The Social Innovation Day, organised on 17 May 2024, brought together actors from the national social innovation ecosystem and provided an opportunity for organisations working in the field of social innovation, including SIXAGON, to learn about innovation projects in preparation and already underway. Zoltán Lengyel, Head of the Department of Strategy and Analysis of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, started the series of presentations by discussing the difficulties of defining social innovation and saying that "product and business process innovations have contributed significantly to development and globalisation, but their negative effects, such as the energy crisis, environmental pollution, unemployment and loneliness, are starting to emerge. There is a growing consensus that these challenges cannot be addressed by technological innovation alone, and that social innovation is needed to respond to societal needs, create new social connections, empower citizens and improve well-being and quality of life."
The National Laboratory for Social Innovation (TINLAB) was also presented at the Professional Day. First of all, project manager Ákos Pozsonyi, representing the ELTE Innovation Centre, which is leading the consortium, presented the mission of TINLAB, the R&D focus areas (social impacts of digitalisation; social innovations improving quality of life; social innovation methodologies; culture, competence and human capital) and the results achieved so far, as well as further activities within the National Competence Centres for Social Innovation project. Szabolcs Hollósi, President of the consortium partner HÁRFA (Network for Regional Development Foundation), also highlighted the wide range of TINLAB's activities. Szabolcs Hollósi spoke about the concept of "City as a lab", which provides an opportunity for small-scale testing of experimental developments. The HÁRFA-led programme also includes the SIXAGON partnership project "Be a Number Queen!", which is currently being piloted in Debrecen.
Thanks to the National Contact Point for EaSI for the invitation.
