Education and Social Innovation Centre of Austria (ESICA) is a non-governmental research organization established at Vienna, Austria.
ESICA aims to develop research and socially focused projects to strengthen and spread knowledge on the social innovation, inclusion and equality through promotion of the exchange of national and international experiences by establishing networks for socially accepted and sustainable innovations that meet global challenges.
ESICA is involved in research and implementation of social, cultural, educational, vocational, environmental, youth and technology related projects that have impact on society through innovation. It contributes to the design and distribution of socially accepted and sustainable innovations to meet global challenges; deploys innovative research, education, and advisory services.
As an active NGO around Vienna, ESICA provides non-formal learning about social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and policy formation to integrate and increase the local community participation in educational and social processes.
Its core working objectives are to generate new knowledge, configure existing knowledge, evaluate measures, develop solution-focused concepts, and move forward with social implementation by applying a set of methodological competences and skills in a broad range of thematic areas with expertise in the Europe.
For the social innovation, ESICA promotes participation in the labour market for the active social inclusion of all; encourages and facilitates people’s active participation in the various stages of co-constructing knowledge, including by identifying problems and developing solutions.