‘Cultivating Civic Habits’ wins 2024 European Social Innovation Competition focused on digital democracy

Brussels, March 11th 2025

Summary

›The European Commission awarded the 2024 European Social Innovation Competition to 'Cultivating Civic Habits', an app-led civic education project for 14 to 18 year olds.
›Two runners up were 'Live Agora', a decentralised community platform, and 'The Newsroom', a disinformation and civic engagement tool.
›Winners receive cash prizes of €75,000, €50,000 and €25,000 and access to the NESEI network and EIC support services.
›The competition emphasised digital democracy, decentralisation, inclusion and scalability but important questions remain on impact measurement, data protection and long term funding.

Winner announced in EU competition for digital democracy projects

On 11 March 2025 the European Commission announced the winner and runners up of the 2024 European Social Innovation Competition during the European Social Innovation Forum annual event organised by the Network of European Social Entrepreneurs and Innovators. The competition, run by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency under Horizon Europe, focused on the theme of digital democracy. The jury selected three projects for recognition and cash prizes aimed at supporting early stage social innovations that address democratic participation, disinformation and community empowerment in digital environments.

The winners

Rank	Project	Organisation	Country	Focus	Prize
Winner	Cultivating Civic Habits	Sabiedribas Lidzdalibas Fonds	Latvia	An app delivering daily civic activities for young people aged 14 to 18 based on real life scenarios to strengthen civic competence	€75,000
1st Runner-up	Live Agora	Stichting TAAT	Netherlands	A decentralised, community owned digital platform that supports user-led collaboration and gives users control over data and interactions	€50,000
2nd Runner-up	The Newsroom	Título Alternativo LDA	Portugal	A digital democracy tool designed to counter disinformation, connect democratic actors and support civil society using inclusive technology	€25,000

What the projects propose

The winning entry 'Cultivating Civic Habits' is presented as a gamified mobile application for teenagers that pushes short, daily activities and scenarios intended to develop civic knowledge and decision making. 'Live Agora' positions itself as a decentralised alternative to traditional social platforms, emphasising community ownership and user control of data. 'The Newsroom' is framed as a tool for digital democracy that aims to detect or mitigate disinformation, to connect civic actors and to empower civil society through technology and inclusive design.

Prizes and additional support

Monetary awards for this edition are unchanged from recent practice. The winner receives €75,000, the first runner up receives €50,000 and the second runner up receives €25,000. Beyond cash, the three projects will join the Network of European Social Entrepreneurs and Innovators or NESEI. NESEI is an EIC Community platform that provides matchmaking events, training, bootcamps, workshops and other networking and visibility opportunities across the European innovation ecosystem.

NESEI membership benefits:Access to curated events, training, introduction to EIC-funded organisations and ecosystem partners, and invitations to pitching or matchmaking sessions intended to help projects find partners, funders and scaling opportunities. The platform is designed to help early stage social innovators integrate into wider European innovation networks.

How the finalists were chosen

Finalists were selected by a jury of experts that evaluated submissions against criteria including innovation, inclusiveness, social impact, sustainability, scalability and contributions to decentralisation and governance. The 2024 edition specifically sought projects that target digital democracy in various forms, including tools to fight disinformation, new democratic practices and grassroots empowerment through open technologies.

Context in the EU innovation landscape

The European Social Innovation Competition is part of the EIC's broader portfolio under Horizon Europe. The prize is intended to surface early stage ideas and provide seed support and visibility. The EIC and its executive agency EISMEA are central nodes in the EU innovation ecosystem that link grant instruments, accelerator services and networks intended to shepherd innovations from idea to market or social impact.

EIC and EISMEA role:EISMEA manages the European Innovation Council and other SME and innovation programmes. The EIC provides a mix of grants, investments and business acceleration services under Horizon Europe to support breakthrough and scaling innovations. The social innovation competition is a recognition and discovery mechanism rather than a large-scale funding programme.

Background on the competition

Launched in 2013 in memory of social innovation advocate Diogo Vasconcelos, the competition has run annual thematic challenges. Past themes include energy poverty, affordable and sustainable housing, skills for a green and digital future, reimagine fashion, plastic waste, and local innovation. The competition aims to raise awareness about social innovation and to build networks of like minded practitioners across the EU and associated countries.

What to watch and open questions

The announcement highlights interesting approaches to civic education, decentralised governance and countering disinformation. However the prize and network access alone are limited levers for long term impact. The following areas deserve scrutiny in coming months.

Impact measurement:How will projects demonstrate they improve civic competence or democratic participation? Robust evaluation designs, baseline measures and independent evaluation are required to move from engagement metrics to verified social outcomes.

Data protection and minors:An app for 14 to 18 year olds raises child protection and data privacy questions. Compliance with EU data protection law including the GDPR and rules on processing of children’s data will be essential. The announcement does not detail consent models, data minimisation, retention policies or how data will be used for research or improvement.

Decentralisation claims:Projects promoting decentralised platforms should be assessed for technical feasibility and trade offs. Decentralised architectures can improve user control but they also bring governance, moderation and interoperability challenges. Claims that users keep 'complete control' of data merit verification against design choices and practical constraints.

Disinformation interventions:Tools that aim to combat disinformation face difficult operational problems. Automated detection can produce false positives or bias. Human moderation and community trust are crucial. Evidence that a tool reduces misinformation and strengthens civic debate is not automatic and requires careful testing and transparency about methods.

Funding scale and sustainability:Cash awards of tens of thousands of euros offer useful early support but are modest compared with the costs of product development, multilingual scaling, moderation and organisational growth. Winners will typically need follow on funding, business model clarity and partnerships to sustain operations at EU scale.

Practical implications for innovators and policy watchers

For social innovators, the competition is a signal that digital democracy remains a policy priority for the EU. Applicants and winners should use NESEI access strategically to find partnerships, technical co development and evaluation expertise. Policy watchers should follow how the three projects operationalise privacy protections, moderation mechanisms and cross border scaling across languages and legal systems. Funders should assess whether follow on support is available to translate recognition into demonstrable public value.

How to follow developments

The EIC and EISMEA publish updates across their web platforms and social channels. The competition pages list the winners and give practical contact points. The three projects will be visible through NESEI activity and EIC communications. Independent evaluation reports or third party research will be the best source to judge whether the interventions deliver sustained civic outcomes.

Key documents and links

Relevant public material includes the EUSIC winners announcement, the EIC and EISMEA programme pages, the NESEI community pages and the Horizon Europe rules that govern EIC funding and activities. Interested parties can contact EISMEA for more information about the competition and NESEI membership.

Final note

The European Social Innovation Competition continues to surface creative ideas at the intersection of technology and civic life. Recognition and modest prize money can catalyse early activity. Translating a promising prototype into a resilient, privacy protecting and scalable civic infrastructure requires sustained funding, independent evaluation and careful governance choices. Those will determine whether the projects announced on 11 March 2025 move from promising concepts to durable contributions to European digital democracy.

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