14. blog post ENG

Social innovation around us

The best examples you can find in Estonia 

Hello! My name is Anton, and I want to tell you a story about an Estonian social innovation – the green card for public transport, which was introduced by the Estonian Centre Party. I am holding this green card everyday in my hands, I bought it just once for 2€ and after that all the public transport in Tallinn is free of charge for me. In 2013 Tallinn became the first European capital, which introduced free public transport for all of its residents. The purpose of the free public transit is to reduce traffic jams, to decrease the number of cars on the roads and car accidents, and to preserve road surfaces. What is more, the slogan of this movement is "Use green transport, save ecology", which is good for the environment. According to the estimates of the city officials, such social innovation allows a family of four people to save up to 600€ a year. There are more than one hundred thousand people that use public transport daily. So, for Tallinners it is a moderate income and a free ride as a bonus.

I'm Uljana, and the example of the social innovation I picked for you is so smart! It helps a lot of people daily and I use it too. The best thing about this "Charger" is that it's free. It's also very easy to use! You have to plug your device charger into the socket, sit on the seat and twist the pedals. While you are twisting pedals this "charger" produces energy for your device. In our city this "charger" is only in one place and it's made by two Spanish organizations "EVE" and "REPSOL". The idea of this "charger" was born in 2009 and became a real thing in 2010 and slowly spread into many EU countries. Healthy and smart!

Hi! My name is Nicole and I am presenting one of the Estonian innovations, which I often use in action! I called this photo "The electronic map". This social innovation was invented by an Estonian company “NEOON” and focused to help customers to find a particular shop in the big department store. The system provides the opportunity to find what you need. For example: food, toilets, clothes, etc. On the screen of the “electronic map” is the plan of the shop and different options, as for example parking, restaurants or area for children.

This blog is a part of the project Empowering Youth To Become Social Innovators, realised under the Erasmus+ partnership programme. The project is coordinated by a Czech NGO DYNAMA, z.s., seated in Brno and an Estonian NGO Youth Club Active, seated in Tallinn. This project contributes to the development of non formal learning of the youth.