas: In order to spread a good idea it needs to be

known. Open source is important to foster innovation – a precondition that is especially relevant in

social economy running on public sector money.

He indicated that scaling can be hugely controversial as not

every idea can be implemented at a larger scale. Sometimes

spreading might be more appropriate. Systemic change might

not be the answer to every question. Sometimes, gradual

incrementalism is the road to take. “Tweaking” or improving

many small things at various points in the sense of the marginal

gains theory can make the system a little bit better.

Tailored solutions

Tailored, more personalised solutions are needed. Peter Ramsden emphasised the need to break the

supplier market, which many labour market services are. The first step to innovate is to know what

the clients need: Users are key sources of information to make innovation happen. Especially with

groups far away from the labour market, however, it is not always easy to assess what their needs

are. This is where innovators need to think like product designers developing tailored solutions

adapted to local labour markets.

To illuminate how the rules of product design can be applied to service design Mr. Ramsden gave the

example of the Copenhagen youth jobcenter. It was found that the jobcenter’s young customers

disengaged from the services and repeatedly missed appointments. To understand why these young

people were not satisfied with the services provided, the jobcenter engaged anthropologists who

spent time with the young people and developed ideas how the jobcenter could become more

welcoming. They found that the jobcenter was perceived as “unfriendly” with too much bureaucracy

and that the language used was confusing to the young people. The result of the anthropologists’

findings was the introduction of a host welcoming the young people into the jobcenter and giving

them directions and information on where to turn to, as well as information leaflets, posters and

more visual “maps” guiding the people through the different services.

The Copenhagen jobcenter’s approach shows how innovation develops in a co-production process –

which in this case means listening to the customers of services and tapping into the knowledge of the

users of a specific service. Doing so, services can be designed and delivered that meet users’ needs

more effectively. However, such a co-production requires trust, which, in the case of the Copenhagen

young unemployed, first needed to be established through a neutral third party, i.e. the

anthropologists5.

Innovative products in labour market services could include apps indicating new job openings or an

app to cancel appointments. If people do not show up for job center appointments for whatever

personal reasons they may have, time and resources are wasted (and job center customers usually be

punished for this). If there were an app to cancel missed appointments, the job center customers’

situations could be better taken into consideration and freed capacities used more effectively.

Financing social innovation

After explaining pre-conditions and different ways of social innovation, Peter Ramsden also gave a

brief overview on ways of financing social innovation:

micro finance, micro credit and peer-to-peer lending (e.g. Kiva): Kiva distributes money lent

by private lenders to a particular cause promoted by people without access to banking

institutions via microfinance institutions on five continents.

diaspora finance: The money migrants send back to development countries has become

more important than overall development aid.

Alternative currencies – time banks, air miles, LETS local exchange trading systems, point

money, internet money. Alternative currencies can also create social capital. Time banks,

which can help people know each other and share different tasks, have proved to be very

important in the context of health and care for the elderly. They can reactivate elderly people

and contribute to foster active aging where people risk of becoming too passive. Alternative

currencies, especially LETS schemes might also help those who have been away from the

labour market in regaining confidence by contributing to local trade on a small scale.

55More on the Copenhagen youth job center’s approach:

http://www.philasocialinnovations.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=548:ge

nerating-innovation-listening-involving-and-co-producing-with-unusual-suspects&catid=21:featured-

social-innovations&Itemid=35

Impact investing and Social Impact Bonds6: Impact investing describes socially responsible

investment, in which the social gain is more important than the financial. The aim is the

biggest possible societal benefit while ensuring asset preservation or even a moderate

financial return. Social Impact Bonds (also known as “Pay For Success bonds”) are a public

private financial instrument, in which bond holders (private investors) get a return – that is

are paid back by the state – only if they achieve target social impacts. In such a multi-

stakeholder approach, social service providers agree to achieve measurable social impact.

The intervention is financed by private investment capital. If the desired impact is achieved,

the private investors are paid back not by the social service provider but the state. As an

example, Peter Ramsden referred to the Peterborough Prison Bond scheme which aimed to

reduce recidivism of short term inmates which lies at 70%. Reduction needs to be by 7.5%

p.a. over 5 years to achieve return.

Crowd funding: On crowdfunding platforms like kickstarter money is collected through

individual contributors who do not receive any returns but just want to support a certain

project. Crowdfunding is usually seen as a new concept and has undoubtedly received a

major boost through internet platforms like kickstart or indiego but, as Peter Ramsden

pointed out, the concept is actually quite old: An early crowdfunding project is the Statue of

Liberty: In 1884, the Americans had to build a pedestal to accommodate the gift of the

French but initially couldn’t collect enough money for the construction. Only through a

crowdfunding campaign gathering 100,000 dollars through micro donations of mostly less

than a dollar could the Statue be finally installed. Peter Ramsden estimates the impact

crowdfunding can have on the creative sector as very important. Regarding fighting social

exclusion and poverty, however, he is “not convinced”.

Challenges (e.g. Bloomberg challenge): In challenges ideas for solving local problems may be

awarded. For creating apps for example hackathons have proved to be very efficient.

Summarising the new financial models, Mr. Ramsden called the innovation of financing social services

a major area, where we are only at the edges. However, finance is also “where the dragons lie”: Many

of the financing options are quite risky and often bring only mixed results as for example the ERDF

initiative JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas).

Social Impact Bonds are currently seen as a silver bullet but might turn out to be a Faustian Pact as

they are very complex and might lack transparency and accountability. Mr. Ramsden’s advice

therefore is to test and pilot them first and to closely examine the results based on control groups.

For more on innovative financing of social innovation please refer to Mr. Ramsden paper for the

OECD “Innovative Financing and Delivery Mechanisms for Getting the Unemployed into Work”:

http://www.oecd.org/site/leedforumsite/publications/FPLD-handbook7.pdf

6 On SIBs in Germany: http://www.betterplace-lab.org/de/blog/erster-social-impact-bond-in-

deutschland

Conclusion

Summing up his presentation, Peter Ramsden pointed out that for really achieving systemic change

one has to:

reframe the question

move away from “end of the pipe” solutions and

focus on results

Most approaches in the labour market are what Peter Ramsden refers to “end of the pipe solutions”:

Instead of fixing the problem many labour market projects are just cleaning up the mess of problems

that happened years earlier when someone didn’t get proper education in school, got into drugs or in

short, when something in some person’s live went wrong that we haven’t been able to fix. This is

what he means with “reframing the question”, i.e. getting away from solving “end of the pipe”

problems and improving what gets into the pipe.

Mr. Ramsden pointed out that most of the examples mentioned so far are “tweaks”, little

adjustments making the system a little bit better in the sense of the marginal gains idea that changing

many small things in different places can have an impact.

However, he suggested that sometimes it is the system itself that has needs re-thinking. One way of

doing this is to look at results but this is also where “the dragons lie”. One should acknowledge when

the system is not working. For example is despite multiple interventions no progress is made as in the

case of a family in Swinden: Mr. Ramsden showed a slide with a photo of a long wall with many post-

its, each post-it representing a local authority or other public agency intervention with a single family

over years. The cost of this family for the public purse is 250 000 EUR per year and despite all these

interventions, the well-being of this family has now improved.

For Peter Ramsden, one solution lies in bringing together results and finance. As it is now, the

financial system does not reward the people who actually make the change. In general, investment

for social interventions (like the nursery provision or training schemes) comes from a local authority

but the saving is accrued by the national governments. The problem then arises of how to make this

finance circuit “virtuous”, i.e. rewarding the people who make the change happen, results and

finance flowing together. This is where the above mentioned finance solutions come in. Social

Investment Bonds are one way of doing this as they incentivize positive behavior. But the question,

Mr. Ramsden raises at the end, is if the private sector loop is really needed or if a stronger focus on

results might be enough. Therefore measurement, social experiments with randomised control

groups, value for money and measurement of social returns on investment is key.

Finance, according to Mr. Ramsden, can be part of systemic change but “only if the other cogs are

working as well”. He concluded his speech with a warning on technocratic solutionism. Some systems

fail for the same reason banks have failed: The banking system worked for the bankers, not for us,

and also other systems are at risk of being run by vested interests.

Peter Ramsden’s PowerPoint presentation is available at our website here.

The European Commission’s perspective (Aurelio Fernández López)

Social innovation for more effective social services and evidence based policy making

Aurelio Fernández López is Policy Officer at the European Commission's

DG for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, Unit Social Policies

Innovation and Governance. His previous EU positions include Chairman

of the EU Social Protection Committee and Counselor Coordinator for

Employment and Social Security of the Permanent Representation of

Spain to the EU. Before this, he was Chairman of the United Nations

Commission for Social Development in New York and Adviser of the

Secretary of State for the Social Security Ministry of Labour and Social

Affairs in Spain.

In his speech, Aurelio Fernández López gave an outlook on the strategic embedding of social

innovation, highlighting how social innovation can be used as a tool for social policy making at local,

regional, national and European level.

He describes social innovation as a tool to be used in social policy making at all levels in order to

render social policies and services more efficient and effective, mobilise local actors and integrate

various stakeholders – all with the overall objective to find answers to complex social challenges and

reach the targets set in the Strategy Europe 2020. He emphasized the role of public authorities in

achieving greater sustainability and systemic change by scaling up social innovation in cooperation

with partners and stakeholders and highlighted the importance of measuring results in order to

achieve more evidence based and socially more effective policies.

Three Perspectives of Social Innovation

Mr. Fernández López started with describing the current challenges that require a new approach:

Youth and long term unemployment have been rising as have inequality, child poverty and

homelessness. The European Commission's response to the crisis are the Employment Package, the

Youth Guarantee and the Social Investment Package – drafted with the overall objective of reaching

the targets of the strategy Europe 2020, that is to lift at least 20 million people out of poverty and

social exclusion by 2020. However, the EU is not making enough progress on this target. To sustain

our social protection systems and to move closer to the Europe 2020 target, national welfare systems

must be modernised. These reforms need to take into account structural trends, such as increased

ageing, changing family structures and changing labour market patterns in the 21st century. To

achieve this, social innovation is needed and should be understood as a tool to be connected to the

different policies.

Social policy innovation therefore means that social innovation is connected to the process of

updating and reforming social and employment policies. Together with the modernisation of

employment and social sector public administrations and services and the support to social

economy and social entrepreneurship7 these are the three perspectives of social innovation.

7 see also Declaration following the conference "Social Entrepreneurs: Have your Say!

The Social Investment Package (SIP)

The Social Investment Package (SIP) gives guidance to Member States on how to render their social

policies more efficient and effective in response to the significant challenges they currently face. It

provides a strategic social investment approach to the modernisation of social policies and the

reforms of social welfare systems. The SIP is an EU level response to counter the increasing inequality

in the EU and the impact of the crisis that led to an increase in social exclusion and poverty. Social

Investment means investing in people’s skills and capacities. It means to address people’s different

needs, develop personalised responses to activate their skills at the different stages of people’s lives

and put a stronger emphasis on prevention. For tackling inequalities and disadvantages early is one of

the best ways to overcome education inequality and help children live up to their full potential.

To find these solutions, social innovation is needed and should be embedded in policy making and

connected to social priorities, such as implementing country specific recommendations (including

through the use of the European Social Fund).

In short, the SIP is an EU level response to:

foster social protection systems that prevent against risks, respond as early as possible and

respond to people's needs throughout their lives

activate and enable benefits and services to support people's inclusion in society and the

labour market

contribute to more effective and efficient spending to ensure adequate and sustainable social

protection

The SIP has a clear focus on social policy innovation: It aims at embedding innovation in evidence-

based policy making (with regard to the transfer and scaling of social innovation) and supporting and

creating an enabling environment for innovators and social entrepreneurs.

What is needed for social innovation and the implementation of the SIP?

Like Peter Ramsden, Mr. Fernández López highlighted the need of offering people tailored benefits

and solutions in order to capacitate them. There’s also a need for joining up quality education,

training, lifelong learning opportunities and job search assistance, along with housing support, health

services and adequate social assistance. Thirdly, public spending can become more effective and

efficient; simplifying benefit administration can save time, money, and make accessing support easier.

Improving the targeting of some benefits and services can also be helpful in ensuring that those most

in need receive adequate support.

A key point, Mr. Fernández López emphasized is the role of public authorities. Only with the

involvement of public authorities can sustainability and systemic change be reached. Other lessons

learned include the need to develop broader partnerships and to adjust methodologies for measuring

social outcomes.

A stronger focus on returns and results is needed to promote evidence based policies and make

public spending more effective. In the Progress axis of the new EaSI programme, social

experimentation is promoted. Using a control group methodology it is tested if a certain project has a

significant impact or not.

The reason behind this is that, as it is put in the EU Guide to Social Innovation,

“what Europe lacks is not only social innovation, but also its scaling-up and capacity to influence the

policy frameworks. On the other end, policy reforms are insufficiently based on evidence as well as

evaluation of their impacts.”

The focus on measurement and results allows to assess what has worked and what has not as a pre-

condition for the transferability and scaling-up of social innovation and evidence based policies. He

also emphasized the importance of supporting and creating an enabling environment for innovators

and social entrepreneurs.

The Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)

The aim of EaSI is to support Member States with their social policy innovation and reform of social

services and will help them with measuring social outputs. Besides, training and capacity building

activities will be provided.

The umbrella programme combines the three programmes Progress (61% of the budget), EURES

(18% of the budget) as well as a Microfinance and Entrepreneurship axis (21% of the budget).

Progress aims to develop and disseminate analytical knowledge, promote mutual learning and will

also support NGOs while the objective of EURES is to foster a closer cooperation between the EU

Commission and Member States’ public employment services in order to encourage mobility (for

more information see: programme brochure (also available in German and Swedish).

EaSI also provides funding for helping the creation and scaling-up of social enterprises. The Social

Enterprise axis in the EaSI programme will help social enterprises access finance via public and private

bodies which provide loans and other financial instruments to social enterprises. It will not directly

provide loans to social enterprises.

Mr. Fernández López emphasized the role of social entrepreneurs who contribute to widening the

supply of social goods and services and creating inclusive new employment. They also tend to bring

together different actors and adopt participatory organisational forms enhancing the co-production

process.

The European Commission in cooperation with MS will ensure that the programme is consistent with

other Union action such as the European structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs) in particular the

ESF. Equally, synergies should be pursued with other research and innovation programmes such as

Horizon 2020.

Social Innovation and the ESF

The scope for innovation has been enhanced for the ESF in the programming period 2014-2020 with

the regulation stipulating that “Member States shall promote social innovation”. Member States are

responsible for identifying the themes for social innovation corresponding to their specific needs in

their Operational Programmes and/or during implementation (Art 9 ESF regulation). Since social

innovation is intended to increase the effectiveness/efficiency of social policies, DG EMPL expects the

regional authorities to select their most pressing social challenges, which should be addressed by the

ESF investment priorities. There is also the possibility of a priority axis devoted to social innovation

and of an increasing of 10% in the co-financing rate.

Conclusion

Mr. Fernández López described social innovation as a tool to be applied to policy themes identified by

Member States. The framework for social innovation is there, now it is the responsibility of the

Member States to implement it part of their reforms in line with the Social investment package.

Special attention should be given to pursue broad partnerships between public authorities, the

private sector and civil society to deliver better results. Social innovation is needed to tackle today's

challenges and sustain our social protection systems. The important thing therefore is to connect

social innovation to all social and employment policies and to focus on results in order to achieve

more evidence based policies and a more systemic implementation of social innovations. Social

innovation should not be seen as a punctual commitment but a systemic task. Therefore public

authorities are needed as they are the ones who can make the change happen and initiate broader

partnerships among the various stakeholders.

Aurelio Fernández López presentation is available at our website here.

Project Presentations during our discussion rounds

The PowerPoint slides of our presenters can be accessed online at: http://berlin-

transfer.net/index.php/de/themen/soziale-innovationen/conference-documentation

Creation of Social Innovation

Graefewirtschaft e.V.

Graefewirtschaft e.V. is a social enterprise creating jobs for

migrants and refugees in the borough of Berlin-Kreuzberg.

Graefewirtschaft runs different businesses:

a restaurant, “die Weltküche”

a catering service

kitchens catering for schools, kindergartens and daycare centres

a canteen kitchen in the Berlin district of Marienfelde

household services and und care for the elderly

The different businesses employ 50 people and produce 90% of Graefewirtschaft’s income. The

remaining 10% come from public funding as currently for the project SoJung in the framework of the

ESF.

Graefewirtschaft was founded in 2009 by long-term unemployed migrants and Germans. Migrants

and asylum seekers are often denied access to the German labour market because of difficulties with

the recognition of qualifications acquired abroad or an unclear residence status. This is the gap where

Graefewirtschaft comes in, empowering migrants and refugees through secure jobs, in which they

can bring in and develop their competences. At the same time, services are created that reflect the

culturally diverse district with the different businesses having been developed based on local needs in

the neighborhood and the skills and capacities of the migrants.

Heike Birkhölzer is Chairperson of Technologie-Netzwerk Berlin e.V.; Director of Graefewirtschaft e.V.

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

RUFFBOARDS

Under the slogan “second chance for people and boards”, the

social start up RUFFBOARDS produces uniquely designed, high-

end longboards by upcycling used snowboards in a highly

integrative production process: Employing ex-offenders in the

manufacturing process, social impact is maximized.

Relapse figures in Austria resemble those in most other countries

with around 40% committing another crime offense; among the 14-17-year-olds this figure is even

higher with close to 70%. The first production round has been produced in cooperation with the

association NEUSTART offering re-socialisation aid to ex-offenders – in the long term, however,

RUFFBOARDS wants to employ the ex-offenders directly.

Combining ecological and social consciousness, Ruffboard found a gap in the market, appealing to the

LOHAs segment (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability). In her presentation, Melanie Ruff describes

RUFFBOARD’s concept but also the obstacles that she and her co-founder Simone Melda had to face

during the prototyping phase. For as Peter Ramsden explained in his keynote address, social

innovators need to be prepared to test and adjust their ideas “20 times if necessary”.

When it was clear that they needed to outsource their production, they decided to add a social

component to their ecological consciousness. The first idea was to foster women in technical work.

Their ideal cooperation partner for this was a production company led by a woman – which they

couldn’t find. Their next choice was to have their longboards produced by a socially disadvantaged

group. The choice fell on former prisoners, who, as explains Melanie, “are probably the

disadvantaged group with the smallest lobby”. Ruffboards first tried to have their boards produced

directly in prison workshops. But the right partner for this could not be found and they had to find a

new solution. The result was that they now produce with ex-offenders in cooperation with NEUSTART,

an organisation with more than 50-year experience with the integration of ex-offenders. However,

the plan is to directly employ more than 50 ex-offenders until 2016.

RUFFBOARDS was among the finalists of the European Social Innovation Competition:

http://socialinnovationcompetition.eu/410/

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

Social Impact GmbH

Nobert Kunz, Managing Director of the Social Impact GmbH, gave a

presentation on how the creation, implementation and scaling up of

innovative ideas can be supported.

Building on networks, crowdfunding and the exchange of ideas and design

thinking processes, Social Impact GmbH provides various support mechanisms

for social entrepreneurs. In the start-up phase, social entrepreneurs are

offered financial consulting and are provided with an idea finding as well as

crowdfunding platform and can be supported in establishing partnerships

with welfare organisations.

To guarantee a lasting impact, coaching is also provided in the stabilising and scaling up phase.

Networking and the sharing of ideas are fostered in co-working labs and special support is offered of

social start-ups in rural areas.

The non-profit Social Impact GmbH was founded in 1994 – under the name of iq consult – as an

organisation for innovative qualification. Since then they have developed products and services that

aim to contribute to ensuring sustainability and social exchange.

Since 2011, Social Impact offers support to social entrepreneurs from the business idea up to the

scaling of successful projects in the framework of the Social Impact programme consisting of:

Social Impact Start: a scholarship programme supporting social entrepreneurs in their

start-up phase (in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Leipzig; in Vienna, Zurich & Munich

hosted by IMPACT HUB

Social Impact Lab: a co-working space providing a platform for social entrpreneurs

consulting & qualification offers, shared services, networking, events and co-working space

(currently Berlin and Hamburg)

Social Impact Consult: consulting on spreading and scaling up social businesses

Social Impact Finance: a crowdfunding platform

Social Impact Net: an online platform with tools to develop a conclusive concept

Social Impact Local; support for projects for regional development in the rural area.

Social impact GmbH offers numerous services (e.g. consulting, co-working and network) in all aspects

of social entrepreneurship, promoting the creation of products or services for disadvantaged groups

(49% of scholarship holders), of empowerment/donation or aid projects (15% of scholarship holders)

or web 2.0 based solutions (36% of scholarship holders).

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

Norbert Kunz, Managing

Director

Networking Europe

Peter Ramsden, in his keynote speech, argued for a “free

movement of ideas”, highlighting the importance of mutual

learning. The aim of the Stockholm based, ESF-funded project

Networking Europe (conducted from March 2012-June 2014 by

the Sensus Study Association, represented by Maria Fladvad)

was exactly this: Innovation not always develops out of

something completely new. Often, new solutions come about

through the melting of different ideas.

The project has built on this potential and aimed to develop various skills through increased

cooperation with other EU Member States, especially those in the Baltic Sea region. A special focus

was on enhancing skills that help creating a more inclusive labour market. To achieve this, networks

were built, in particular around the Baltic Sea region in some of the areas prioritized by the EU

Commission for the upcoming Structural Funds period (2014-2020).

Networking Europe comprised the following networks:

Entrepreneurship and social innovation

Employment and labour mobility

Fight against Poverty and social exclusion

Stockholm Roma Network

The networks aimed to identify and link organizations and already existing networks in the Baltic Sea

region possessing real knowledge in the areas concerned, or alternatively to create new such

networks where they may still be missing. The purpose was to maximize the spread of new

knowledge and expertise, and to lay the groundwork for the launch of fresh projects - all in time for

the above Structural Funds period.

Networking Europe not only connected stakeholders across countries but also across sectors: In the

study visit across the Baltic Sea Regions representatives from municipalities, local and national

authorities took part alongside representatives from NGOs and social businesses.

Networking Europe was financed by the European Social Fund (ESF).

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

abz*kompetent und gesund (abz*austria)

The project abz*kompetent und gesund (translation:

abz*competent and healthy) by abz*austria started in 2011 with

the aim of enhancing the conditions and work satisfaction of

female mobile care workers aged 35 and older.

The care sector is largely female and low paid while requirements

are complex and societal recognition low. Conditions can be

improved and women employed in the mobile care services strengthened only through a joint effort

of the different stakeholders. With abz*kompetent und gesund this is achieved through a close

cooperation with companies in the mobile care sector and the integration of stakeholders in the field

of health, social and employment policies.

The success factor, as Daniela Schallert, Managing Director of abz*austria explains, is to “involve as

many perspectives and actors as possible”. Some of the burdens in the care sector are due to

information, communication and coordination deficits with other relevant systems influencing the

general working conditions. Consequently, the involvement of aspects like preventive health care,

burn out prevention and further education and training is essential. Another important success factor

is the involvement of stakeholders from all the different staff levels and professional backgrounds.

Exchange within and across organisations was proven to be highly appreciated and successful.

A lesson learned from the first project round was for example that impact can be increased by

addressing and empowering employees at lower managerial level as they hold a key position when it

comes to preserving employability and motivation of mobile employees. Another focus of the project

lies on researching and discussing international best practice in human resources and competence

development. abz*kompetent und gesund (abz*competent and healthy) is funded by the ESF

(European Social Fund) and WAFF (Vienna Employment Promotion Fund).

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

Internet café ZwischenSchritt (Samariterbund Austria)

Founded in April 2013, the internet café ZwischenSchritt is a day

centre for formerly homeless persons aiming at closing the digital

gap for the target group and counter exclusion. The project’s

primary target group are formerly homeless people; it does not

matter, however, if they live in one of Vienna’s homeless shelters

or already have their own apartments. ZwischenSchritt is based

on a peer-to-peer approach: The people who run the internet

café are formerly homeless persons themselves.

Claiming different services like benefits or allowances increasingly requires written or online requests.

At the same time, there are fewer social facilities which can take over this task for formerly homeless

people. This is where ZwischenSchritt comes in, empowering the target group in several ways, as

explained Gertrud Unterasinger, responsible for the management of the internet café

ZwischenSchritt: They broaden their computer and online skills and – especially the team members,

i.e. those formerly homeless persons who teach the internet skills – learn how to re-integrate into a

regular daily structure and acquire and develop competences. As a consequence, they might be able

to gain a foothold on the first or second labour market – allowing for a fluctuation that lets one of the

internet café’s visitors take over their role as team member. In this way, people who struggle with

their everyday life receive help for self-help as they recognise that they can take charge of their lives

again.

ZwischenSchritt was nominated for the SozialMarie prize in 2014.

Gertrud Unterasinger

picture credit: www.samariterbund.net

Implementation of Social Innovation

Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee and the project spacelab

Austria is a pioneer in tackling youth unemployment: Like

Finland, it already has adopted a vocational training guarantee

that serves as a model for the European wide Youth Guarantee.

Young people in Austria who cannot find a regular job or

vocational training offer within three months can start

vocational training in state funded training workshops – and

later change to vocational training in companies if possible.

Vienna has its own Vocational Training Guarantee, which puts special emphasis on a cooperative

strategy providing an example of how the problem of youth unemployment can be tackled in a joint

effort by the different actors involved from schools, public authorities and social partners to the

Public Employment Service. In order to guarantee a smooth collaboration between the different

stakeholders, a coordination unit was set up. For, as explains Dr. Eva Krennbauer, responsible for

municipal labour market policy at waff (Vienna Employment Promotion Fund) and member of the

coordination unit, conflicts of interests or systems often reveal themselves through quarrels on the

project level. These disagreements are solved by the steering group who tries to establish if the

problem lies on the concept, target or also system level and to find solutions in the best interest of

the target group. This coordinated approach, which is top-down as well as bottom-up, allows to

detect “system errors” and to evolve the system at all levels – a “laborious path”, according to Dr. Eva

Krennbauer, which, however “very well makes sense”.

Vienna's Vocational Training Guarantee, launched in 2010 provides an extensive offer for young

people on Vienna's labour market aiming at training and qualifying young people beyond compulsory

school level. The target group includes all young people in Vienna between 14/15 (when they

complete compulsory school, i. e. grade 9) and 21 (completed 20th year of age). as a model for the

European Youth guarantee

For further information on Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee please refer to:

http://www.waff.at/html/en/index.aspx?page_url=Wiener_Ausbildungsgarantie&mid=369

The project spacelab

The main objective of spacelab is to create professional perspectives for young people. A central part

of the project is open youth work where social workers reach out for the youth in public places. The

project, which was awarded the Austrian ESF innovation award in 2013, shows convincing results with

36% of the participants having started a scholar career, an apprenticeship, other qualification

programmes or got employed in 2013. 95% of the young people who have participated in the project

for more than three months stated that they got a vocational perspective.

In “spacelab” different institutions that provide training, information and advice and/or support for

young people work together under a cooperative strategy. Namely, these are: the Vienna Board of

Education, the Public Employment Service Vienna, the Federal Social Welfare Department for Vienna,

the Vienna Employment Promotion Fund, the MA 13 – Education and extracurricular youth support,

and the social partners.

Activation, career orientation, planning the future: spacelab – production school Vienna (PS Wien),

spacelab for short, constitutes a modular offer for youth and young adults aged 15 to 25, who are not

in education, employment or training (NEET). Based on many years of experience in this field, the

project represents a low-threshold institution within the framework of Vienna‘s Vocational Training

Guarantee and has several locations in Vienna.

The project is implemented in a modular approach:

open youth work: young people are contacted by youth workers in public places, shopping

malls or parks

‘developing perspectives’: with coaches young people develop plans for their future

Daily training: in the different spacelabs (environment, creative and spacelab girls); partici-

pants get a pocket money of 10 EUR per day or, if they take part for six months in the frame-

work of a ‘workshop training’, an allowance by the Public Employment Service

Spacelab is funded by waff, the Vienna Employment Promotion Fund (Wiener ArbeitnehmerInnen

Förderungsfonds), and by AMS Vienna, the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice), with a

budget of 3.5 million euros. Furthermore, the project is supported by Vienna’s Municipal Department

13 (MA 13: Education and Youth Work), which provides infrastructure and personnel from its

Association of Youth Centres in Vienna.

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

JOBLINGE

About 8% of young people in Germany have problems entering the

labour market. JOBLINGE – initiated by The Boston Consulting

Group GmbH und die Eberhard von Kuenheim Stiftung der BMW

AG – brings together stakeholders from the public and the private

sector as well as civil society in order to help these young people to

integrate into the labour market. In the six months JOBLINGE

programme, young people acquire key competences in on-the- job

trainings. They are accompanied by the JOBLINGE staff and

voluntary trained mentors. 65 % of the young people find an

employment or enter an unsubsidized vocational training programme within a company after they

finish the JOBLINGE programme. JOBLINGE is organised through local charitable limited companies

(gemeinnützige Aktiengesellschaften – gAGs). Shareholders are companies, the public sector,

foundations and individuals. The local charitable company (gAG) is managed by a social entrepreneur

and controlled by the Supervisory Board members of the participating companies. All those involved

use their networks in order to establish cooperations with companies which are ready to take on

JOBLINGE participants as apprentices or employees.

Richard Gaul, Honorary Board of Joblinge, is the owner of Zehle-Gaul-Communications. Between

1985 and 2006, he was head of communications and head of public affairs at BMW.

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

Richard Gaul

Volkshilfe Österreich: THARA (Verena Fabris und Gordana Djordjevic)

In 2005 the Volkshilfe Österreich started the initiative THARA

aimed at integrating Roma and Romnija into the labour market.

THARA’s aim is the integration of Roma and Sinti into the labour

market in order to improve the socio-economic situation of the

target group in Vienna and to create awareness in society for the

existing inequalities and discriminatory practices Roma and Sinti

are faced with.

Fostering the concept of upward mobility through education and vocational qualification in

Roma/Sinti communities Roma/Sinti are empowered by means of education and qualification in

order to improve their chances of gaining employment and/or creating other means of income.

Community work is an important element of THARA, allowing for communication with the various

Roma groups in order to gather information about the needs of the communities. Great importance is

also given to networking with other associations, projects and NGOs working in a similar field. Other

staples of the project are counselling services for Roma and awareness raising workshops mostly for

NGOs, labour market institutions and projects and organisations in the health sector which are run by

THARA employees and the Roma themselves.

Created in the framework of an EU project and since then funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of

Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, THARA has developed and implemented a series of

successful labour integration measures for Roma and Romnja. What makes THARA special is the self-

understanding of its work that regards labour market integration and ethnic identity not as separate

but connected fields. With this integrative approach THARA aims at contributing to a fruitful co-

existence between Roma and non-Roma in the world of work.

In their presentation, Verena Fabris und Gordana Djordjevic put a special focus on the project Thara

Biznis (2013-14) aimed at fostering Roma entrepreneurship, reflecting the interest of the Roma

population – who have traditionally been engaged in trade – in self-employment. The project focused

on empowering the target group through small business coaching workshops and connecting,

enhancing the visibility and supporting Roma and Sinti founders and entrepreneurs.

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

Klaus-Dieter Paul, Gordana Djordjevic and

Verena Fabris (from left to right)

Transfer of Social Innovation

Blixtjobb

The aim of Blixtjobb is to empower and reintegrate

homeless and/or people living with substance abuse into

society by procuring them occasional jobs like easy

construction work, gardening, painting or cleaning. The

idea is to integrate the target group through

entrepreneurship instead of social work. They get a

regular pay for their work. 30% of customers are

individual households and 70% companies, many of

whom regard this commitment as part of their corporate

social responsibility. The project is financed through the

customers buying the services that Blixtjobb provides.

Blixtjobb can be seen as a method that creates empowerment, reduces substance abuse as well as

marginalisation and exclusion. On a national economic level it has the effect of moving people from

receiving benefits to contributing to society by the payment of personal taxes (taxes are deducted

from wages by Blixtjobb) as well as empowering the individual.

In their presentation, Johanna Nordenskjöld, Operational manager, and Victoria Engman-Broadley,

Development Manager, explained how the idea for Blixtjobb was transferred from Oslo. The concept

was tailored to the needs of the target group expressed by the individuals in interviews during field

studies, conducted by Kirkens Bymisjon (The Church City Mission) in Oslo. As in Oslo, the team

leaders supervising the Blixtjobb workers have a background with dependency problems themselves.

Unlike the Oslo project, Blixtjobb, however, was not able to procure public funding, which is why they

started small in 2011, from the start project costs have been covered by companies who are ready to

pay a little more for the services delivered, financing Blixtjobb’s work on top of the regular wage for

the workers. The project was able to produce very positive results: Substance abuse among the

Blixtjobb workers decreases as their empowerment and sense of belonging and meaning increases.

An obstacle the project leaders encountered is that the target group is largely seen as not being

capable of working. At least they are not encouraged to do so by welfare regulations that do not

”promote” earning: like in Germany, extra money earned is largely deducted from welfare benefits.

Blixtjobb is conducted by Stockholm City Mission (Stockholms Stadsmission), a 160 year old social

institution that aims to help children and young people in need of adult support; families in crisis;

young single parents with financial difficulties; young adults with psychological problems; young

parents needing support and advice; elderly people living in solitude; homeless men and women

struggling with substance abuse and/or psychological problems. Stockholm City mission runs several

assistance and therapy centres as well as social enterprises such as second-hand shops, production of

handicrafts and a restaurant and bakery allowing people outside the labour market to acquire skills

and earn some money; they are supported by a job integration program. Besides, Stockholm City

Johanna Nordenskjöld

Mission manages schools and educational institutions as well as Swedish language courses for

immigrants.

The PowerPoint slides of the presentation can be accessed here.

Schülerpaten

Schülerpaten Dachverband e.V. organises one on one tutoring

between mentors and mentees. Mentors, usually university and

doctorate students, are matched with children from families with

migrant backgrounds. Sherief El-Helaifi, Co-Founder, Board

Member, Head of Public Relations at Schülerpaten and student at

Technische Universität Berlin, explained how, unlike most other

mentoring projects, Schülerpaten focuses on the family and peer

environment instead of schools. The reason behind this is that the

migrant families’ relationships with the schools are often not

conducive to establishing meaningful mentoring relationships. Tutoring takes place in the privacy of

the mentee’s home, opening up a whole new world to the mentor and facilitating intercultural

education of both mentor and mentee. Thus, the concept of Schülerpaten is based on encouraging

contact between people with higher education and children with different cultural backgrounds and

fewer educational opportunities. People with different social and cultural backgrounds meet and

learn from one another, which leads to increased respect and a potent reduction in prejudices.

Through increased civil volunteering, social isolation is defeated. As a result, these otherwise partly

parallel societies grow into one of cooperation and benevolence.

The concept of Schülerpaten has already been transferred to Frankfurt am Main and the Ruhr region.

Further locations are planned. In order to spread the concept across Germany Schülerpaten builds on

its network. For instance, mentors or mentees who leave Berlin to study or work in other German

cities transplant the concept to these new locations. Success has proven them right: the project is

very well received by the altogether almost 400 mentees and their families and well recognised by

the specialist community as illustrated by the various awards Schülerpaten already has received.

Rudolf Netzelmann, Sherief El Helaifi and

Camilla Näslund

Jobbtorg

Jobbtorg is an initiative of the Stockholm Labour Market Administration introduced In 2008 to

activate and bring back into work unemployed people who are dependent on social welfare benefits.

Part of Jobbtorg’s mission of working is to test initiatives trying out

new ways of working for different projects and single out the best

ones to develop regular activities at Jobbtorg. Camilla Näslund,

Coordinator Labour Market Administration at Jobbtorg Stockholm,

gave a presentation on Jobbtorg’s approach to foster innovation:

Jobbtorg is conducting different projects with the aim to try out

new methods and ways of working, the best of which are then

adopted as regular activities at Jobbtorg. Two of these singled

out projects that were implemented on a larger scale as regular Jobbtorg activities are FILUR and

Merit:

FILUR is a project aimed at young unemployed people with special difficulties integrating into the

labour market. FILUR combines a self-strengthening method with the module “Try out a job”.

The basic idea with Merit was to work as a bridge between young people and the regular activities at

Jobbtorg in form of preparatory initiatives and try-it-out activities.

Further information on Jobbtorg, FILUR and Merit can be found in the brochure “Jobbtorg Stockholm

– The Stockholm Model reduces unemployment among young people”.

Camilla Näslund

Panel Discussion: How do we become social innovators and what is the role of

transnational exchange?

The panel discussion centered around the chances of transnational exchange, the importance of

the involvement of different actors and the organisational and cultural requirements needed to

foster innovation. The social challenges we are facing today – demographic change, migration or

youth unemployment to name but a few – have a transnational dimension. Besides, barriers to but

also potential risks of the concept of social innovation are the same for the different European

countries and are worth the exchange of best practice.

Our moderator Klaus-Dieter Paul launched the panel by addressing Dr. Peter Schloegl, Managing

Director of the Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational Training (öibf) on the potential risks of

social innovation. Mr. Schlögl referred to Peter Ramsden’s keynote speech highlighting the need to

“reframe the question”. Social problems such as youth unemployment always need to be put into the

wider context. Instead of focusing on the single factor of the unemployed youth, we should ask

ourselves: “What is the situation that produces the problem?” or even: “Who benefits from youth

unemployment?” Projects – innovative as they may be – can produce only selective effects. In order

to achieve a systemic perspective one has to be able to close the loop back to the system that

produces the problem. Like Peter Ramsden, Peter Schloegl warns of a too technocratic approach. The

risk is that scalable projects remain in the prototyping phase when the relevant actors miss the bigger

picture shying back from introducing revolutionary components.

Another question directed at Peter Schloegl was “Does social innovation always start in the gaps of

a system?” Drawing the comparison to the health area Peter Schloegl suggested to ask the question if

“social innovation is meant as first aid or general health policy” or rather: “Are we helping a bunch of

people or are we solving a social problem?” Again, he drew the line to the ‘bigger picture’ or the

From left to right: Robert Nyholm, EU Fund Coordinator, Arbetsförmedlingen; Antje Knuth, Senate Department for Labour,

Integration and Women’s Affairs, Vocational Qualification Unit; Maria Fladvad, project manager of “Networking Europe”; Dr.

Peter Schloegl, Managing Director of the Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational Training; Andreas Scholz-Fleischmann,

Executive Board of Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR) and Chairman of Leadership Berlin – Netzwerk Verantwortung e.V.

importance of the societal backing needed to turn a small into a big movement. What must not be

forgotten is that an innovation is only an innovation when it is accepted by the market; only if it is

accepted by the target group does it have social impact as Norbert Kunz, Managing Director of the

Social Impact Lab GmbH contributed from the audience.

What is essential for this – and this was later picked up by contributors from the audience – is a

certain mindset, the readiness to take risks or at least to try out something new, daring to take

unconventional decisions. This might imply a change of culture or even a “break the rules” culture, as

Victoria Engman-Broadly from the Stockholm City Mission put it. This applies for the public sector as

well as companies, where the term “social intrapreneurship” receives more and more attention as

Peter Kromminga, Managing Director of UPJ, pointed out. Or as Mathias Kuhlmann from the Berlin

ESF administration put it: “How innovation and bureaucracy can fit together is a discussion we still

have to have.”

How companies can bring in their knowledge and contribute to fostering social innovation is shown in

initiatives like Leadership Berlin – Netzwerk Verantwortung e.V. The initiative’s chairman, our panelist

Andreas-Scholz Fleischmann, Executive Board of Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR), illuminated

the role of companies in promoting social innovation. Bringing in private sector know-how and

networks, projects can be implemented and processes triggered that would not be possible in the

same scope otherwise. Networking initiatives like Leadership Berlin or JOBLINGE, represented at our

conference by honorary board and former head of public relations at BMW, Richard Gaul have the

flexibility and low level of bureaucracy that fosters innovation and allow for the mobilisation of the

know-how of the involved stakeholders in the social innovation process. Contributing from the

audience, Mr. Gaul highlighted the chances that lie in the cooperation of public and private sector

and the civil society as well as the need for individual, tailored services (as is the case with JOBLINGE,

where there is one voluntary mentor per mentee). Besides, the different stakeholder networks may

also serve as testbeds for the modernisation of organizational cultures. Accordingly, a stronger

involvement of funders might also prove beneficial.

More often than not innovation is created through the combination of different perspectives.

Chances for the latter lie not only in the cooperation of the different stakeholders but also in

transnational cooperation as Maria Fladvad, coordinator of the project “Networking Europe”

highlighted. The aim of this project was to exchange knowledge and experience. The moderated

exchange through projects like Networking Europe also allows for laying the groundwork for

developing new project ideas through the exchange with other European countries. This project

brought together not only stakeholders from different European countries but also from different

sectors. Maria Fladvad highlighted that the involvement of all stakeholders from the beginning is

essential. She still sees room for improvement regarding the involvement of NGOs whose knowledge

is needed to build capacity. Still, Ms Fladvad perceives a resistance to let them take part from the

beginning.

Regarding cooperation and exchange, also Antje Knuth from the Senate Department for Labour,

Integration and Women’s Affair, Vocational Qualification Unit, considers further action to be

necessary in the field of vocational education and training to promote a closer cooperation between

the single actors. This means that in project funding, priority should be given to collaborative and

cross-sectoral approaches.

Addressing Robert Nyholm, EU Fund Coordinator, Arbetsförmedlingen, moderator Klaus-Dieter Paul

directed the discussion towards funding opportunities for social innovation within the European

Social Fund (ESF) and EU programmes. Arbetsförmedlingen, together with Försäkringskassan, is

responsible for distributing the ESF in Sweden and will have an important role in the new funding

period of the ESF in Sweden. What Robert Nyholm wishes for in the new funding period are more

interdisciplinary, inter-ministerial approaches, more research and dialogue as well as a strong

commitment to integrating companies. Furthermore, the knowledge of small creative projects should

be used in further developing policy approaches. He pleads for more transnationality and European

mobility, for which adjustments in the assurance law might be necessary in order to prevent pitfalls.

Conclusions

Social innovation is facilitated by cross-sectoral cooperation, i.e. the systematic interconnection of the

public and private sector, companies, social economy and civil society organisations – with the result

of such a ‘co-creation’ process being bigger than the contribution of each individual partner.

Sometimes, incentives for new solutions come from within society itself – as it is the case with

Graefewirtschaft, which was founded by both refugees and native Germans. But even if a project is

implemented “top down”, it has become clear that the target group is the most important source of

information in developing a successful approach. The latter was shown by several of our presenting

projects: For the development of Blixtjobb an idea finding workshop with the target group and other

stakeholders was organised and the Roma project THARA works very closely with Roma community

organisations. Also Vienna’s Vocational Training Guarantee is based on a close coordination and

constant feedback loop between the operational and coordination level, showing that processes need

to be not solely top-down but also bottom-up.

To solve today’s complex social challenges different levers need to be pulled which requires the

involvement of the different stakeholders.

Fulfilling this potential might require a re-think, as our keynote speaker Peter Ramsden highlighted.

We need to move away from “end of the pipe solutions”, as he called it, and change what gets into

the pipe: Preventive measures – as promoted in the Social Investment Package – are needed. To

assess which of these have an impact, a stronger focus on results is necessary. The latter is

incorporated in various EU programmes, in particular EaSI, and the ESF which aim at supporting

public authorities to create and up-scale social innovation by “orchestrating processes of co-creation,

creating new solutions with people, not for them”8.

The EaSI/Progress programme provides the possibility of social experimentation, that is, to test

innovative solutions, measure them and then upscale the best ones with the help of the ESF.

Public sector authorities are encouraged to use these mechanisms to test and upscale innovative

measures and to facilitate systemic change.

8 EU Guide to Social Innovation, p. 14

However, not every innovation can be up-scaled, as Peter Ramsden pointed out. Sometimes

spreading is more appropriate in order to achieve improvements in different parts of the system,

thereby also improving the system as a whole in the sense of the marginal gains theory.

With such a broad approach, social challenges can be tackled, bringing Europe closer to the

objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. And most importantly: Ideas for social innovation come from

a great variety of stakeholders. Every one of us can be a social innovator. It only needs the courage to

go new ways, allowing for changing social relationships and new forms of collaborations that can

tackle old problems in a new way.

Changing perspectives can promote such a re-think. Understanding different perspectives through

transnational exchange can help trigger the development of new ideas. Also, as Peter Ramsden

highlighted, good practice should be spread in the process of transnational exchange and mutual

learning, allowing for innovative ideas to be applied elsewhere. This was the case with the project

Blixtjobb, which was transferred from Oslo.

Participants and contributors at our conference agreed that the cooperation between the three

regions Stockholm, Vienna and Berlin should be continued and deepened in the future. Their

motivation for this wish? All three regions face comparable challenges but may have found different

solutions for tackling them.

We hope that our conference has also contributed to the creation and spreading of new ideas and

further cooperation!

Annex: List of Participants

Conference “Social Innovation in the Metropolitan Regions of Vienna, Stockholm and Berlin:

Insights and Outlook”

date: 10.06.2014, time: 10:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m

Contact data of the participants

Name Email Company Project/ Department Position / responsible for…

Christiane Arndt c.arndt@ziz-

berlin.de

zukunft im zentrum

GmbH „QSInova“ Project Manager

Dr. Reiner Aster Reiner.Aster@gsub.

de

gsub - Gesellschaft für

soziale

Unternehmensberatung

mbH

Society for Social

Business Consultancy

Managing Director

Jörgen Bergwall jorgen@valideringsf

orum.se

Nordiskt

Valideringsforum AB Development Manager

Jean-Christophe Binetti binetti@convis.com CONVIS Consult &

Marketing GmbH

Heike Birkhölzer h.birkhoelzer@tech

net-berlin.de Graefewirtschaft e.V.

Berliner

Entwicklungsagentu

r für Soziale

Unternehmen und

Stadtteilökonomie

BEST

Berlin Development

Agency for Social

Enterprises and

Neighbourhood

Economy BEST

Chairperson of the Board

Kathrin Brandt kathrin.brandt@lv-

bb.brandenburg.de

Vertretung des Landes

Brandenburg beim Bund

Representation of the

Land Brandenburg to

the Federal Government

Teresa Carlsson-Szlezak teresa.carlsson-

szlezak@gov.se

Schwedische Botschaft

in Berlin

Swedish Embassy in

Berlin

Erste Botschaftssekretärin

Förste ambassadsekreterare

Name Email Company Project/ Department Position / responsible for…

Jennie Dau jennie.dau@gmx.de

Quintessenz

Konferenzdolmetschen

GbR

Interpreter

Gordana Djordjevic gordana.djordjevic

@volkshilfe.at Volkshilfe Österreich „THARA“

Career Guidance and

Information

Charlott Edselius

charlott.edselius@a

rbetsformedlingen.s

e

Arbetsförmedlingen

Swedish Public

Employment Service

Employment Adviser

Sherief El-Helaifi info@schuelerpaten

-berlin.de Schülerpaten e.V. Co-Founder

Victoria Engman-

Broadley

victoria.engman-

broadley@stadsmiss

ionen.se

Stockholms

Stadsmission

Stockholm City Mission

„Blixtjobb” Development Manager

Verena Fabris verena.fabris@volks

hilfe.at Volkshilfe Österreich “THARA” Head of Unit Social Policy

Aurelio Fernández López European Commission

DG for Employment,

Social Affairs and

Inclusion, Unit Social

Policies Innovation

and Governance

Policy Officer

Maria Flavad maria.fladvad@sens

us.se Sensus

„Networking

Europe“ Project Manager

Henrik Flor henrik.flor@buerger

mut.de Stiftung Bürgermut

OpenTransfer Camp,

Enter Magazin

Head Senior Editor &

Concept Developer

Richard Gaul kontakt@joblinge.d

e Joblinge gAG Berlin

honorary Board of Directors

and Mentor

Eva-Maria Henckel abuplus@abuplus.c

om

ABUplus International

GmbH Managing Director

Stefan Hermansson

stefan.hermansson

@arbetsformedlinge

n.se

Arbetsförmedlingen

Swedish Public

Employment Service

Maria Kiczka-Halit maria.kiczka-

halit@lok-berlin.de LOK e.V. Managing Director

Antje Knuth Antje.Knuth@senaif.

berlin.de

Senatsverwaltung für

Arbeit, Integration und

Frauen

Senate Department for

Labour, Integration and

Women's Affairs

Bereich Arbeit und

berufliche Bildung

Vocational

Qualification Unit

Name Email Company Project/ Department Position / responsible for…

Michael Kraft michael.kraft@sued

ost-ev.de südost e.V.

„Junge Roma in

Berlin“

„young roma in

Berlin“

Managing Director

Dr. Eva Krennbauer eva_krennbauer@w

aff.at

Wiener

ArbeitnehmerInnen

Förderungsfonds (waff)

Vienna Employment

Promotion Fund

“spacelab”

Network Coordinator

municipal employment

policy

Vera Krick verakrick@ubus.net u.bus GmbH XENOS Panorama

Bund

Project Manager;

Moderator of the

Conference

Peter Kromminga peter.kromminga@u

pj.de UPJ e.V. Managing Director

Mathias Kuhlmann mathias.kuhlmann@

senwtf.berlin.de

Senatsverwaltung für

Wirtschaft, Technik und

Forschung

Senate Department for

Economics, Technology

and Research

Norbert Kunz Kunz@socialimpact.

de Social Impact Lab GmbH Managing Director

Susanne Landgren Landgren@convis.co

m

CONVIS Consult &

Marketing GmbH Communication and Design

Dr. Anja Lietzmann a.lietzmann@kos-

qualitaet.de k.o.s GmbH Project Coordinator

Camilla Näslund camilla.naslund@sto

ckholm.se Jobbtorg Stockholm

Coordinator Labour Market

Administration

Rudolf Netzelmann rnetzelmann@ubus.

net

u.bus GmbH

u.bus GmbH – Regional

Development and

European Project

Management in Berlin

„XENOS Panorama

Bund“

Project Manager “XENOS

Panorama Bund”

Moderator of the „Transfer“

discussion rounds

Johanna Nordenskiöld

Johanna.Nordenskjo

ld@stadsmissionen.

se

Stockholms

Stadsmission

Stockholm City Mission

“Blixtjobb” Operational Manager

Robert Nyholm robert.nyholm@arb

etsformedlingen.se

Arbetsförmedlingen

Swedish Public

Employment Service

EU Fund Coordinator

Brigitte Oberhoff

Brigitte.oberhoff@in

ternationaler-

bund.de

Internationaler Bund

e.V. Wohnungslosenhilfe

Name Email Company Project/ Department Position / responsible for…

Karin Oster oster@bbj.de BBJ Consult AG General Manager

Klaus-Dieter Paul kdpaul@ubus.net

u.bus GmbH

u.bus GmbH – Regional

Development and

European Project

Management in Berlin

„Berlin Transfer“

Managing Director

Moderator of the panel and

the discussion rounds on

“creation of social

innovation”

Karin Paulsson karin.paulsson@sigt

una.se Sigtuna municipality

Dr. Diana Peitel diana.peitel@gsub.d

e

gsub – Gesellschaft für

soziale

Unternehmensberatung

mbH

gsub- Society for Social

Management Consulting

Project Manager gsub

Europe

Peter Ramsden Peterramsden2@gm

ail.com

Freiss Ltd

URBACT

Thematic Pole

Manager Economic

Development at

URBACT

Nina Roßmann nina_rossmann@ub

us.net

u.bus GmbH

u.bus GmbH – Regional

Development and

European Project

Management in Berlin

„Berlin Transfer“

Online Editor Berlin Transfer

Moderator of the discussion

rounds on “creation of social

innovation”

Melanie Ruff office@ruffboards.c

om RUFFBOARDS Co-Founder and CEO

Daniela Schallert daniela.schallert@a

bzaustria.at abz* austria

„kompetent und

gesund“

„competent and

healthy”

Managing Director

Dr. Peter Schlögl peter.schloegl@oeib

f.at

öibf - Österreichisches Institut für Berufsbildungs forschung Austrian Institute for Research on Vocational Training Vienna

Managing Director

Name Email Company Project/ Department Position / responsible for…

Bente Schmiade bente.schmiade@dg

b.de

Deutscher

Gewerkschaftsbund

(DGB)

German Trade Union Confederation

Kontakt- und

Beratungsstelle

(KBS) zur

sozialpartnerschaftli

chen Begleitung der

Umsetzung des ESF

in Brandenburg

2007-2013

(an information and

contact service for

the ESF

implementation in

Brandenburg 2007-

2013, involving the

social partners)

Project Manager

Regina Schmidt-

Roßleben

rrossleben@bildung

smarkt.org Bildungsmarkt e.V.

Project Manager;

Moderator of the discussion

rounds on “creation of social

innovation”

Andreas Scholz-

Fleischmann

Andreas.Scholz-

Fleischmann@BSR.d

e

Berliner

Stadtreinigungsbetriebe

(BSR)

Berlin City cleaning company

Netzwerk

Verantwortung e.V.

network

responsibility

Frank Schröder f.schroeder@kos-

qualitaet.de k.o.s GmbH Managing Director

Bianca Schulz b.schulz@aiic.net Interpreter

Bijan Sellahi sellahi@ubus.net

u.bus GmbH

u.bus GmbH – Regional

Development and

European Project

Management in Berlin

CSR Regio.Net

Project manager “CSR Regio.

Net”; Moderator of the

„Transfer“ discussion rounds

Cordula Simon

Cordula.Simon@bez

irksamt-

neukoelln.de

Bezirksamt Neukölln

District Office Neukölln Advisor on Europe

Gertrud Unterasinger gertrud.unterasinger

@samariterwien.at

Arbeiter-Samariter-

Bund Wien

Workers' Samaritan Federation Vienna

Internetcafé

"Zwischenschritt" Manager

Name Email Company Project/ Department Position / responsible for…

Boris Velter

Senatsverwaltung für

Arbeit, Integration und

Frauen

Senate Department for

Labour, Integration and

Women's Affairs

State Secretary for Labour at

the Berlin Senate

Department for Labour,

Integration and Women's

Affairs

Ellen Wölk ew@woelkundwoel

k.de wölkundwölk

Margrit Zauner Margrit.Zauner@se

naif.berlin.de

Senatsverwaltung für

Arbeit, Integration und

Frauen

Senate Department for

Labour, Integration and

Women's Affairs

Bereich Arbeit und

berufliche Bildung

Vocational

Qualification Unit

Head of Vocational

Qualification Unit