Auteur/autrice : Laura Delsol

SOS GROUP is committed to social entrepreneurship as part of the French Presidency of the Council of The European Union.

Posted on | by Laura Delsol

At the beginning of January 2022, the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union began for a period of six months. In this context, the French President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech lauching this presidency and detailing its several objectives. He highlighted the promotion of democracy and gender equality, the protection of the environment and the development of a partnership with the African continent in the economic sector. Commitments and ambitions that will, surely, open up great opportunities for social entrepreneurship organisations!

The SOS GROUP is eager to play an active role in this Presidency by further contributing to the development of social entrepreneurship at the European scale. To do so, SOS GROUP’s entities will organise a series of labelled events in the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union:

H7: this innovation hub will organise an event called « For an ethical, inclusive and sustainable European entrepreneurial and technological ecosystem » in the French city of Lyon. The event will consists of workshops and conferences focusing on the development of a European entrepreneurial tech ecosystem that integrates the ethical, environmental and democratic values of the EU.

Impact Tank: through its event organised in Paris called « Universities and social entrepreneurs, united for a positive impact economy in Europe », Impact Tank aims to stimulate a debate on how to better encourage universities to conduct research on the impact of social innovations by social enterprises.

Mlezi Maore: organised in the French island of Mayotte, the event « Wandering young people in Mayotte: from observations to innovative ways of inclusion » will address the issues of educational and social support for young people who are wandering or in a migration situation. Through round tables and an exhibition, this event will also be an opportunity to question the dynamics of social inclusion in Mayotte.           

Through these events, SOS GROUP intends to reaffirm its willingness to actively contribute to the development of social entrepreneurship during the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

« MANA : the trajectory of migrant women towards success » : a project co-financed by the European Social Fund for women in the French city of Bordeaux

Posted on | by Laura Delsol

Created in 2002, MANA is an association belonging to the SOS GROUP « Solidarity », which works in favour of access to law to the inhabitants of the economically disadvantaged neighbourdhoods of the Aubiers, in Bordeaux.

« MANA : the trajectory of migrant women towards success » project, co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF), ran from January 2021 to December 2021. It was set up following the observation that migrant women living in the Aubiers district of Bordeaux, face two main issues hindering their professional integration: difficulties in mastering the French language and a lack of knowledge regarding their access to basic social and professional rights. The project’s objective was therefore to fight against job insecurity by accompanying these women in the definition of their professional project.

A total of 27 migrant women, aged between 20 and 54 have benefited from this project and have participated in various activities including: sociolinguistic workshops, awareness raising on access to rights, employment training as well as artistic creation and art therapy workshops meant to help them regain self-confidence. They have also benefited from reinforced French language courses in view of entering the job market.

This project has been a real opportunity for professional and social integration for these women, as expressed by Nassima, who has been supported by the association for several years, during her interview with Ms Brigitte Botte, Editor-in-Chief of Ressources & territoires at the department of Gironde: « Here, we find ourselves. I discovered, through what they gave me, what I can do for myself. I was born in MANA ». Therefore, this project is a real success and the MANA team intends to continue with this type of action!

Online Workshop on Mental health and exit programmes in the framework of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN).

Posted on | by Laura Delsol

Last Tuesday 7th December, the Groupe SOS Solidarités – ASSFAM/ARTEMIS organised an online Workshop on Mental health and exit programmes in the framework of the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN). The RAN connects frontline practitioners from across Europe with one another, and with academics and policymakers, to exchange knowledge, first-hand experiences and approaches to preventing and countering violent extremism in all its forms.

The aim of this workshop was to provide European Member States with lessons for policy formulation regarding mental health and psychosocial service provision in exit work.

This RAN Policy Support workshop is linked to an upcoming ad hoc paper regarding the same topic that will count with the contribution of our experts at Groupe SOS Solidarités – ASSFAM/ARTEMIS.

Four SOS Group structures have been selected by the Erasmus+ programme!

Posted on | by Laura Delsol

This October, four organisations of the GROUPE SOS have obtained funding from the Erasmus+ programme in order to implement their project in partnership with different European organisations:

-Acta Vista: as lead partner for the « Fostering heritage safeguarding and social inclusion in Europe » project, this association wishes to lead a strategic partnership to make the renovation of European heritage a lever for professional, social and environmental inclusion. The project’s ambition is the exchange of good practices through the joint design of a training of trainers course in partnership with organisations based in Belgium, Spain, Greece and Croatia.

-PULSE: leader of a consortium gathering five partners, the project « E4NEETS » aims to fight against the exclusion of young adults by developing innovative training tools for the teams of support organisations working with NEETs, to enable them acquiring entrepreneurial skills.This project is carried out in partnership with organisations located in Serbia, Spain and Northern Macedonia. 

-H7: this accelerator wants to set up a cooperation network to work on different identified issues and facilitate collaborations between startups across Europe with the project « Grow Impact For Tech ». The objective is to help young European technology companies emerge while jointly supporting growth and societal impact for a responsible and ethical European entrepreneurship. H7 is conducting this project in partnership with organisations located in Belgium.

-Artemis-ASSFAM :  With the #ReEngagedEU project, the objective is to equip and encourage the development of the skills of professionals accompanying NEETs, in order to set up remobilisation courses through audiovisual and Media and Information Education (MIE). For this purpose, a remobilisation pathway through audiovisuals will be created and playful activities will be organised to develop the softskills of young NEETs. Organisations based in Italy, Belgium and Spain are in partnership with Artemis-ASSFAM to develop this project.

4 SOS Group organisations are looking for host partners – Erasmus+ 2021 accreditation, Action 1: Partnership in adult and vocational education and training

Posted on | by Laura Delsol

This year, 4 SOS Group organisations have obtained an Erasmus+ accreditation. This tool granted by the European Union allows easier access to the  Erasmus+ programme’s funding for mobility activities and cross-border exchanges. Our 4 accredited organisations can now receive funding for mobility activities for a seven–years period, starting in 2021.   

Keen to engage with European peer organisations, our associations are currently  looking for host partners to carry out mobility activities in their respective fields : 

1) ACTA VISTA: an organisation specialised in professional integration through the preservation of endangered historical heritage sites. ACTA VISTA conducts professional inclusion projects targeting people far from employment by teaching them restoration techniques of cultural heritage. Through its training programmes ACTA VISTA sets the stage for its learners social and professional inclusion and helps them regaining self-confidence. As part of its mobility activities, the organisation is eager to meet partners abroad working in the employment or training sector, with a link to the heritage field.  in order to improve the support and training practices of its learners. For more information on the organisation‘s activities, click here.

2) Pulse : Pulse manages a network of incubators designed to support project leaders with impact, and develops social entrepreneurship support programmes dedicated to aspiring entrepreneurs wishing to implement inclusive and sustainable projects. Thanks to mobility opportunities provided by the Erasmus+ accreditation, Pulse wants to meet and exchange with organisations specialising in social entrepreneurship to improve the pedagogical quality of its training contents and to diversify the skills of its professionals. For more information, you can visit the organisation’s website.

3) Plateforme i : an organisation developing programmes to meet the challenges of inclusion in employment. By getting in touch with European colleagues and peers, Plateforme i wants to diversify the target groups of its training programmes to maximise the social impact of its activities in the field of inclusion in employment and to increase the skills of the its professionals. If you are interested in collaborating with this organisation, click here.

4) Silver Fourchette : an awareness-raising programme targeting the elderly (over 60 years old) which promotes a gourmet, sustainable, adapted and balanced diet to improve their health. Through mobility, Silver Fourchette wishes to improve the educational quality of its contents and create new formats, as well as enabling staff to gain expertise in the field of nutrition for the ageing population. For more information , you can visit the organisation’s website.

Do not hesitate to contact these organisations if you too are interested in an Erasmus+ mobility project ! For more information on Erasmus+ accreditations, you can visit the official website.

 

ReNews: an innovative european project in the field of media literacy

Posted on | by Laura Delsol

In recent years, the digital media environment has been deeply transformed by the new uses of the Internet and the key role social media now play in democratic debate. While these upheavals are an undeniable progress for freedom of expression and information,  they also come with many dangers, to which young people are particularly vulnerable, such as disinformation, conspiracy theories, filter bubbles and echo chambers.

 A transnational partnership

 A year ago, the ReNews project was born to address this situation: five partners joined  forces with the support of the European Union to help students take advantage of these new  means of expression and information, and to protect them against the dangers of the  Internet : Assfam-Artemis SOS Group (France), Mouvement Up SOS Group (France), The  Institute For Strategic Dialogue (United Kingdom), Civis Polonus (Poland), and Tink  (Turkey).

         

 

 Training students and strengthening MLE networks

 The implementing organizations of the ReNews project have trained 33 teachers, librarians  and documentalists who were thus capacited to lead workshops for French, Polish and  Turkish students since the start of the new school year.
 

 Nearly 500 students will acquire the skills and knowledge needed to :

 -Sharpen their critical thinking skills; Understand the media environment;        

 -Verify the reliability of the information they consult.      

-Guard against the dangers of the Internet and social networks.      

-And become perfect digital citizens!

 

Creating educational resources for all

 After a year of work, the Renews project finally created educational tools adapted to the  needs of those who, like us, wish to educate the younger generations about media and  information.

 These resources are already available to everyone, free of charge, on this website: https://www.renews- project.org/ .

You will find:

-A comprehensive educational guide; 

-A presentation medium;        

-Many exercises and tips for support young people in the production of their own media!                                                          

Sharing our results and experience

 From 1 October in Poland, 11 November in Turkey and 4 December in France, events will be held to share the lessons we have learned from the ReNews project, in order to benefit as many people as possible invested in MLE. During this events, there will be :

-Training workshops and presentation of our tools;

-Feedback from students on their ReNews experience;    

-The intervention of EMI experts;                                                                                            

And much more to come ! 

 All information on these events will soon be available on our website.

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein’.