The DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) participated successfully in the Summer School for Social Innovation which took place from 28 August to 2 September 2023, in Belgrade (Serbia). The activity was organized in the framework of the “TESI: Training and Education in Social Innovation” European project, with DAISSy-HOU being the Greek partner, and marked the completion of the project’s objectives, namely the design of a Join Master Programme (JMP) in the field of Social Innovation.

The TESI Summer School offered the participants a unique opportunity to approach and explore contemporary theories and practices related to the development of Social Innovation. More than fifty (50) postgraduate/graduate students, doctoral/doctoral candidates, professionals from Civil Society organizations, as well as representatives from local and regional authorities, participated in this event. Additionally, nineteen (19) faculty members joined in, sharing extensive academic and professional experience in the field of developing innovative theoretical and practical solutions to specific social issues.

The curriculum of the Summer School and the learning activities implemented within, were closely interwoven with the structure and content of the Joint Master Programme (JMP) in Social Innovation designed in the framework of the TESI project. Emphasis was put on developing a fruitful dialogue, aimed at testing and receiving feedback from the participants on the planned postgraduate curriculum.

The DAISSy-HOU Research Group played a key role in the implementation of the TESI project’s Summer School program, through the organization of two (2) workshops on “Participatory Design” and “Data Analysis for All”, which were conducted by DAISSy-HOU members, Ms. Elena Tzamouranou and Mr. George Mendrinos, respectively. Present at the TESI Summer School were also Professor Kostas Karamanis-Vice President of HOU, Associate Professor Sissy (Aspasia) Theodosiou, Project Manager and Senior Researcher at DAISSy, and Mr. Kostas Manzos, Researcher at DAISSy, who took an active part in all discussions, developed during the Summer School and contributed substantially to draw useful conclusions regarding the upcoming implementation of the JMP in Social Innovation.

Through the open invitation that had been preceded and promoted on all social media of DAISSy-HOU, five (5) participants, representing all various target groups of the Summer School, were given the opportunity to travel to Belgrade in order to attend and actively participate in the action.

The Summer School for Social Innovation was a successful activity of the TESI project, which marked in the best way the completion phase of its implementation.

The TESI was a nine-month project, co-funded by the INTERREG Adriatic-Ionian programme of the European Union. It has been implemented by a consortium of six (6) Universities and one (1) Research Centre in the following countries: Albania, Croatia, Greece, Serbia and Slovenia. The DAISSy Research Group of the HOU ensured the effective implementation of the project activities in Greece, putting emphasis on networking and the involvement of respective stakeholders, and aiming at the multiple exploitation of the project results and its impact.

For more information on the TESI project, and other activities of DAISSy:

• Website : https://daissy.eu/ ,   https://tesi.adrioninterreg.eu/
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• Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/
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• Email : info@daissy.eap.gr