Social Innovation Workshop Hungary 2018-2019

“SozialMarie is a prize for successfully implemented socially innovative projects. What does this definition mean? Since SozialMarie is a prize, it involves a kind of competition, and if it involves a competition, then the "submission" is actually an application. An analogy of competitors who register for a sports competition works well with SozialMarie in the sense that the prerequisite for both is good performance, and in the case of SozialMarie, only innovations that have already been realized can participate in the competition.” János Czafrangó, Hungarian patron 2019.

Over the years, we have found that in the SozialMarie application procedure, applicants have had difficulty in demonstrating the socially innovative nature of their projects. Although the SozialMarie Criteria for Social Innovation is available on the website, reflecting on a project from the point of view of the criteria has emerged as an important request.

On two occasions in 2018 and 2019, we organised Social Innovation Workshops for those interested, held in the MagNet Community House and moderated by the patron of the current year. Thus, in 2018, László Ágoston helped prospective applicants to formulate the socially innovative elements of their projects using the service design method. In 2019, János Czafrangó (B-side) supported organisations to be competitive and innovative enough to take part in an international competition. The aim of the workshops was to define and interpret social innovation according to SozialMarie and to help prospective applicants successfully present the results of their projects. Nothing illustrates the achievement of our goals more than the fact that many of the participating projects became SozialMarie winners or nominees.