Fotoessa participated in the workshop organized by the Greek Network for the Fight against Poverty on “Innovative educational programs for vulnerable groups” in the framework of the ERASMUS+ program “NGO Competence” – Improving the competences of NGO educators for social inclusion. The program aims to train executives of Civil Society organizations, through exchanges of good practices. The event took place at the Social Policy Laboratory of the Department of Social Policy of Panteion University on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 March.

During the workshop, Yiannis (John) Sourelis, co-founder of Fotoessa, presented the certified Creative and Social Entrepreneurship (CSEP) training program developed by the University of Manchester and the award-winning organization In Place Of War (IPOW). This program gives any person, regardless of gender, age, origin, religion, physical ability, economic and social status, the necessary know-how to develop sustainable creative professional ventures and actions, benefiting the local community. CSEP is specifically designed for people who have no or limited access to formal education, due to personal, social, economic or political circumstances. It is aimed at those who either wish to develop their own sustainable creative business plan, or are already involved in a creative business idea at the community level.

CSEP is a University of Manchester accredited training programme that has already been implemented with great success in particularly vulnerable groups and deprived communities around the world. In this program, apart from Yiannis Sourelis, the co-founder of Fotoessa, Stefanos Vallianatos, the intercultural citizen trainer, Aspasia Protogerou and the volunteer Ioulitta Soureli have been certified as trainers of trainers (ToT). The training was carried out with the support of the Anna Lindh Foundation, within the framework of the innovative Cross Network Action (CNA) “Best Practice Social and Creative Enterprise Training”. This translational action was aiming to generate new knowhow, insights and tools for enhancing civil society’s capacity to develop projects that promote intercultural dialogue and the social and economic participation of vulnerable group such as refugees.