Meet the 15 best European Social Innovators in Madrid

The EIB Institute  launches for the third time the Social Innovation Tournament, a flagship initiative of its Social Programme.

The  Final Event of the 2014 edition of the Social Innovation Tournament will take place in Madrid on the 16th of October. 

The Tournament is one of the most important social innovation events in Europe,  seeking to promote innovative ideas and opportunities that generate a social impact and to create social value in relation to the fight against social exclusion. It covers projects in a wide range of fields, from education and health care to natural or urban development, through new technologies, new systems and new processes. 

This year’s edition, organized  by the EIB Institute in collaboration with the Instituto de Empresa (IE) ,  will be a unique occasion  to meet the 15 best European Social Innovators, get to know about their projects, and connect with some of the key social innovation actors across the sector. Like Pradeep Jethi , the co-founder of the Social Stock Exchange, an information platform for investors seeking to access impact opportunities on the public markets. 

All projects will compete for the General Category 1st and 2nd Prize of 25,000 Euros and 10,000 Euros respectively. 

The introduction in 2013  of the Special Category Prize will give additional  emphasis to a specific field each year. In 2014 the Special Category Prize will be awarded to projects in urban and natural environment with a 25,000 Euros prize. 

There will also be a roundtable on “What does it take to be a successful Social Entrepreneur? What are the main challenges and hurdles and how to overcome them?” with Teia Gavrilescu (VitorPlus and Prize winner of SIT 2013), Francisco Soler (Creas), Rodrigo Aguirre (Reemprende) and  Guadalupe de la Mata (EIB). 

Santiago Iñiguez, President of IE University and Dean of IE Business School, will deliver a welcome speech. Román Escolano, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, will close the event.