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Social Hackathon- Marathon for social innovation and entrepreneurship

Social Hackathon- Marathon for social innovation and entrepreneurship
SUBMITTED FROM:

Lidl Hellas

Lidl Hellas has been active in Greece since 1999. Today the company employs more than 6700 workers, while its network includes 230 stores and 5 state-of-the-art supply centers. It is included for the 6th consecutive year in "The Most Sustainable Companies in Greece", while for the 7th consecutive year it receives the distinction of "Top Employer" in Greece and Europe.
At Lidl Greece we are proud because we build perspective for all our stakeholders, on solid, sustainable foundations. Business ethics are a source of inspiration for our values and the chain of responsibility becomes an act of sustainable empowerment for our own people, consumers, partners.
Sustainability for us is not a simple wording, but shapes our business profile and runs horizontally through our daily life.

We are moving on the trajectory of a new sustainability strategy, which develops in three dynamic axes: "Good for the planet", "Good for people" and "Good for you" with the individual actions spread over six strategic pillars: climate protection, respect for biodiversity, conservation of resources, business law, health protection and participation in dialogue. It is a functional as well as an innovative approach that allows us to respond with best practices, at the right time, to a variety of challenges. We adapt quickly, build efficiency and remain sustainable, extroverted and beneficial to the whole.

www.lidl-hellas.gr

 

Corporate videos & Statements



Objective Action

The aim of the Social Hackathon innovation marathon was to activate institutions and businesses, but also the whole society to create original applications for social innovation and entrepreneurship.

More specifically, the Social Hackathon has the following main objectives:

● Creating a culture of innovation and collaboration.

● Supporting youth and innovative entrepreneurship, opportunities for young people, fighting unemployment.

● Supporting the local economy, as contestants from all over Greece can participate, who can then create their own business.

● Identify smart and innovative solutions to the problems and challenges facing both the themes and the citizens dealing with related issues.

● Creating an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of social innovation by leveraging new emerging technologies.

 

 

Target Audience

The Social Hackathon was open to engineers, programmers, economists, analysts, researchers, students. Indicative themes for submitting ideas were supporting local communities and economies, social innovation, health advocacy, sustainability and fair business, dialogue and empowering civil society.

 

Duration

The Social Hackathon was announced at the Open Day 27 April 2023, 12-14 May 2023 was the three-day marathon Social Hackathon from which the 5 teams that passed to the 5-month acceleration phase emerged, while on 13 December 2023 the grand winner was announced.


Description

The Social Hackathon is the continuation of the SUP Free Hackathon and the Sustainability Hackathon, the first two open innovation actions that aimed to create innovative applications for a daily life without single-use plastics and the creation of original applications and solutions on issues of sustainability, sustainability and environmental protection respectively.

The action is part of an open innovation roadmap and the Innovation Lab open innovation lab, supported by Lidl Hellas, to activate institutions and businesses, but also the whole society to create prototype applications for social innovation and entrepreneurship.

It includes the organisation of the Social Hackathon innovation marathon on 12-14 May 2023, the 5-month cycle of support for the 5 proposed solutions, so that the prototype applications can be transformed into productive solutions.

The event supports participants to form teams and collaborate to develop and present their idea.

The winning teams and solutions were supported for 5 months to develop their solution into a production application (acceleration phase), and the winning idea was announced on 13 December 2023 at an event.

The indicative themes which are included in our company's CSR strategy are as follows:

Α. Supporting local communities and economies

 New business models of sustainable local entrepreneurship in the social sector

● Digital health applications, telemedicine, emergency health transport

● Digital applications to educate local populations on critical social issues

 

Β. Social Innovation

 

● Applications to enhance and support voluntary actions and participatory financing

● Applications for the reuse of products and goods as well as applications for product reconstruction and repair

● Use of technological tools for access to basic goods for vulnerable social groups

● Use of digital tools to support solidarity trade activities

● Creating smart education solutions for social sustainability within companies and public institutions

● Applications around health and disease prevention 

● Leveraging digital tools for empowering vulnerable populations, empowerment and inclusion

 

C. Health promotion

● Digital tools for work-life balance

● Applications for assessing risks to workers' health and safety

● Tools for more transparent product labelling to promote healthier choices

 

D. Business law

 

● Applications to support equal employment opportunities and equal treatment at work

● Applications for responsible marketing and social product labelling

● New business models for sustainable green jobs

● Tools to support product certification standards

Ε. Participation in dialogue

 


● Transparency, accountability (ESG), and anti-corruption tools - with a focus on social actions for institutions, organisations and businesses

● Participatory governance, democracy, transparency and accountability applications for public and private sectors

● Applications for knowledge enhancement and networking of new social initiatives

 

F. Empowering Civil Society

 

● Transparency and accountability tools for gender equality in the private and public sector

● Digital tools for an internal complaints mechanism for non-compliance with the Code of Conduct


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Impact on Society

The Social Hackathon attracted the interest of individuals and groups from all over Greece and abroad. Participants included startup companies, developers, researchers, students from universities of the country, professionals, business executives and secondary school students.

More than 200 contestants, 28 teams and 30 mentors expressed interest in participating in the marathon, who guided and supported the teams to shape and further develop their idea, while 5 of them secured entry into the 5-month business acceleration program. The winning teams won €200 in gift cards for each team member from Lidl Hellas, €500 in cash for each team from the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, as well as participation in the 5-month Social Innovation Lab business acceleration programme, while the 6th team won a special commendation.

In total, the programme involved:

- Over 50 hours of acceleration

- More than 14 workshops

- 10 Media Channels

- 6 videos

- More than 80 Publicity Actions

- 25 business meetings

- 15 real-time business consulting

- More than 100 mentoring sessions

- Over 40 hours of mentoring

- Over 200 APPs downloaded

The Social Hackathon mobilizes the creative human capital of society and businesses, fosters creativity and youth entrepreneurship, invests in partnerships, leverages the expertise of participating executives and promotes innovation. It is part of the effort to strengthen the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Greece and, at the same time, to create an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in society. In addition, it contributes to tackling the "brain drain" phenomenon by providing incentives for young scientists and entrepreneurs to stay in our country.



Initiative Location

The Open Day was held remotely using videoconferencing tools. The Social Hackathon was held with physical presence at T16 in Athens. The final was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Thessaloniki with physical presence.


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Working with Organization

The Social Hackathon was held with the support of Lidl Hellas, in cooperation with the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, with the technological and organizational support of the Greek innovation company Crowdpolicy, under the auspices of the Ministry of Development and Investment.


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Workers Participation

For the implementation of the project, employees of the Corporate Responsibility department of Lidl Hellas, the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation and Crowdpolicy collaborated, while the production of the videos was undertaken by the Dotmov production team. Representatives of Lidl Hellas participated as members of the jury and as mentors, while the final marathon was held in the presence of the company's CEO. 


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Benefits for Οrganization

This is an initiative with very important and long-standing partners, which paves the way for a better tomorrow. It is proof that for Lidl Hellas, sustainable development is inextricably linked to responsible entrepreneurship. And at the same time it is a source of inspiration and a force for development for our company. All the more so with this action, as we all stand against a number of major challenges of society. We live in the era of decisive change and subversive development. We are using tools and practices that are changing our daily lives in no time. The "Social Hackathon" Innovation Marathon is just that. The concept of collective effort for society at all levels. We bring in the same environment every business, every researcher, young scientist, student, who is looking and searching for a better tomorrow.




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