Being aware of environmental and societal engagement and inclusion issues and how our individual actions and the actions of organisations, be they public, private or third sector, impact on these is currently at the forefront of high-level debates at EU, national and international levels. Crucial dimensions to generating sustainable positive impacts are heightening the degree of awareness about and equipping people with the knowledge and expertise to address these issues.
Two ERASMUS+ projects, managed by staff at the South East Technological University (SETU), are working with leading experts from Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Romania, and The Netherland to develop curricula and pedagogical techniques and tools to equip people with knowledge, expertise and knowhow to address Grand Societal Challenges.
One of the projects, EMBRACE, has already developed a European Corporate Social Entrepreneurship (CSE) curriculum, a Handbook for CSE, and a free learning and a knowledge warehouse for those who are interested in creating an enabling entrepreneurial environment and fostering CSE in their organisations (see https://cselab.eu/ ). The other project, DIFUCH, is developing a digital-future challenge-based learning joint programme designed within an innovative and flexible academic structure and framework which is multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral and has future skills-oriented modules (micro-credentials), new curricula and learning pathways that include digital literacy and prior knowledge recognition models.
Both projects have collaborated to present Social Innovation and Education: Empowering Youth to be Future Leaders & Problem Solvers. This is a free 2-day conference that is open to students, academics, teachers, business owner/managers, entrepreneurs, as well as executives and all employees of public, private and third sector organisations.
Day 1 of the conference takes place at the Granville Hotel, Waterford on 29rth November. During Day 1 attendees will hear about the importance of empowering youth to build Future Leaders; they will also hear about Design Based Education and Digital Future Challenges developing collaborative problem solving processes and techniques. The audience will be presented with case studies from IBM, Thriftify and GIY that explore game-changers in empowering youth, graduate skills needed to address future challenges and propagating dynamism in future oriented organisations. You can watch online here.
Day 2 of the conference takes place in the National College of Ireland (NCI), Dublin on the 30th November. During Day 2 attendees will learn why CSE is a new paradigm for business. Attendees will also be presented with practical experiences from companies such as Alkemio and Origin Chain Networks. Topics include case studies on how empowering society provides a platform to succeed in working on Grand Societal Challenges together; and the importance of working with representatives from diverse sectors to bring traceability, transparency and trust to trade.
To learn more and to register for either or both days of the conference click here.
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).
