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