1. General Objective
To effectively support and promote social innovation as a means to achieve sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth, social cohesion and equity in Latin America, through intercultural, curricular and extracurricular activitie
2. Specific Objectives:
• To foster social innovation as an integral part in the institutional activities in knowledge transfer and encourage an university-community engagement with local communities and in particular disadvantaged groups
• To develop and consolidate a sustainable model of social innovation in Latin American universities through a network of social innovation support units (SISU).
•To create a range of learning and teaching tools aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and graduate emploayability with a particular emphasis on social innovation projects.
As a result, the project will (1) Lend added value to the participant Universities’ transferable skills and knowledge through engagement with the social economy; (2) Benchmark the social innovation potential of Latin American universities through the exchange of knowledge and experience with European institutions; (3) Create synergies between Erasmus+ and other regional and international programmes that will further support social innovation in the region.
How the aims and objectives relate to the programme objectives:
• The LASIN project will actively promote and support University-enterprise cooperation, entrepreneurship and graduate employability with a particular emphasis on social innovation projects, incubation and collaboration with social enterprises.
• The project aims to establish international cooperation and internationalisation through a network of social innovation support units (SISU) across the region introducing a mentoring and transfer scheme to ensure that there is an effective roll-out of the scheme beyond the original partnership. There are at least two partners representing each Partner country, specially selected so that one has greater experience in Social Innovation support than the other. As such, one HEI from each Partner Country will mentor their counterpart throughout the implementation of the project.
• A range of learning and teaching tools will be developed, at a formal level through the development of a postgraduate programme and more informally through books and reports, social innovation work camps and the social innovation platform – a virtual space for sharing social innovation practices and learning outcomes.
• In addition, the project will specifically aim to involve local communities and in particular disadvantaged groups to give them access to University facilities and strengthen the ties between HEIs and their local communities.
