Maria da Graça Carvalho attended today the European Social Innovation Awards Ceremony in memory of Diogo Vasconcelos which took place in Brussels.
José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission, has awarded the first Social Innovation prizes for three ground-breaking ideas that seek new ways to create more and better jobs in Europe. The prices were awarded with €20,000. Vice President of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship participated in the ceremony.
The Social Innovation Competition was launched on the 1 October 2012 by the European Commission with the objective of boosting social innovation.
The 2014 round of the Social Innovation Award will be launched in Milan in October 2013.
Diogo Vasconcelos chaired a Business Panel on Future EU innovation policy in January 2009 to provide input to the next European Commission, in the context of post 2010 Lisbon strategy. He was the Chairman of the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX), a global community of over 5000 individuals and organizations committed to promoting social innovation.
On 24 January 2012, Maria da Graça Carvalho participated in the European Comission´s tribute to Diogo Vasconcelos with the presence of José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission.