Social Inclusion & Innovation Market
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
Municipal Market of Kypseli is the first community market of social entrepreneurship & innovation in Greece. Located at one of the most dense & multicultural neighborhoods in Athens the landmark building (1934) was renovated by the Municipality & assigned to Impact Hub Athens to revive it. We deliver a concept adhering values towards social impact, sustainability, social innovation & integration creating a vivid space through culture, education and social entrepreneurship.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Other Funds
Living Realities - Creative Europe 2018-2019
Description of the project
Summary
Impact Hub in Athens was created in 2013 with the intention to set up social, accessible and empowering environments for diverse & multidisciplinary people to come together, develop & scale social innovation solutions. IHA facilitates and hosts unlikely allies to come together with the intention to collaborate for impact: In 2017 IHA applies to the Municipality of Athens to rehabilitate the old Municipal Market of Kypseli, one of the most challenged districts of downtown Athens, creating the first Social Economy Market in Greece, bringing civil society organizations and social enterprises together in realizing an innovative, sustainable scheme of public space empowerment.
The Municipal Market of Kypseli is not only an emblematic building, which tells the story of our neighbourhood and city, but also a platform that enables us to prove that participatory processes, co-creation, collaboration and digital innovation can give the necessary push that is needed in the surrounding urban landscape and - most importantly - the people who live and visit it.
We envision the Market as a connection point between all the inhabitants of the area but also the social economy sector. We want it to be a mechanism of social cohesion, collaborative spirit, co-creation and innovation in one of the most populous, multicultural and historical areas of Athens.
With main pillars, culture, education and social innovation & entrepreneurship with a clear aim to strengthen the local community & economy, the Market in October 2018 is launching its full content becoming a physical meeting point and reference for the Athenian (and not only) public and the social economy sector in Greece at large.
Our main goal for the Market was to become a lever for the restart of the local economy, which will be able to attract conscious consumers, provide products and services to citizens and entrepreneurs, and offer new experiences to the Athenian population and its visitors.
Key objectives for sustainability
Through our work as Impact Hub in Athens and the Municipal Market of Kypseli that is a prototype to create the conditions for social cohesion, collaborative spirit and co-creation in one of the most historical areas of Athens, we:
- strengthen the local economy as we create job opportunities, we provide space for social businesses to thrive and digital means for further development as well as our expertise to scale impact
- Number of new jobs created: 52 , new businesses formed in the Market: 8, number of local businesses participating to pop up markets: 142
- focus on raising awareness on ethical consumption and sustainability by providing an alternative to the commercial, massive model. We provide space, entrepreneurial support & communication to initiatives & organizations who provide services and products in service of people and planet.
- Number of conscious consumers > 100.000
- we act as ambassadors of the social innovation of Greece abroad, but also as a funnel to channel and bridge international expertise and resources from the global Impact Hub network & partners and the greek social innovation ecosystem
- International Collaborations in the Market, Harvard Business School - Creating a Sustainable model for Community Spaces
- we prove constantly that the social economy works, we created a self-sufficient and sustainable community center that covers its main costs through its activities & operations. Our model has proven to be resilient and competitive while contributing directly to economic sustainability. Since its official launch in 2018 the Market continues its operational model till today
- Achieving Financial sustainability from the first year of operations.
Through these actions we have managed to create a fully sustainable and self-sufficient project that connects culture, education and social innovation and is a best case practice of urban innovation.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Our key objectives as far as aesthetics and quality of experience is concerned are focusing on the multicultural vibe of the neighborhood together with the history of the space as such. More specifically, given the fact that the building was built in 1934 it brings together within its shell the history of the markets in Greece.
The Municipal market of Kypseli used to be a place where neighbors were socialising as well as buying goods from local food producers These are two elements we wanted to maintain in this new iteration of the space. We kept the feeling of everyday shopping with the stores and the pop up markets we are organizing, bringing this feeling of a commercial center for customers to cover their everyday needs. Moreover, on an everyday basis there are sofas, tables and chairs giving the feeling of an open, urban living room, which is inviting for everyone, offering a meeting point for all the citizens, migrant communities and entrepreneurial forces of Athens.
We are providing a public space, clean and comfortable as a home that gives the opportunity to diverse people sitting next to each other without thinking what separates them from one another. We also host organizations, teams, corporates and different communities by offering them a unique flexibility in the use of the space - almost like a white canvas - that gives them the ability to bring their own aesthetics and present it to their audience.
The Municipal Market of Kypseli is a colourful, cozy and minimal space that is aiming to be inclusive and inviting to citizens no matter where they come from.
Key objectives for inclusion
IHA activities in the Market aim to develop a competent set of human capabilities in mixed groups, while supporting the creation of responsible and sustainable initiatives that are based on inclusion. The Municipal Market of Kypseli with its partners provided integrated job opportunities and educational activities, that enhance the employability and social capacity in mixed and underrepresented groups.
- 5 Social businesses based on inclusion, employing and educating marginalised groups (people with mental illnesses, long term unemployed, ex-drug addicts, ex prisoners, down syndrome, people from the autistic spectrum) -Epanekkinisis, Second Hand Shop Archipelagos, Flower Power, Hymopoioio (till 2020), 13sm Gallery
- Web design, robotics, programming classes: 10 rounds of 3 months courses to a mixed class of refugees and local residents from the age of 18-24, in collaboration with Open Technologies Alliance (GFOSS)
- Greek and English language courses for migrants and refugees to increase their integration in the local context (society, community & market) with Caritas Hellas
- Access to financial and legal advices for migrant population, in collaboration with Caritas Hellas and Danish refugee Council: 7450 beneficiaries
- Culture for Inclusion - Unison/El Sistema Greece: Started in 2016, hosted also in the Municipal Market of Kypseli providing a platform for togetherness across local and refugee communities, who co-exist and collaborate through instrument classes, musical ensembles & choirs, empowering both the children involved and their families.
Results in relation to category
Results/Impacts
The residencies
8 Social businesses offering products and services based on upcycling/recycling, repair culture, social inclusion and sustainability, promotion of local producers and healthy gastronomy.
3 Socially driven organisations
Code + Create by GFOSS offering free programming courses in English open to locals and newcomers to Greece, Caritas Hellas and Danish Refugee Council offering Consulting, social & educational support
Pop Up Markets
Pop up markets (both thematic and non), community organic farmers’ market every Wednesday (mpostani.gr), tasting experiences with special flavors and cuisines from around the world (Pop Up Brunches) and Super Kypseli: an Agora where the visitors get to meet the creative capital and the small shop owners of the neighborhood (technicians, handcrafters , DIY makers, artists), aiming at strengthening the local economy, local businesses and their distinct identity.
No. of Citizens participating: 100.000
No. of Professionals + Farmers 143
No. of Markets realised 120
ACCESSIBLE EDUCATION
A Learning Space hosting contemporary lessons & open days adhering to the new trends of the educational domain. (Robotics, Painting, Choir, Instruments Lesson, Arts Lab, World Dance, Yoga, etc, Language Classes)
ENRICHING CULTURE
Events and programs in collaboration with an array of institutions, communities, art collectives and other organizations. Through these events we aim to enhance one’s cultural identity and enable the audience to join a quality and authentic cultural experience. (Ethnofests, small festivities of the neighborhood in collaboration with diverse ethnic groups of Kypseli, CINE-MAGEIREMATA, themed screenings in parallel with cooking actions inspired by the movie/documentary (country of origin, theme etc, JAM NIGHTS & Live Concerts Improvisational Music Nights & Open Air Concerts)
How Citizens benefit
As public space shrinks, we feel it is important to offer accessible and creative spaces for citizens to enjoy without having to buy/pay for something, while offering affordable services & products.
One year of prototyping.
In 2017-2018 we created a feasibility study in order to suggest an economically sustainable space of high aesthetics that is serving the local community and is contributing to environmentally friendly practices. In order to design the main elements of each pillar (education, culture, social economy) we applied a user-centered approach based on Design Thinking, approaching the citizens' communities, engaging them in different ways to various outputs and outcomes of the project (focus groups, interviews, activities testing).
The community takes constantly a central role in the development and the content of the designed actions, identifying, articulating and prioritising the main challenges faced or their main needs.
By facilitating the active involvement of different community groups, together with the other stakeholders involved, such as the lead team and the municipality representatives, we created (March 2018) the open calls for social businesses to accommodate the shops (offering start up grants from 5K to 30K) and for social service organizations to join the project, while identifing the key education activities (STEAM methodology) and the the cultural activities formats, that reflect directly to the interests and needs of the community.
Since it launch in Oct. 2018, we manage to achieve, cross-cultural and generational exchange, cultivation of a conscious consumption mindset, maintaining a safe and secure space for all, giving access to high end education services, having a space for artistic expression and empowerment and delivering a vivid, bright place for people for different backgrounds to meet, learn and connect.
Innovative character
Innovation is a core element of the project, deriving from its historic use, inspired by the essence of the ancient Agora and based on the contemporary socio-economic characteristics, we apply new social practices that aim to meet social needs in a better way than the existing solutions for space usage extending and strengthening civil society.
Social Innovation Aspect
Based on social innovation, the project is a unique leverage of the municipality's public resources along with the creative/impact driven capital of Athens for the creation of a safe community space, in respect of the existing aesthetics and historic capacities, for the locals and visitors from other neighborhoods to interact, learn, and exchange. The project constantly innovates by studying deeply the community and designing relative actions and programming that serve the community, making sure that the right messages are transmitted and that our suggested actions are integrated into the local context as they improve the social and economic welfare.
Technologic aspect
The past year, due to the pandemic, Impact Hub Athens created an online “mall” moving the Kypseli Market digitally and providing a platform for all those enterprises that didn’t have the resources to do so by their own means. “Kypsel- e” gives the opportunity to the entrepreneurs to manage their own eshop, talk with the customer, offer online purchases and manage their stock. On the other hand, customers have the unique opportunity to have a place where they can buy products with social impact. This platform will automatically calculate the analogy between the price of their purchase and their contribution to solutions of societal and environmental challenges. Additionally, we launched “Mpostani”, a digital platform where the farmers that we host weekly at the Market can sell their products online, so that customers can pre- order their fresh vegetables & fruits in a “click n collect” format.
