EMBRACE is an EU funded project within the ERASMUS+ Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices - Knowledge Alliances programme. The focus of the EMBRACE project is to address the issues of social inclusion, social equality and engaging society in research and innovation processes to generate solutions responsive to societal needs. The foundation stone of developing such an inclusive, collaborative, socially aware entrepreneurial society is: Education.
Education from the individual perspective whereby Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) generate more rounded, employable graduates capable of contributing immediately to the intrapreneurial and social responsibilities of their employers. Equally, in parallel, education from the business perspective whereby entrepreneurs, owner/managers of micro-enterprises and SMEs, as well as senior executives of corporate entities are more enlightened and aware of their social responsibilities both within and external to their organisations. It is in essence the development of sustainable Corporate Social Entrepreneurship (CSE) and Corporate Social Entrepreneurs.
Today’s conference, Transforming organisations and education for societal sustainability, is a major milestone in this CSE journey. Hanze University of Applied Sciences, who led the EMBRACE project team in the development of the European Corporate Social Entrepreneurship Curriculum (ECSEC), are hosting today’s conference. During the conference attendees from academia, government organisations, industry and civic society organisations (the Quadruple Helix actors) will have the opportunity to input to and validate the ECESC.
According to János Czafrangó, a member of the EMBRACE Advisory Board, a proponent of continuous lifelong learning and named on the ‘Social Innovators’ Map’ of ASHOKA since 2015, “the EMBRACE project team has performed tremendous work in a short period of time culminating in this conference which will significantly change the way businesses address social inclusion and their social responsibilities”.
Professor Bill O’Gorman, the EMBRACE Project Leader, stated that “today’s conference is also a major milestone in the blurring of the boundaries between academia, government organisations, industry and citizens; in that it brings these entities together to address a common goal – the betterment of society globally”.
EMBRACE project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. University of Porto is one of the partners, through U.Porto Inovação and Instituto de Sociologia from the University of Porto. (IS-UP). The other partners are: Waterford Institute of Technology (Ireland), Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania), DRAMBLYS (Spain), Budapest University of Technology and Economics - BME (Hungary), National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania), Domhan Vision (Germany), Hellenic Management Association (Greece), Digital Technology Skills Limited (Ireland), and Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen (Netherlands).
