PROJECT FORUM
Series of short ‘elevator-pitch’ presentations on projects related to the conference theme. Delegates are invited to follow up on the presentations with the presenters during the networking breaks. This session is open to all delegates.
Room: The Large Hall
Moderator: Jane Dudman, Freelance Journalist, Event Chair & Consultant, United Kingdom
Interpretation Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
PROJECT FORUM - 24 jUNE, 15:30 - 16:00
Open Living Labs for Inclusive Digital Transformation
The Col·laboratori Catalunya initiative promotes digital inclusion and innovation by fostering collaboration between academia, industry, government, and civil society across Catalonia. It targets diverse groups to co-create solutions for shared challenges in education, health, and digital administration. The initiative promotes participation through collaborative networks and the launch of a digital platform, developed with DECIDIM, enabling online and hybrid interactions. This platform aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Catalan Charter of Digital Rights. A new thematic Col·laboratori for 2025 will further enhance citizen engagement with digital administration.
Presentation Language: Spanish
Presenter:
- Viviana, Perez Clausen, Senior Project Manager, i2CAT Research Center, Spain
E-learning Preparing Young People for Independent Living
This project, led by the City of Zagreb, supported young people about to finish school and leave alternative care to prepare for independent living. Eighty young people from across Croatia were involved in creating an e-learning application that would answer questions they might have about finding employment, finding adequate housing, or managing personal finances. The e-learning application is now available online for both young people and those working with them.
Presentation Language: English
Presenter:
- Zorana Uzelac Bošnjak, Head of Department for Social Inclusion and Projects, City of Zagreb, City Office for Social Protection, Health, War Veterans and Persons with Disabilities, Croatia
VidAAs Centre: Autonomous, Active and Healthy Development
VidAAs responds to the need to improve people’s autonomy and quality of life, especially in the field of disability, through social innovation and cross-sectoral collaboration. It does this through an innovation laboratory that brings together professionals, academics, businesses and the community to address the use of technology to improve social wellbeing. Through the ‘living lab’ methodology, VidAAs facilitates the active participation of people in the design and validation processes of welfare technology solutions in real environments. After an initial needs assessment, community organisations considered that the Centro VidAAs was not only very interesting, but also necessary for social innovation.
Presentation Language: Spanish
Presenter:
- Luis Campos Iturralde, General Director of Planning, Coordination, Innovation, and Evaluation of Public Policies, Regional Government of Navarra – Department for Social Rights, Spain
Support for the Socio-Economic Development of Young People with Disabilities
This project supports young people with disabilities in transitioning from education to employment and to be able to fully access the labour market. Through the engagement of students and graduates, their parents, professionals from higher education, vocational institutions, and employers from large-scale companies and organisations, this project seeks to enhance young people’s individual and professional skills, challenge existing societal and employer attitudes towards them, and consequently improve their training and employment opportunities, as well as their economic independence. Seventy young people with disabilities have benefitted from the project, which has so far recorded a 100% satisfaction rate and is now being fully implemented. Next on the agenda is the permanent establishment of the programme and the setting up of a digital platform to facilitate more effective interaction between students and employers.
Presentation Language: English
Presenter:
- Farid Mammadov, Chairman of the Board, Agency for Sustainable and Operative Social Provision (DOST Agency), Azerbaijan
Therapeutic Treatment in Child Protective Services
The project aims to improve the treatment and recovery of children affected by domestic violence and restore caregivers’ parenting skills. It proposes a comprehensive and holistic approach integrated into specialised childcare services. The project develops specialised and intensive treatment that is integrated into the child protection system itself, involving professionals from all areas. This new therapy includes the family and the community as part of the recovery process.
Presentation Language: Spanish
Presenters:
- Laia Martinez Cano, Head of Psychotherapy Service for Children and Family, Institute for Social Services, Barcelona City Council, Spain
Technology Project Forum - 25 JUNE 09:15-09:45
Social Services Professionals’ Digital Competences Framework
As digital technologies are reshaping social services delivery, this project aims to provide social services professionals with a framework defining the digital competences they need to continue providing quality blended care, where face-to-face and digital contact are combined. By identifying the necessary skills and attitudes to adapt to current and future digital developments, this framework is expected to enhance recruitment, professional development and training, and support the development of policies in the social sector.
Presentation Language: English
Presenter:
- Jana Verplancke, Researcher, Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, Belgium
E-friend Enhancing Quality of Life for People with Intellectual Disabilities
A robot capable of addressing the diverse needs of people with intellectual disabilities in day-to-day life is being designed through this project. Through its tablet screen and voice interface, the robot facilitates individuals’ access to digital content and entertainment, such as music, videos, games, and communication with family members and the community. In addition to digital inclusion, this innovative technological solution also promotes social inclusion and emotional support by facilitating friendships and providing resources for stress-relief and therapeutic conversations. The ultimate goal of this robot is to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities, prevent loneliness, foster interests and their self-expression, and strengthen autonomy. Once the design phase is completed, the robot will be tested with a limited number of people with the aim to extend it afterwards to all persons with disabilities currently supported by the Centre.
Presentation Language: English
Presenter:
- Slavko Bolčević, Director, Tončke Hočevar Care and Work Centre, Slovenia
Digital Transformation in Social Services: Case Management Implementation
This project seeks to improve the quality and accessibility of social services across Ukraine through the establishment of a digital case management system. This digital tool is intended to address key challenges in the delivery of social services, such as inefficiency, bureaucracy, and lack of coordination. The platform automates routine tasks and provides social services professionals with real-time access to data, promoting more personalised and timely interventions. Furthermore, it integrates multiple stakeholders, including social workers, service providers, and government agencies to ensure smoother coordination, clearer communication, and more accurate tracking of service provision. More than 1,200 professionals have received training on how to effectively use the platform, which, during the first three months of piloting, received over 20,000 applications for social services from individuals and families in difficult life situations and successfully reduced the processing time by 40% on average.
Presentation Language: English
Organisation: Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, Ukraine
Telecare on the Move for People with Dementia
‘Telecare on the Move’ addresses the challenges faced by adults over 60 years of age who have been diagnosed with dementia and are at risk of becoming lost. This initiative provides older people with a free SOS GPS tracker that works both indoors and outdoors and which they can wear as a key chain or pendant so they can communicate with their carers, relatives or a call centre. Moreover, this device allows carers or relatives to establish the precise geographical location of the older person and be notified if the older person goes beyond the set GPS geofencing. The device also sends automatic alerts to the relatives or the call centre in case of falls.
This project ultimately allows older people with dementia to continue living in their own homes and communities by increasing their sense of safety and security and providing relatives with peace of mind.
Presentation Language: English
Presenter:
- Renzo De Gabriele, Chief Executive Officer, Active Ageing and Community Care, Malta