The municipality of Ipolytölgyes and the Szülők Háza Public Foundation received the Social Innovation Award presented by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (KIM) for the first time this year, announced the parliamentary secretary of the ministry at the ceremony in Budapest on Friday.
Eszter Vitályos said at the award ceremony organized on the Hungarian Science Day that innovation is one of the most important sources of economic growth today, which, according to its social function, is the guarantee of improving the quality of life.
He emphasized: innovation cannot be limited to only technical and economic areas;
social innovation refers to those initiatives that promote the welfare of society and increase the capacity of society to act.
Social innovation should be innovative and respond to needs that most concern the actors in society, the state secretary continued. He said that KIM is the "champion of innovation policy", and they decided to create the award in connection with this task.
Eszter Vitályos explained that the tender published on July 5 could only be started with a developed and implemented idea and method, which is sustainable, has model value, can be implemented elsewhere, and can also be adapted internationally. He said: 24 applications were received in just one month, they came from a diverse range, with significantly different activities, from all over the country.
Minister János Csák presented the Social Innovation Award to the municipality of Ipolytölgyes "in recognition of the development and implementation of an innovative idea for services to support the community of the settlement".
Ipolytölgyes emphasized in his application that the smaller a settlement is, the more important community solutions are; for those living further away from cities, services organized on a community basis that make their lives easier are a solution for maintaining the population, said Eszter Vitályos.
He said that Ipolytölgyes' innovation is based on community-based renting, for example a tractor and a plow are enough to plow the kitchen gardens. In this way, the needs of the population are also taken into account during the procurement of municipal equipment, and the residents of the settlement offer their redundant equipment to the community. The municipality's equipment rental takes place in an organized form, and if necessary, the employees of the municipality help with the rental with transport or their expertise, the state secretary added. Mayor Bertalan Radnai accepted the award.
The Szülők Háza Közhaznú Alápítvány received the Social Innovation Award "in recognition of the development and implementation of an innovative idea aimed at building a cultural and mental health family support program".
Eszter Vitályos emphasized that the Parents' House has program elements that can be transferred to all stages of children's lives, from pregnancy to adulthood. They help the whole family in a complex way, as a unit, with family nurseries, development, training, mental and spiritual support, and they also have solutions for supporting disadvantaged families and young people.
Judit Regős accepted the special award on behalf of the foundation.
MTI
Cover photo: The Social Innovation Award on the day of the presentation at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation on November 3, 2023.
The municipality of Ipolytölgyes and the Parents' House Non-profit Foundation received the recognition awarded by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation for the first time this year. MTI/Péter Lakatos
