European prize

In 2011, the European Network of the Foundations for Social Economy (PEFONDES) awarded its first European Prize “For youth employment in the Social Economy”! A cooperative from Andalusia promoting sustainable habitat was awarded a € 10,000 prize. A Belgian cooperative project, aiming at spreading an innovative tool for collecting funds for development projects, received a € 8,000 prize in addition to financing (€5,000) to assist with the creation of the cooperative.

Youth unemployment, an issue affecting all EU Member States, led the European network of the foundations for Social Economy (PEFONDES) to launch its first European Prize “For youth employment in the Social Economy”. It aims at encouraging exemplary entrepreneurial initiatives taken by young people and capable of creating employment for the young. A jury, made up of European experts, gathered together in Brussels to choose the winners for categories “enterprise” and “planned enterprise”, along with various nominees.

The winning enterprise, Mazetas from Spain, received a € 10,000 prize

Created in July 2007 by three young people, Mazetas is a cooperative based in Sevilla (Andalusia) whose purpose is to develop projects for building and managing sustainable residential and public accommodation, with a methodology involving the drawing of building projects, documentation, coaching and training. Because sustainable architecture and ecology are booming domains in Spain these days, Mazetas is confident that it will contribute to create jobs for young people in the near future.

The winning planned enterprise, PLOT.form based in Belgium, received a € 13,000 prize

The original idea developed by the three young initiators of PLOT.form, a Belgian cooperative to be, is to produce an innovative method of fundraising for development projects: an online architectural-design game that doesn't just exist in the virtual world, but has an immediate impact on the real world in developing countries. This fundraising game will be brought together in a software pack offered to all kinds of NGOs that wish to refresh their image and carry out their fundraising in a transparent and interactive manner.