Horizon Prize for Social Innovation: €1.5 million to three outstanding projects
The European Commission awarded yesterday €1.5 million to three innovative projects aimed at improving the life of senior citizens with mobility problems. The winning projects will be funded under Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation programme. The top prize of €1 million went to Danish company Walk With Path for developing a shoe attachment called Path Finder that helps people with an unsteady and irregular gait. The two runner-up prizes, worth €250,000 each, were awarded to Swiss company MyoSwiss, the inventor of ‘wearable muscles’, and the Municipality of Toulouse (France) for its Mob4Seniors project, which has put in place a scheme that aims to increase the participation of senior citizens in community activities. Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, who handed over the prizes at the European Research and Innovation Days in Brussels, said: “These innovations make a real difference for our senior citizens by helping them maintain an active social life and their autonomy. The projects also demonstrate how EU support opens the door to new innovative businesses and inspires cooperation between innovators and organisations from civil society, and the private and public sectors. This is a great benefit to all of us.” Commissioner Moedas launched the prize contest in 2017 at the ‘Opening up to an era of social innovation‘ conference in Lisbon. The Commission was looking for replicable and scalable solutions that promote creativity at the local level. A jury of independent experts selected the winning projects from among 10 finalists.
