Social innovations are new ideas (products, services, and models) that simultaneously address social needs and create new social relationships and collaborations.

While in the past, social challenges such as Europe's aging population, migration flows, social exclusion, or sustainability were primarily perceived as problems that limited the behavior of various economic players, today social trends are increasingly seen as opportunities for innovation.

ESII is a two-year project aimed at promoting a new professional figure in Europe: the European Expert in Social Innovation Incubation (ESII), a virtual incubation expert who provides specific consulting and tailored workshops to help social entrepreneurs and innovators build the skills, strategies, and networks they need to succeed.

The general objective is to contribute to the development of social innovation and social entrepreneurship throughout the EU through high-level training that fosters entrepreneurship, skills recognition, and the exchange of best practices.

This can be achieved through the development of a new learning model with e-learning content for experts in Social Innovation Incubation in Europe and through the application of innovative training tools.

For further information: http://www.esiiproject.eu/

The primary target group includes all existing incubators, chambers of commerce, consultants, and business support service providers, as well as Economics and Business students who will benefit from a free training course to help them acquire skills and competencies recognized at the European level.

Other indirect target groups are all entities that can leverage the project's results for training and professional development of their staff: training providers, universities, local authorities, traditional businesses (who may be interested in creating links and synergies with social enterprises).

Furthermore, a second indirect group may consist of organizations that provide training in social entrepreneurship and will benefit from the definition of a competency framework and learning outcomes for the ESII curriculum.