Partners

The Autokreacja Foundation aims at fostering the attitude of active participation in the civil society. Through various initiatives in the field of social economy we contribute to the civilizational, cultural and economic development of Poland. We want to put the spotlight on problems of diverse social groups that are often marginalized, that is why we focus on cooperation with long-term unemployed, youth from underprivileged regions, unemployed women, elderly people, immigrants and refugees. Many of our projects were designed to favour multiculturalism and intercultural exchange by bringing together different lifestyles, points of view and philosophies. Our conviction that sharing, experiencing and debating are the best ways to progress, permits us to be open to new initiatives and to welcome with enthusiasm possibilities of cooperation with organizations dealing with different domains in many countries and cultures all over the world.

We set up the Autokreacja Foundation because we like working with people. That is why in our projects we invest time and energy in initiatives which give us opportunity to directly interact with people – we organise and run workshops, trainings and cultural events with the aim of helping people of all walks of life and in a variety of life situations develop their potential and communicate with one another.
We started working together in 1992 but it was in 2010 when our formal activity as a Foundation started.

Scope of operation of the Foundation:
• Social projects for business
• Integration projects
• Occupational trainings
• Educational projects
• International projects and exchanges
• High-quality publications and reports.

www.autokreacja.org

DRAMBLYS: Social Creativity Lab is a non-profit organization located in Spain that works for the promotion of social innovation. DRAMBLYS combines sociological imagination & inquiry with social creativity and design to approach, explore, and innovate solutions to emerging social problems in order to strengthen local capacity and foster social innovation and creativity. DRAMBLYS designs and implements a range of initiatives and project, based on social research, participatory and experiential methodologies, for the promotion of social growth and competitiveness. Dramblys main programmes and areas of expertise include the following: programmes design and evaluation, data visualization and social innovation design, development and management.

In DRAMBLYS, we aspire to serve as an interactive platform and meeting point to exchange, design, inspire and promote social innovation projects and creative alternatives, both globally and locally. We aim to facilitate creative dialogues and co-create sustainable alternatives and so, to inspire new social entrepreneurs and community leaders & promote sustainable ways of living.

DRAMBLYS operative strategy is based on the following activities:

• Promotion and implementation of activities to support social innovation (research, analysis of case of studies, etc.);
• Development of specific tools (ICT and non ICT based working methodologies) to answer social challenges;
• Consultancy services on social innovation for public and private organizations (companies, professional associations, public bodies, public administration, NGOs, social actors); and
• Collaboration in multilateral projects at national, European and International levels aimed to:
• Create formal and informal networks on innovation ecosystem (including human capital; social entrepreneurship; alternative funding; training and learning, etc.);
• Design, develop and coordinate socio-economic research activities within the framework of European and international partnerships;
• Capacity building and training;
• Define and implement communication and dissemination activities through social networks;
• Involve and dynamise multi-stakeholder based pilot and demonstration activities;
• Define and design evaluation tools, according to European and international indicators and standards;
• Develop socioeconomic studies, etc.

www.dramblys.org

InterMediaKT – Interactive Media Knowledge Transfer is a non-profit organization working as a broker for vocational education, training and innovation. We aim at supporting, inspiring and empowering actions of evolving business and entrepreneurship. Located in Patras, Greece, we provide an effective promotion of knowledge and vocational training through e-learning activities. What is more we are looking to expand our network of activities and partners on both a national and international level, believing in and pursuing exchange of knowledge, experience and know-how, along with the empowerment of a “citizen of the world” profile for EU citizens. Our direct aims include:

• supporting youth entrepreneurship & youth workers,
• an effective promotion of knowledge, vocational and adult training through e-learning activities,
• promoting science and advanced technologies as a tool for becoming better citizens and more competitive professionals,
• support of local development through releasing the potential of alternative tourism,
• strengthening social cohesion by taking care to consider equality of genres, nationalities and groups, as well as encouraging professional participation whilst offering employment training programs for vulnerable groups.

www.intermediakt.org

At the Young Foundation, we work to create a more equal and just society, where each individual can be fulfilled in their own terms. Inspired by Michael Young and his life-changing work pioneering new innovative projects and ideas, we work with communities across the UK and beyond to harness the power of social innovation to tackle inequality.

Our approach has been refined over six decades of innovation across sectors. It is founded on research, partnerships and social venturing. We use methods and tools developed through our long history of nurturing ground-breaking social innovations like the Institute of Community Studies, the Open University, The Consumers Association, the Economic and Social Research Council, the School of Social Entrepreneurs, Studio Schools and many others. Through ethnographic and participatory research, movement building, design and entrepreneurship we enable the creation and scaling of new interventions, movements and institutions that empower people to work together to address inequality and lead happier and more meaningful lives.

Our team of research, community development and innovation specialists work across the UK, from our original Bethnal Green office in the East End of London and our growing network of city and regional teams in Northern Ireland, Leeds, Wales and Montreal. In recent years, we have worked with over 200 unique funding partners including national governments in four continents, the world’s leading social givers and investors, public services of every kind and hundreds of social enterprises and entrepreneurs. As a result we have supported thousands of people across hundreds of communities to take their innovations to scale through world leading programmes like The Accelerator, Realising Ambition, TEPSIE, Better by Design, Community First, and The Young Academy. We are a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, governed by our experienced Board of Trustees.

Vision

We believe inequality undermines the economy and corrodes well-being, leaving its mark on communities, relationships, aspirations and self-worth. We believe little about the future of society is inevitable. Bound by our shared humanity, we believe we collectively have the power to tackle inequality and shape the societies and communities we want to live in by harnessing the power of social innovation. We believe our work over half a century demonstrates:

• Community asset based development fosters action
• Movements can shift cultures and mandate policy change
• Innovation points the way to a step change in impact
• Community leadership support of experimentation and new ideas, including through changes in funding, infrastructure arrangements, policy & regulation, leads to sustained change.

Mission

We are a research and action based institute with a formidable track record of confronting inequality. We work across the UK and internationally to create insight and innovations which put people at the heart of social change. We do this through research, work with communities and social innovation. We also bring together leading thinkers and policy makers around the world to develop new ideas to confront inequalities and create fairer societies.

Values

• We are bold, creative, and open minded.
• We always aim for excellence.
• We act with honesty, fairness and integrity.
• We believe the best things happen when people work together.
• We value difference and believe in inclusivity.

www.youngfoundation.org

POS4work – Patras Office Space is a private company that combines coworking space, incubator and maker space. Our aim is to empower and support the local business ecosystem through networking, mentoring, training and providing facilities to startups, small companies and freelancers.

Our incubation program provides training of a variety of essential skills such as business development, marketing and soft skills with workshops and mentoring to early stage startups. Furthermore, we organize educational workshops, seminars and meetups in fields such as entrepreneurship, programming, internet of things, digital marketing etc.

We have developed partnerships in order to provide specialised services to companies, organizations and citizens.

The key points of our actions are presented below:

• Hosting the international hackathon: “Global Game Jam”
• Co-organizing a 3day workshop “Match and Develop a Startup” with National Bank of Greece
• Co-organizing the student startup contest: “Mindspace Challenge”
• Co-organizing series of workshops and seminars for Europe Code Week
• Co-organizing a business meeting with Ambassador of US in Greece with local startups.
• Co-organizing a business meeting with Funding Organizations at the bigest Forum for Economics in Patras
• Collaboration with the University of Patras to develop a pre-incubator for students
• Stakeholders in the Osiris Intereg EU program

Further more, we have participated in several seminars, discussions and panels about innovation and technology.

• “The local ecosystem for innovative and smart entrepreunership”, Patras IQ
• “POS4work, The first coworking space in Patras”, Open Coffee
• “Supporting entreprenership and innovation”, Startup Europe comes to Universities
• “Business discussion”, TEDxLamia

www.pos4work.gr

At Patreos Street 86 was created the first cafe in Patras where people with mental health problems work – members of the Association for Mental Health (SOPSY) of Patras.

The space also functions as a cultural and exhibition center. Cultural events take place on a regular basis: Music, poetry, book presentations, art exhibitions, photographic exhibitions, theatrical events, social documentary presentations, children’s events. Also, the creations of the members of SOPSY Patras are also exhibited from time to time.

Coffee Bridges hopes to be a brave act against stigma associated with mental illness, prejudice and marginalization experienced by people with mental health problems.

The creation and equipment of the cafeteria was carried out with the significant funding of the VINCI ASSOCIATION.
The Vinci Association (Greek branch of the Fondation VINCI pour la Cité) is the social arm of the VINCI Group and started its activities in Greece in 2011. Its aim is to pursue social solidarity through social integration programs. The following method is to support initiatives that have a sustainable dimension: that is to say, it provides the conditions for the development of actions that will last for an indefinite amount of time.

Coordinator of the VINCI Association is Yiannis Freris (also General Coordinator of the Association of Social Agents “Solidarity Pillars” of Bridge SA), while the Communications Director of Olympia Odos SA, Sofia Stamou as a company employee of the Group undertook the underwriting of the program creating the cafeteria. In Greece – apart from VINCI CONCESSIONS and VINCI CONSTRUCTION HELLAS, the companies – the shareholder of which is the VINCI Group – are the Bridge, Olympia Odos, Aegean Motorway.

www.cafegefyres.gr