News – Euracademy | Rural Development

15th Summer Academy: “Social Economy and Sustainable Rural Development”

February 22, 2016 siteadmin News

Euracademy Association, the Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece and the Development Agency of Karditsa
organised the 15th Euracademy Summer Academy (SA) in Mouzaki, Karditsa, Greece, from 16th July – 23rd July 2016, and welcomed participants from all over Europe interested in the field of rural development.

The theme: How social enterprises and co-operatives contribute to the rural economy and how these types of enterprise can be supported.

For information on the Summer Academy activities, have a look at the 15th Summer Academy Report. The respective Thematic Guide, that will contain full papers on the theme examined, is scheduled to be published in December 2016.

By clicking on the links at the programme below, you can download the respective presentations.

15^th Summer Academy

“Social Economy and Sustainable Rural Development”

Mouzaki, Karditsa, Greece, 16^th to 23^rd July 2016

Day 0 – Saturday 16 July 2016

Arrival of Participants, settling in at the Environmental Education Centre of Mouzaki

20:00 International Dinner

Day 1 – Sunday 17 July 2016

Social Economy and Sustainable Rural Development. The role of social enterprises and cooperatives in the economy of rural areas

09:00 – 09:40 Welcome by

Fouli Papageorgiou, President of Euracademy Association
Fotios Alexakos, Chairman of ANKA – Development Agency of Karditsa, Mayor of Karditsa
Olga Drossou, Director, Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece

Opening and greetings by

Demetra Chalikia, Secretary General for the Management of European and Other Funds, Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Social Solidarity
Giorgos Kotsos, Mayor of Mouzaki

09:40 – 10:00 Presentation of Euracademy and the 15^th Summer Academy; practical Information, Fouli Papageorgiou, President of Euracademy Association

10:00 – 11:15 Coffee break and open space

11:15 – 12:00 Speaker1: Supporting rural economy by social enterprises – In what context this issue is topical, Márta Márczis, President of the European Association for Information on Local Development – AEIDL

13:00 – 13:30 Presentation of workgroup conclusions in plenary

12:00 – 13:00 Workgroups. Participants in small groups of 8 people each, discuss the questions posed by the Speaker

13:30 – 15:00 Lunch

15:00 Panel 1. Definition and historical development of social enterprises and cooperatives in Europe

15:00 – 15:30 Speaker 2: The definition of social enterprises across Europe, Dr Roger Evans, business and education consultant, Secretary General of Euracademy (Co-author, Dr Carmen Paunescu Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies [ASE], Romania).

15:30 – 16:00 Speaker 3: We are all children of this European continent: Opportunities and examples of cross border learning for innovation in the rural social economy, Michael Kuegler, Board member, European Forum of Rural Advisory Services

16:00 – 16:15 Coffee break

16:15 – 17:15 Workgroups. Participants in small groups of 8 people each, discuss the questions posed by the speakers– with coffee

17:15 – 17:45 Plenary – presentation of workgroup conclusions

20:00 Dinner

Day 2 – Monday 18 July 2016

Social economy and social innovation in rural areas

09:15 Panel 2. How social enterprises put social innovation to practice?

09:15 – 09:45 Speaker 4. Introducing social innovation through rural social enterprises addressing challenges of ageing population, Dr Artur Steiner, Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship, Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health, Glasgow School for Business and Society

09:45 – 10:15 Speaker 5. Social and economic transformation of rural development through cooperative enterprises, Sofia Adam, Researcher

10:15 – 10:45 Coffee break

10:45 – 11:45 Workgroups. Participants in small groups of 8 people each, discuss the questions posed by the panel

11:45 – 12:15 Plenary – presentation of workgroup conclusions

12:15 – 13:30 Preparation for the study trips

13:30 – 15:00 Lunch

15:00 Panel 3. The role of social enterprises in integrating or re-integrating people in the world of work, including disadvantaged people

15:00 – 15:30 Speaker 6. Social cooperatives as a vehicle for social integration in remote rural areas: the case of Hungary, Patricia Honvari & Iren Kukorelli, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

15:30 – 16:00 Speaker 7. Meeting the needs of social entrepreneurs: offering support for employment and entrepreneurship to women in rural areas, Popi Sourmaidou, Ergani – Center for the Support of Employment and Entrepreneurship of Women

16:00 – 16:15 Coffee break

16:15 – 17:15 Workgroups. Participants in small groups of 8 people each, discuss the questions posed by the panel

17:15 – 17:45 Plenary – presentation of workgroup conclusions

____________________________________________________________________________

18:00 – 19:30 General Assembly of Euracademy Association

20:00 Dinner

Day 3 – Tuesday 19 July 2016

Support systems for social enterprises

09:15 Panel 4. Supporting the social enterprises’ development process and operation

9:15 – 9:45 Speaker 8. Best practice in creating and supporting Community Enterprise, Stephen Clare, Director, CYTA Consulting

9:45 – 10:15 Speaker 9. How do we define a “social enterprise eco-system” and how best can it operate, Vasilis Bellis, CEO of ANKA – Development Agency of Karditsa

10:15 – 10:45 Speaker 10. “How can we set up ecosystems of change? – the global- local experience of an Impact Hub”, Sophie Lamprou, co-founder and Strategy Director of the Impact Hub, Athens

10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break

11:15 – 12:15 Workgroups. Participants in small groups of 8 people each, discuss the questions posed by the panel

12:15 – 12:45 Plenary – presentation of workgroup conclusions

12:45 – 13:30 Presentation online by the Estonian Enterprise network on “How can we measure the performance of social enterprise and determine its value?” Jaan Aps, Estonian Social Enterprise Network

13:30 – 15:00 Lunch

15:00 Panel 5. Best practice examples on support systems

15:00 – 15:30 Speaker 11. “Do’s and Don’ts in supporting Social Enterprise development: lessons learned from the EU experience”, Yiorgos Alexopoulos, Agricultural University of Athens & Euricse, Member of the Expert Group of the EC on Social Entrepreneurship (GECES)

15:30 – 16:00 Speaker 12. “Ireland’s Social Economy – a story of success and struggle”, Ryan Howard, CEO, South and East Cork Area Development – SECAD

16:00 – 16:30 Speaker 13. “Training and certification for social economy stakeholders” Dr Tasos Vasiliadis, President of the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development

16:30 – 16:45 Coffee break

16:45 – 18:00 Plenary discussion on the creation of local support systems for social enterprises and a network of social enterprise ecosystems.

20:00 Dinner

Days 4 & 5 – Wednesday & Thursday 20-21 July 2016

Study trips

08:30 – 19:00 Study Trips

20:00 Dinner

Day 6 – Friday 22 July 2016

Study Trip Reports

09:00 – 13:30 The SA participants work in small groups to prepare the study trips’ reports

13:30 – 15:00 Lunch

15:00 – 16:00 Presentation of Study Trips’ Reports and discussion

16:00 – 16:15 Coffee break

16:15 – 17:00 Presentation of Study Trips’ Reports and discussion (continued)

17:00 – 18:00 Presentation of case studies by participants

Lili Mahne, Development Centre of the Heart of Slovenia
Theodoros Aleksandrou, Institute of Business Development
Zorair Kirakosian, American University of Armenia
Triin Lääne, Tartu Rural Development Association, ELARD

20:00 Dinner

Day 7– Saturday 23 July 2016

Conclusions – Evaluation

09:00 – 10:00 Presentation of Participant’s experiences

10:00 – 11:30 The way forward – Panel of conclusions (participants and lecturers)

11:30 – 12:00 Coffee break

12:00 – 13:00 Evaluation of the summer academy, Award of diplomas

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

Departure of participants

Capacity Building Manual for NGOS Promoting the Integration of Migrants and Refugees in Rural Areas

January 11, 2016 siteadmin News

The Capacity Building Manual for NGOS Promoting the Integration of Migrants and Refugees in Rural Areas, prepared by the Euracademy Association within the project “Rural NGOs: Catalysts for Social Integration and Sustainable Development”, is now available freely in the following links.

Capacity Building Manual in English

Capacity Building Manual in Greek

This project was funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Grants Greek NGO Programme “We are all Citizens”. The Bodossaki Foundation is the Fund Operator of this Programme. The Programme aims to strengthen civil society and enhance the contribution of NGOs to social justice, democracy and sustainable development.

The 14th Summer Academy!

September 23, 2015 Demetris News

We are delighted to report that the 14th Summer Academy, Rural NGOs: Catalysts of Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development, was a great success. Below are just a few impressions of what turned out to be a very productive 8 days of capacity building, knowledge sharing, networking and making new friends!

As usual with our summer academies, on the first evening the participants came together to meet each other, share stories and delicacies from their home countries. And, as usual, we had far too much food and drink for just one night! But not to worry, we had another seven days to share everything around.

On the first morning, all was quiet at Agroktima Marini. The tables and chairs had been arranged in the newly decorated main hall. The sound technician had set up the microphones, and the interpreters were sipping their coffees waiting for everyone to arrive.

The participants were staying at the beautiful Messinan Bay Hotel, just a few kilometres up the road. The night before, we had been busy preparing the participants’ portfolios and they were ready to be handed out. Both Greek and English versions were available to suit our participants’ language needs.

As the Elenis – our smiley interpreters – did their last sound checks, the sound of a bus approaching caught our attention. The participants had arrived!

Fouli Papageorgiou, President of Euracademy Association, opened the 14th Summer Academy by welcoming the approximately 40 participants from 16 different countries including Afghanistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Turkey, Egypt and many more from the European Union. She spoke about the We are all Citizens programme and the project which Euracademy is currently involved with entitled Rural NGOs: Catalysts of Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development, which also lends its name to this year’s summer academy.

The keynote speaker for the conference was Thomas Liebig, Senior Administrator, International Migration Division at the OECD. His gave some very interesting insights, particularly as regards Greece, during his presentation entitled: “Integrating immigrants and their children – an overview”.

After each presentation, participants formed small workgroups to tackle questions set by the presenters at the end of their presentations.

and then present their findings durning a subsequent plenary session. Here is Demetris of Euracademy Association sharing his group’s conclusions during one of the plenaries. The conclusions were presented as posters, which remained on the walls of the main hall so that everyone could take a closer look.

Here is Vasilis Bellis from the Karditsa Development Agency, adding his group’s contributions.

Throughout the academy we heard from a total of 15 expert speakers from throughout the EU and beyond. Dr Wojciech Goszczynski of Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland, spoke during the first day on The balance of social capital in rural communities as a factor to analyse social cohesion.

Mohammed Dhalech of the North Wales Regional Equality Network shared real life examples and experiences during his aptly named presentation: Rurality and Migrant Communities – … no problem here!!

And Joe Brady of the Scottish Refugee Council spoke on New Scots: Integrating Refugees in Scotland’s Communities.

Roger Evans, Euracademy Board Member, presented on Strategic and business planning for NGOs: a luxury or a necessary chore?

And here is Thanos Papamattheou, sharing the experiences of his NGO, PRAKSIS, in relation to issues of capacity building.

We also heard Martin Kalenga of the Greek Refugee Forum, who gave a passionate account of the experiences and work of his NGO.

And Erdem Vardar, Director of YUVA/DVV International Turkey about the NGO cooperation and contribution to refugees’ training and welfare in Turkey.

During one of the panel discussions, Lili Mahne, another of Euracademy’s board members, spoke on the Capacity building programme for NGOs in Slovenija -experiences from the period 2007 /2014 and the challenges for the future.

Fotini Papoudakis, Associate Professor at The Technological Educational Institute of the Peloponnese, used a specific case study in the presentation entitled Conditions of civic development in small rural communities. The case of Anavra-Goura”.

And Iren Kukorelli, Vice-President of Euracademy Association, together with Patricia Honvari of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, gave some insights on what is currently happening in Hungary, in their presentation entitled Inclusion or Exclusion – Immigrants and Refugees in Hungary”.

As well as attending the lectures, workgroups and plenary sessions, participants also had some free time to explore the surrounding area and get to know the locals:

and enjoy the beautiful surrounding scenery of the Taygetus foothills:

Oh, and I almost forgot – everyday we were treated to amazing Greek food, always served with a good glug of the local speciality: Kalamata olive oil.

In the evenings participants either had free time to go swimming in the crystal clear water of the Messinian bay, or simply relax and take in the amazing sunsets that brought each day to a close.

One night we ventured into the old town of Kalamata, where everyone was treated to an evening of Greek traditional music and, of course, lots of Greek food!

And after the food was gone, there was only one thing left to do – get up and have a dance!

It would be impossible to write about all the highlights of the academy in one post. This was just to give you a little taster of what went on during the 8 days. In the posts that follow we’ll be sharing the experiences of this year’s study trips and their reports, together with detailed information on the conclusions, feedback and suggestions for the future. Watch this space!

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This project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Grants Greek NGO Programme “We are all Citizens”. The Bodossaki Foundation is the Fund Operator of this Programme. The Programme aims to strengthen civil society and enhance the contribution of NGOs to social justice, democracy and sustainable development.

About the EEA Grants:

Through the EEA Grants and Norway Grants, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway contribute to reducing social and economic disparities and to strengthening bilateral relations with the beneficiary countries in Europe. The three countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). For the period 2009-14, the EEA Grants and Norway Grants amount to €1.79 billion. Norway contributes around 97% of the total funding. Grants are available for NGOs, research and academic institutions, and the public and private sectors in the 12 newest EU member states, Greece, Portugal and Spain. There is broad cooperation with donor state entities, and activities may be implemented until 2016. Key areas of support are environmental protection and climate change, research and scholarships, civil society, health and children, gender equality, justice and cultural heritage. Learn more: http://eeagrants.org/

About the Bodossaki Foundation:

The Bodossaki Foundation is the Fund Operator of the NGO Programme named “We are all Citizens” in Greece. The Bodossaki Foundation is one of the largest privately owned public-benefit organizations in Greece. It was established in 1973, by Prodromos Bodossakis – Athanassiades, who decided to donate his entire fortune in order to promote the provision of health care, equality of opportunity, education, scientific progress and environmental protection. The Foundation also supports the work of NGOs that treat socially vulnerable groups. The Bodossaki Foundation has a deep knowledge of the non-profit sector in Greece and has managed since its inception more than €400m that have been spent placing a great emphasis on decreasing inequality of opportunity, on contributing to the education of young people, on improving medical and research infrastructure and on promoting environmental protection. Learn more: http://www.bodossaki.gr/

All the essential info at a glance

July 16, 2015 siteadmin News

Our team has recently put together this short presenation on our latest project in cooperation with the Bodossaki Foundation, as well as the upcoming Summer Academy. No matter whether you’re new to Euracademy or a regular at our events, this is definitely worth taking a look at: We are all Citizens project and 14th Summer Academy

Deadline extension for the Business & Communication Plan!

July 10, 2015 siteadmin News

Good news for those of you who didn’t have time to submit a tender! We have decided to extend the deadline for submissions until Friday 10th July! To reiterate, we have a total of 4000 Euro available for the successful bidder and you can read all the details by clicking on the following link: Call for tenders: Business and Communication Plan. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@euracademy.org

Call for tenders: Business and Communication Plan

January 11, 2015 siteadmin News

As part of the We are all Citizens programme, Euracademy Association invites its members and third parties to submit a tender to develop a detailed Business and Communication plan for the future of the association. You can read all the details by clicking on the following link: Call for tenders: Business and Communication Plan

Tenders must be submitted by 25th June 2015. If you have any further questions, please contact info@euracademy.org

Euracademy Association awarded grant from “We are all Citizens” programme

January 10, 2015 siteadmin News

We are delighted to announce that Euracademy Association has been recently been awarded a project grant from the “We are all Citizens” programme, implemented by the Bodossaki Foundation in cooperation with the EEA Grants Office.

The title of the project is Rural NGOs: Catalysts of Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development

As part of the project, Euracademy Association will organise an 8-day Summer Academy (SA) from 5th September – 13th September bringing together Greek NGOs active in rural areas to network, exchange experiences with other EU NGOs and receive guidance in order to build further their capacity to contribute to sustainable rural development and social cohesion in their areas. The SA will focus in particular on rural NGOs’ role in increasing tolerance and multicultural understanding whilst reducing racism and xenophobia in rural areas.

Prior to the SA, a nationwide survey of rural NGOs will be conducted to identify their needs; and a handbook on capacity building of rural NGOs will be produced as a result of the project activities. A business & communication plan will be worked out to develop the scope and range of Euracademy’s activities further.

Further details will be announced as the project develops.