The Social & Business Co-Creation: collaboration for impact is the online competition, where social causes and business come together. The organisers are looking for innovative co-creation projects from all over Europe, bringing together different actors to solve urgent social issues. Organisations aimed at creating social impact, as well as corporations and public institutions are invited to participate. The deadline for applications is 10 April.
“Our target is to increase awareness for co-creation between social-mission organisations, traditional businesses and public institutions,” Katharina Petrasch, consultant for strategic partnerships at Ashoka, told inventures.eu.
The competition is looking for projects that incorporate new forms of interaction between social and business to create a shared value at scale. Entries can cover a wide range of solutions, from innovative job creation schemes, to the development of products that address the main needs of underserved populations, among others.
There are four main categories that applicants can choose from: new products and services, last-mile distribution, job creation and inclusive supply chains; however, they will also have the possibility to create their own category should their proposal not fit any of the above. Submissions must also involve one company of any size and one social-mission organisation (e.g. an NGO, a social enterprise) working together on a joint project. And this is just the minimum. Applications that have more than two partners and involve public institutions, too, are very much encouraged to participate.
So far, Ashoka has reported 39 submissions and with three weeks left, Petrasch expects them to at least double. The finalists will be announced at the end of May, and the winners, a month later. The top project will receive 20.000 euros in prize money, while the two runner-ups will get 10.000 euros each. For more information on the rest of the prizes, visit the competition’s website.
“For everyone that wants to apply I have three recommendations,” said Petrasch and advised: “See what you can learn from [the other applicants] in order to make your own positioning clearer. Feel free to ask questions and give feedback to other applicants and listen to the comments that you receive.” Note that until the deadline, 10 April, you can always go back and revise your application online. And also, Petrasch added: “Be different. Use videos, pictures or whatever brings your project to life. Not only the outcome counts, but also the way how you arrived at your proposal.”
The Social & Business Co-Creation Competition is organised by Ashoka, the Zermatt Summit Foundation, Fondation Guilé, DPD, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
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