Étiquette : Europe

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.

© European Union, 2021

Open-up to Europe thanks to the Erasmus+ accreditation !

Posted on | by Silvia Buzzetti

EU’s Erasmus+ programme is becoming more accessible and easier to implement, thanks to new tools that facilitate the application process for organizations. Four SOS GROUP structures have seized this opportunity and obtained an Erasmus+ accreditation, a simpler way to access European mobility activities.

The Erasmus+ Accreditation: an easier gateway to Erasmus+ mobility 

For more than 30 years, the Erasmus program has offered the possibility to European students, apprentices, trainers, job seekers and young graduates to go abroad and do travel and study trips throughout Europe.  

Since 2021, the Erasmus+ program has become even more open and accessible thanks to the Erasmus+ Accreditation, a simplified way to apply for grants from the Erasmus program. Once accredited, organizations can ask mobility grants during seven years (2021-2027) without having to apply for a mobility grant each year. That gives the possibility to awarded candidates to travel in Europe and around the world, in order to open up to cross-border exchanges, observe new practices, carry out training periods and cooperate between professionals of the same sector in foreign countries. 

The Erasmus+ Accreditation shows the European Union’s political will to open mobility opportunities to a larger number of participants and a wider range of organizations.   

Thanks to the Erasmus+ accreditation, four SOS GROUP organizations will have access to European mobility opportunities 

In October 2020, four SOS GROUP organizations obtained the Erasmus+ accreditation. 

Plateforme-i, Acta Vista, Pulse and Silver Fourchette now have the possibility to send their staff and beneficiaries on training and professional trips throughout Europe between 2021 and 2027.  

Focus on the accredited organizations: 

– Plateforme-i implements programs for inclusion in employment, in order to offer support to young people who are struggling to enter the professional world. Through European exchanges, Plateforme-i aims to improve social inclusion by spreading its programs beyond the Paris region. 

– Acta Vista is a non-profit organization specialized in professional integration and training through the preservation of endangered historical heritage sites. Acta Vista’s staff and trainees will discover complementary training methods in the field of heritage renovation, thanks to European mobility opportunities. 

– Silver Fourchette is a program that promotes a balanced and environmentally friendly diet for seniors. By opening-up to Europe, Silver Fourchette’s teams will improve the educational quality of their content and create new pedagogical teaching methods. 

– Pulse is a non-profit organization that aims to create pathways towards entrepreneurship as a lever for inclusive and sustainable development, in Africa and Europe. By sending its staff abroad, Pulse will adapt its expertise to the international context and increase the skills of its teams.  

The four organizations will therefore discover new working methods and benefit from cooperation between European partners.  

Save the date!  

Erasmus+ Accreditation next application deadline is 19 October at 12:00 p.m.  

Your organization wishes to benefit from Erasmus+ mobility opportunities with one of the SOS GROUP accredited organizations? Please reach out to: 

Contact: chloe.gallien@groupe-sos.org – Director of European projects at SOS GROUP 

or 

europe@groupe-sos.org 

Photo by © European Union, 2021 

© European Union, 2021

Let’s act together, for a fairer and more sustainable Europe

Posted on | by Silvia Buzzetti

Since its creation, the European Union has always heated political debates and has often been accused of being too distant from its citizens, with no social policy and struggling to coordinate Member States in front of the social and ecological challenges of our time.

Nevertheless, the European Union has put in place concrete and accessible tools to finance, develop and promote social practices and sustainable projects. The SOS GROUP strongly believes that the actors of the social and inclusive economy play a crucial role in building a more sustainable and fairer Europe.

ACTING IN FRANCE AND WORLWIDE

For 35 years, the SOS GROUP has been a major player in social and inclusive entrepreneurship, by developing innovative new solutions for a greener and more caring society. Every year, SOS GROUP actions affect 1.7 million people in France, in Europe and around the world.

Our experience shows us that the challenges we face in France are similar to those of our neighbours in Europe. This is why the SOS GROUP is firmly convinced that it is necessary to collaborate with other European countries and European social economy actors.  

Our five core European ambitions are:

  • The acceleration of the ecological transition ;
  • The promotion of professional inclusion ;
  • The support of education for all;
  • The development of an inclusive digital transformation ;
  • The promotion of gender equality ;
  • The fight against stereotypes.

 

EUROPEAN ACTIONS: THE SOS GROUP IS ALREADY MOBILISED

SOS GROUP has already developed more than 20 projects with 19 European countries, financed by European programmes. Here are some examples:

EAT@HOME, IMPROVING HEALTHY FOOD AMONG SENIORS

The Silver Fourchette team (SOS GROUP – France) is conducting the Eat@home project, in partnership with 4 European organisations (Pour la Solidarité -Belgium, UNA 47 – France, Bras dessus Bras dessous – Belgium, ODPS – Portugal).

Its ambition is to delay the loss of autonomy of the over-60s, by proposing them healthy eating practices and gourmet meals, that are adapted to their physiological needs. Eat@Home also aims to provide answers to the problems of undernutrition among the elderly.

 

RENEWS: PROMOTING MEDIA LITERACY EDUCATION IN EUROPE

The association Artemis (SOS GROUP – France), which is specialised in the prevention of radicalisation, is currently coordinating the ReNews project, together with four European partners: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (United Kingdom), Civis Polonus (Poland), Tink (Turkey) and MOUVEMENT UP (SOS Group – France).

The Renews project has been created from a very current observation: the rise of social networks has increased the use of Internet among young people, who are now more exposed to disinformation, hateful content, and conspiracy theories.Through Renews, the partners aim to develop solutions (creation of articles, videos and podcasts) to these problems at a European scale.

COMPANIONS IN AGROECOLOGY: TRAINING EUROPE’S NEW GENERATIONS IN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

The association Fermes d’Avenir (SOS GROUP – France) aims to promote an agricultural model that is more respectful of the living conditions of our farmers and the environment. To do this, Fermes d’Avenir has a mission: to train the next generation of farmers to practice sustainable agriculture methods.

Through four workshops, the « Companions in Agroecology » project aims to develop and improve the skills of farmers on various topics, such as agroforestry, horticulture or soil fertility assessment methods. This will be done in collaboration with three European partners (Vert d’Iris – Belgium, MAP – Belgium and Rete Humus – Italy).

EUROPE, AN EXPERIENCE AND SAVOIR-FAIRE TO SHARE

SOS GROUP wishes to further expand its network of partners in order to develop new European cooperation projects with a strong social impact. Today, the Group works with more than 19 European countries. SOS GROUP has both solid expertise in obtaining European grants and is in contact with the national contact points for European funding programmes.

Are you interested in working with SOS GROUP?

Do not hesitate to contact our European team dedicated to EU funded projects, at: europe@groupe-sos.org.

Photo « The Future is Europe » © European Union, 2021