OSHub is part of the H2020-SwafS-2018-2-two-stage program in partnership with Leiden University (lead partner), Trinity Collegge Dublin, Impact Hub Siracusa, Oni’Fait, Ars Electronica, Centre Culturel Scientifique et Technique Association, Science in CZ SRO, Municipio de Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Epistimi Epikoinonia.

The macro area of intervention of the project is social innovation through research and promotion of subjects (STEAM). Open Science Hub Network is a European network of community spaces in which schools are actively involved as agents for collaboration between civil society, businesses, research institutions and communities in general through learning opportunities in the so-called STEAM subjects, namely technology, engineering, art and mathematics, science. OSHubs will engage communities, including civic associations and families, in addressing local challenges using concepts and principles of inquiry-based scientific research (IBSE) and responsible research and innovation (RRI). Seven OSHubs will be established in seven partner countries across Europe to engage disadvantaged and multicultural groups. Each of the OSHubs will be co-led by local schools through partnerships established by OSHub partners in each country. Overall, OSHub’s core vision is to inspire, empower, and engage citizens – from school-age children to seniors – by working with schools to bring STEAM education to communities as a tool for their sustainable development

Impact Hub Syracuse is responsible for WP7 Sustainability&Legacy. It is tasked with supporting the partners in creating a sustainability plan for the OSHubs that includes the period after the end of the project. The aim is to ensure that hub initiatives can continue to make an impact after the end of the project. Impact Hub will also engage in internal dissemination of know-how and an external dissemination strategy for the hub.

Enisie is a project of the Programme Interreg VA Italy-Malta to promote the competitiveness of the cross-border area. The partnership is formed by Tree srl (lead partner), Impact Hub Siracusa, Malta Enterprise and The Malta Council for Voluntary Organisations. The objective of the project is to promote the creation and smart, sustainable and inclusive growth of enterprises (micro, small and medium) and employment in the cross-border area in sectors that have a positive impact in the social and environmental field. The success of the project is based on the ability to exploit the asymmetries and complementarities still under-exploited by the cross-border territories, to accelerate innovation in key areas such as food, digital health and sustainable tourism and to encourage the circular mobility of qualified young people and the processes of internationalization and consolidation of innovative SMEs of the two sides of the cross-border territories.

The innovation of the project lies not only in its main subject of intervention, social innovation, but also in the novelty of its approach that is four times innovative:

Bottom-up
derived from the direct experience of practitioners

Targeted
to business incubators and social innovation

Differentiated
in its focus on policies, practices and enablers

Holistic
Capable of maintaining an overall view and balanced between “enterprise” and “social”.

PROGRAM: UNEP – Mediterranean Action Plan

 

COMMITTENTE:

Regional Activity Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP / RAC)

Partner: The Hub Sicilia Soc. Coop. (Subcontractor),

MACRO-INTERVENTION AREA: Environmental sustainability

Realization of the report: UNEP Green Entrepreneurship in Italy. The report is the result of a series of surveys carried out through focus groups at a national level for a vision of the degree of development and awareness of Italians with respect to the Green Economy, with an appendix describing some cases of excellence in the sector.

On September 23rd and 24th 2013, it was held in Sicilia (Italy) a workshop on green entrepreneurship titled “Making green enterprise work”. The event was organized by the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Center for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC) and was hosted by impact Hub Siracusa.
The purpose of the seminar was to inform on and train Sicilian entrepreneurs in sustainable entrepreneurship, touching some basic points about making “green” enterprises, including laws, real opportunities, business plan and eco-design methodologies, and ethical financing organizations to achieve a sustainable balance and a social aim of investment. Some successful stories of green enterprises in the Mediterranean area were also analyzed and discussed among the 30 participants of the workshop.
The workshop included a contest for the best green business plan about innovation and technical content, which was awarded to Paola Sturiale.
This is one of the first steps of the Green Entrepreneurship initiative led by CP/RAC, in order to connect the Mediterranean entrepreneurial tradition with the emergent economic “green” models, inspired by environmental and social sustainability.

ROLE IN THE PROJECT:

IConsulting, national report processing, national focus group management, workshops and contests

PROGRAM: URBACT

PARTNERSHIP

Leader: Municipality of Syracuse, Complex Programs and Community Policies Office

Partner: The Hub Sicilia Soc. Coop. (Subcontractor), Confindustria, Fondazione Val di Noto

 

MACRO-INTERVENTION AREA: Open Innovation

Thanks to the European Urbact program, a series of actions, studies, meetings and trips are financed to transfer a ‘best practice’, a successful project on open innovation – GeniUS – from the city of York to the cities of Syracuse, Tallin and San Sebastian. At the heart of the project is the transfer of the open innovation philosophy to different contexts and cities. This philosophy was born as a business approach, which looks at breaking the closed barriers of a company – opening up to other companies, the community, customers, etc. – as an opportunity for growth and identification of completely unexpected and innovative solutions. Applied to the city, it means unlocking creative potential and enhancing the knowledge and collective intelligence present in order to identify and co-design innovative solutions to the challenges and problems that the city poses.
A challenge to improve the quality of urban life is intercepted, then through meetings between public administrations, citizens and stakeholders and the development of ideas and projects through the use of the Genius communication platform, solutions are sought to achieve the goals set by drawing a working method transparent and participatory.

Impact HUB Syracuse is responsible for facilitating some meetings, social media management and the contents of the ning platform

PROGRAM: Erasmus +

 

PARTNERSHIP

Leader: CROS, The Alternative University (RO)

Partner: 1) The Hub Sicilia Soc. Coop. (IT), The Business Start-up Center-Bitola (FY), Team Academy (NL)

 

 

MACRO-INTERVENTION AREA: Youth entrepreneurship

The alliance has helped the partners to gain expertise, build capacity and develop innovative and easy-to-share methodologies (the Y incubate toolkit) for business incubation programs targeting young Europeans.

The toolkit is based on the four organizations’ experience, and on preliminary research into the state of the art concerning business incubators for young people. It has been tested by several European entrepreneurship hubs, students’ associations and business support groups, and will be disseminated to all European universities, incubators, foundations, investors and governments promoting youth entrepreneurship programs.

The EYE project has included research, transnational project meetings, learning activities, workshops, project management and communication. At every stage, the partners have used innovative methodologies including product and service design, design thinking, partnership brokering, facilitation, and co-creation.

Initially, the project was meant to create a toolkit to increase incubators’ performance. During the transnational project meetings, and after examining the needs of the target audience, the design team has decided to produce a multilayer toolkit to help young people learn about and prepare themselves for the challenges of entrepreneurship. Y incubate incorporates a set of instruments, both digital and physical, to make young people aware of their skills and encourage them to enter the world of entrepreneurship. It aims to become a powerful resource for tackling unemployment across Europe

ROLE IN THE PROJECT: