Today, the event "Days of Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in Istria" was held in Pula. It was organized by the Public Institution "Regional Coordinator of the Istrian Region for European Programs and Funds" and the Foundation for Partnership and Civil Society Development.
The "Days of Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in Istria" began with an introductory presentation of the + Resilient Project and the achieved results, one of which is the Regional Center for the Development of Social Innovation "ReCeD'Istria". Namely, the Project + Resilient is aimed at developing and encouraging the development of social entrepreneurship and social innovations, as well as networking all stakeholders and decision-makers who can help in this process.
The topic of the first panel discussion was the importance of social entrepreneurship and social innovations for the development of the local community, and the guest panelists were: Lana Lovašić, consultant for social innovation, assoc. prof. dr. Kristina Afrić Rakitovac, Kristian Korunić, business consultant, and Vjeran Piršić, President of the Eco Kvarner Association.
The next topic, which is very important in the aspect of social entrepreneurship and social innovations, is the measurement of social impact. Namely, just yesterday we finished the process of setting the framework for measuring social impact under the leadership of Darko Ciglar from the ACT group, and one of the participants was also Sonja Grozić - Živolić, head of the Board for Health and Social Welfare of Istria. Darko Ciglar pointed out that we all have to get out of the position of "shareholder" and put ourselves in the position of "stakeholder" because if there is no organizational change or any other change, there is no impact. The proper use of resources - human, financial and others - that we have at our disposal is in question because they are decreasing. Sonja Grozić - Živolić pointed out that participating in the education of measuring and managing social impact is part of her professional responsibility. Namely, the system works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and decisions that are made reflect on the lives of individuals and the whole community, so Grozić-Živolić pointed out that she is not satisfied if the decisions made are not validated in a reasonable way. Thus, the conclusion is that the methodology of measuring and managing social impact should be part of the daily logical process and intertwined into organizational processes.
In the second part, an interactive workshop "Through social innovation to common solutions to local problems: recycling: an opportunity for entrepreneurship and the creation of new values" was held, moderated by Vjeran Piršić, Lana Lovašić and Helga Možé. The intention of the social innovation workshop was to reach a concrete solution that can be implemented and realized in terms of the relevant problem in cooperation with various stakeholders. The practical process began with a brainstorming session on the topic of the potentials in Pula and Istria - infrastructural, human, technological and other potentials - identified in accordance with the topic of plastic recycling through social entrepreneurship. This was followed by the establishment of all the necessary elements of the future social enterprise such as space, organizational structure, necessary resources and etc. The most important attainment achieved at the workshop, are the ideas that approach production or business processes in an innovative way, and which solve the problems of waste separation and the lack of recycling. Especially plastic. In addition, the process was approached very realistically, so the capacities and availability of potential stakeholders were immediately assessed. All of the above indicates that the workshop resulted in a quality and achievable idea ready for further elaboration.
The "Days of social entrepreneurship and innovation" will also be held in Buje, Labin, Poreč, and Rovinj on specific topics. These workshops will last 2 hours (from 1 pm to 3 pm) and the dates are as follows:
BUJE "Children and Youth" - 16.09., Public Open University (City Hall, 1st floor), Trg J.B. Tita 6
POREČ „Economy and Entrepreneurship“ - 06.10., Dom obrtnika Poreč (Partizanska ul. 5a)
ROVINJ „Youth“ - 22.09., Meeting room Italian Community Pino Budicin, Trg Campitelli 1
The events will be held in accordance with measures to prevent the spread of the COVID - 19 coronavirus pandemic and the number of participants is limited.
Registration is required and available on the following link: https://forms.gle/SNzMJ45jGingMmyY9.
The "+ Resilient" Project is funded by the Interreg Mediterranean 2014-2020 program from the European Regional Development Fund. The project is co-financed by the Office for Non-Governmental Organizations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. The project involves 14 partners from 8 Mediterranean countries and aims to network, connect and transfer knowledge and good practices to encourage and develop social innovation and influence the creation of stronger institutional support at the European level.