SEHUBS project eventually organised a face-to-face meeting in Sofia (Bulgaria) from the 20^th to the 21^st of September 2021.

SEHUBS officially started on the 15^th of January 2021 and since then, the consortium had no chance to meet in person and get to know each other.

All partners met at BCNL headquarter (the Bulgarian partner) in Sofia to discuss the finalisation of WP2 “Creative phase: elaborating the vision for SE co-creation hub” and plan WP3 “Testing phase: Bringing SE Co-Creation Hubs to life”

The general purpose of the project is to elaborate an innovative model of co-creation hub for social enterprises that are working with various disadvantaged groups or for overcoming social issues in various fields (culture, sport, employment, etc.) and to test its practical application in different local contexts.

Social Enterprise (SE) hubs are operating as institutions for non-formal education and training that provide various types of support to management and operational staff of social enterprises with different social background. The beneficiaries of the SE hubs’ activities – the social enterprises (SEs) themselves have proven to be a good practice for ensuring social inclusion. The project will implement the following activities:

• Creative phase: elaborating the vision for SE co-creation hub (4 desk researches on SE needs and challenges, 4 desk researches on good practices, 24 interview questionnaires of staff members from the identified role models of SE hubs in the partnering countries, 12 case studies of role models for SE hubs in the partnering countries, Vision for SE co-creation hubs as an innovative model, One 3-day expert summit for 8 participants, A leaflet presenting the Vision for the SE co-creation hub)
• Testing phase: Bringing SE Co-Creation Hubs to life (80 SE representatives of SE staff identified in total to take part in the testing phase in 4 partner countries, 20 participants per country selected through an open online call for applications, 4 two-day trainings on inclusive training approaches and instruments for staff recruitment, 48 fellows – staff managers and trainers in local SEs from 4 partner countries selected in total, 6 fellows per country, 24 shadowing/fellowship programs organized, Short movie presenting the development of the community-based physical space for SEs
• Up-scaling phase: dissemination of know-how on managing innovative SE co-creation hub model on national and European level and mapping relevant policy recommendations (Planning of a 2-day event and open space exhibition of SEs and SE hubs, Summarizing and disseminating policy recommendations elaborated within the event).

Next meeting will be in Poland from the 8^th to the 9^th of November for the Experts Summit at University of Lodz.

The project has four partners from Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Poland: PRISM Impresa Sociale srl (Italy, coordinator), BCNL (Bulgaria), Athens Lifelong Learning Institute (Greece) and University of Lodz (Poland).

The project lasts two years and it is managed on behalf of PRISM Impresa Sociale by Dario Ferrante. For further info please contact d.ferrante@prismonline.eu