The conference was held at the Contamination Lab of the Universita Politecnica della Marche in Ancona, Italy.
Present for the conference were delegates from Universita Politecnica delle Marche as the hosts of the conference, AIC Forum – Italy, Ioannina University – Greece, AKEP – Greece, Bogazici University – Turkey, IMECE – Turkey and Advenio eAcademy Malta. The conference also included two keynote speakers from Frolla Società Cooperativa Sociale and IAL Srl Impresa sociale who spoke about their social enterprises and experiences. The conference was also streamed online to allow for remote participation, particularly to those students who were not able to travel to Italy for the event.
Prof. Donato Iacobucci on behalf of the host organisation made the introductions to the event, thanking the consortium members, students and guests for their participation in the event. He provided an overview of the University’s long involvement in the development of entrepreneurial skills in various areas of activity. He highlighted the significance of the location, the Contamination Lab, as the area of experimentation and research that allowed for viral diffusion of information and results.
Mr. Stephen D’Alessandro on behalf of the SocEntrep4NGOs consortium and gave an overview of the project. He outlined the composition of the consortium, the qualitative and quantitative research reports foundation that served as the basis for the programme, the design, development and implementation of the accredited Level 5 90 ECTS credit Undergraduate Higher Diploma in Social Entrepreneurship and the overall project results and impacts achieved. He mentioned the eight multiplier events held in each of the four participating countries and impact of improved collaboration, and involvement of stakeholder groups in upskilling NGOs.
The keynote speaker part of the conference was chaired by Ms. Camilla Chiappini, on behalf of the Italian NGO partner, Forum AIC and included Ms. Annalisa Marchetti, IAL Srl Impresa sociale: “Professional training for life-long learning” and Mr. Jacopo Corona, President, Frolla Società Cooperativa Sociale: “Pastry products for inclusiveness”. Ms. Marchetti spoke about the ongoing efforts of her organisation to reach out to various types of NGOs to assist them in capacity building and development of the skills and competencies of staff. She described the manner in which her organisation operated at a regional and national level to ensure that there was easy access to the broad range of support services offered. The Frolla presentation provided an introduction to the lively social enterprise that provides rewarding and fulfilling careers to individuals with disabilities through the manufacture and retail of its artisan cookies. The impressive promotional video demonstrated the level of professionalism and competence of the team and the detailed discussion of the various rounds of crowd funding required to establish and grow the organisation were particularly relevant to participants.
Prof Paolo Sospiro chaired the next part of the conference dedicated to student presentation of final projects. Five students were present for the event and presented an overview of their final research projects. These were Ms. Anita Gagovska, Ms. Buket Hayretci, Ms. Busra Özer, Ms. Joana Mihani, and Ms Seval Ozbalci.
In conclusion, awards were presented to students present at Undergraduate Higher Diploma in social Entrepreneurship, Undergraduate Diploma in Social Enterprises, Undergraduate Certificate in social Entrepreneurship as well as awards for completion of individual course modules. In closing the event, Mr. D’Alessandro thanked all the partners, students and other stakeholders and Erasmus+ for funding the programme.