Award ceremony
On 11 March 2025, at the European Social Innovation Competition Award ceremony - during the Social Innovation Network Forum - in Brussels, the European Commission has announced the winners of 2024’s challenge: “Digital Democracy”. This prize acknowledges social innovation as a powerful approach for responding to societal challenges. Read more about the winners and the jury members of the 2024 edition.
Digital Democracy challenge
Winner: “Cultivating Civic Habits” by Sabiedribas Lidzdalibas Fonds (Latvia)
The project “Cultivating Civic Habits” is aimed at promoting “civic competencies” among young people aged 14-18, enabling them to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a diverse, democratic society. Central to the project was the development of a mobile application “Varu.Daru” targeting Latvian youth, focusing on social, civic, and democratic engagement through meaningful, low-barrier activities that users can perform daily. The app features pre-written daily civic activities based on real-life situations, designed to foster civic competence and engagement among its users. The project demonstrated significant impacts on youth engagement and civic awareness, supported by comprehensive feedback and development plans for future app enhancements. Daily feedback from users highlighted active engagement and areas for improvement, reinforcing the app’s relevance and effectiveness. Varu.Daru. on the App Store and Google Play Key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education of Latvia, schools and directly engaged in development and testing tens of students and the USA Embassy in Riga, provided valuable insights for app refinement, ensuring its continued relevance and effectiveness. Lessons learned emphasized the importance of audience involvement, clear partner communication, anticipating challenges, and planning for sustainability beyond initial funding. Overall, Varu.Daru effectively facilitated coordinated social action among students, encouraging their participation in civic activities and the development of crucial life skills. Its innovative approach positions it as a valuable tool for promoting EU values and active citizenship among European youth, with continuous evaluation and adaptation enhancing its impact in the evolving landscape of civic engagement.
2nd place: “Live Agora” project by Stichting TAAT (Netherlands)
TAAT’s work is a form of critical spatial practice, using the performativity of space to mediate and facilitate spontaneous and meaningful interactions. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions on physical gatherings forced TAAT to rethink its approach to placemaking. TAAT was faced with the significant challenge of replicating the physical spaces' accessibility and autonomy in the digital realm. Existing digital platforms were centralised, inaccessible, and failed to support the user-led, decentralised environments TAAT envisioned. This inspired the creation of Live Agora, a digital platform designed for user-led collaboration and co-creation. It operates on a decentralised, community-owned model, ensuring users maintain full control over their data and interactions. This approach supports self-hosting, guaranteeing long-term access and sovereignty over digital spaces. Live Agora addresses the need for digital spaces that prioritise user control and community empowerment over centralised data exploitation, while promoting a digital ecosystem based on empowerment and community-driven solutions. It is shaped by local community assets, inspiration, and potential, much like traditional placemaking. Our solution aligns with the European Commission’s vision outlined in the ‘2030 Digital Compass’ to empower citizens and businesses through digital transformation. Live Agora fosters grassroots communities and strengthens civil society, creating spaces for dialogue rooted in democratic values. This initiative represents not just a digital tool, but a movement towards a more inclusive and democratic digital future. Through Live Agora, we envision a space where collaboration and co-creation thrive, driven by principles of equality, accessibility, and sustainability. Live Agora is our response to the need for decentralised digital placemaking, ensuring that digital spaces can be as inclusive and empowering as physical ones.
3rd place: “The Newsroom” by Título Alternativo LDA (Portugal)
The Newsroom's AI-powered platform is a revolutionary solution designed to contrast misinformation and break filter bubbles, addressing challenges at the very core of digital democracy. Through best-in-class AI, The Newsroom performs multilingual, crosscontextual analysis of thousands of news articles daily and enables journalists to produce high-quality, well-rounded articles more efficiently, in turn fostering an informed and engaged public. Unlike traditional approaches, our AI co-pilot supports journalists throughout the entire news production process—from research and contextualization to information validation and integrity. This toolset is unique within the European media landscape, amid critically low trust in news and rampant misinformation. Our platform features a user-friendly interface requiring minimal training and boasts a 99/100 score in Lighthouse testing for accessibility, as it was designed for accessibility and inclusivity. It is accessible to journalists of all technical backgrounds and abilities, with affordability ensured through a flexible model. Extensive testing and case studies confirm high adoption and satisfaction rates. Our solution directly tackles the competition challenge by enhancing journalism quality and promoting diverse perspectives. Partnerships with major publishers, tech firms, NGOs, open source leaders and academic institutions ensure industry relevance and impact, while pilot projects demonstrate significant impact on newsroom workflows. Financial and environmental sustainability as well as the platform's scalability and replicability are evidenced by successful adoption and our future product and business roadmap. Robust governance and transparency protocols ensure compliance and build trust with journalists and the public. The Newsroom's AI platform is a transformative tool for digital democracy, addressing disinformation, connecting democratic actors, and empowering civil society through innovative, inclusive technology.
Aurélien LeblayAurélien is an independent consultant focusing on social impact, local economic development and green economy. He has previously worked in EU projects design and management, social and community work, strategy consulting, African SMEs investment, and founded Inecko in 2017 to support and scale green and circular economy. He was evaluator and rapporteur for EU civil society and civic programmes and assessed 100+ applications in this capacity. He also held numerous positions focused on citizenship and democracy, whether chairing an active citizenship organisation, launching an online civic campaign or organizing related training courses.
Bernard MathieuBernard Mathieu is chemical engineer from the University of Liege (Belgium) and holds a Management Degree from the ICHEC Business School in Brussels. He is Professor in Sustainability at the Solvay Brussels School (Business school of the Université Libre de Bruxelles ULB). He is Academic Director of the “Executive Master in Future-Proof Real Estate” and of the “Executive Master in Sustainability Transformation” in the same university. He is active as independent consultant in climate and sustainability matters (www.hop3.eu).
Bernard has more than 20 years of experience in the deployment of sustainability initiatives in energy-intensive industries. He was notably Director Environmental Sustainability at HeidelbergCement and Head of Sustainable Development at Holcim and LafargeHolcim. He has been acting since 2018 as independent consultant in the decarbonization of energy-intensive sectors and of the construction sector. Bernard actively took part to UN climate change conferences (COP 18, 21, 22, 23), as industry representative or as President of the Climate Taskforce of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB-VBO).
António MiguelAntónio is the founder and CEO of maze. With over 15 years of experience in impact investment across the UK, Canada, and Europe, António has built a career dedicated to driving meaningful change through innovative finance. António also teaches Impact Investment and Impact Venture Capital at NOVA SBE and previously worked as an Analyst at Social Finance UK. Holds an MSc in Business Administration from Católica Business School and was recognised a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum.
Aldona Wiktorska-ŚwięckaProf. Dr. habil. Aldona Wiktorska-Święcka, MBA is a political scientist from the University of Wroclaw (Poland). She is head of the Public Governance and Administration Unit at the Department of European Studies (Faculty of Social Sciences) and CEO of the think-tank Polish Governance Institute.
Aldona is a member of the Regional Study Association, a Fellow of the German Agency of Academic Scholars Exchange (DAAD), the Polish National Agency of Academic Scholars Exchange (NAWA), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and the US Department of State. Her field of expertise is: public governance, public policy, public innovation; territorial governance (regional, metropolitan, urban, and rural governance), innovations in management and governance; normative assumptions of management and governance; social innovation, and social investments.
She is the author of monographs, papers, and chapters in several domestic and internationally acknowledged publications. She is also a leader and principal investigator within domestic and international project consortia, a member of several consulting bodies, a public and private agency advisor, and a Board Member of Urban Experts Research Alliance (UERA) 2020-2023, one of the key initiatives of JPI Urban Europe.