Baltic Sea Impact Network
For whom
About the Network
The Baltic Sea Impact Network is a new unique transnational network for peer learning between 50 social entrepreneurs from Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Ukraine. The aim is to help the network's members learn new skills, connect with like-minded peers from neighbouring countries and increase the access of social entrepreneurs to relevant stakeholders.
By whom
Partners
The project is implemented in partnership between Reach for Change Sweden, Reach for Change Latvia, Social Enterprise Estonia, Social Entrepreneurship Association Latvia and the Lithuanian Social Business Association, supported by the Swedish Institute as part of the Baltic Sea Neighbourhood Programme.
Each participating organization brings years of experience in supporting social entrepreneurs and has proven its ability to mobilize entrepreneurs and stakeholders at a national level in their respective countries.
How do we work
Activities
Over the course of 20 months, the members will be guided through a programme of monthly online sessions, alternating between peer learning and expert workshops. In October 2024, all network members will meet in person in Tallinn, Estonia to deepen their connections and find collaboration opportunities.
The long-term ambition is to formalize the concept of the Network, to invite more funding partners on-board to be able to replicate and expand it across additional markets in the Nordic region and wider Europe.
Some of the topics
All session topics are based on the needs and interest shared by members:
Members
Meet the social entrepreneurs from the Baltic Sea Region who are part of the Network
Maria Rahamägi
Edumus Education is a distance learning platform for curricula creators and experts from any field to develop and deliver hybrid courses for high school students. With distance education and Edumus School, students can pick their electives from a wide variety of courses than their local school can offer. Blended courses enable more self-directed learning in terms of time, place and the content. Increased agency increases motivation and learning.
Kaie Kaas Ojavere
KIUD offers reusable e-commerce packaging made of recycled textile waste. The package can be reused for up to 20 times, helping reduce packaging trash and textile waste. The core of KIUD is material science, creating solutions to the most problematic textile waste: synthetic and mixed fibers. Reusable packaging is their first material application. Material is applicable in product packaging, stationary products, toys, etc
Maia Selis
Looming Hostel is an eco-hostel in Tartu, Estonia. They offer guests a unique and cozy accommodation experience, inspiration, and a social environment. The hostel operates according to sustainable principles and encourages its guests and community members to think along and see different ways to operate sustainably and with respect for the environment.
Fatma Guettou
Watoto Arts is helping kids develop self esteem and empathy through doll play. They design and produce soft fabric dolls that represent all kids. Their dolls come in different skin and hair colors, different disabilities and different family variations, and are made by women from the suburbs.
Ailet Õis-Saar
SUTU produces drinking straws from reed and sells through a B2B model to distributors, restaurants, bars, whose clients can choose natural straws in their cocktails. From production residues, they develop a material which lets manufacturers replace fossil plastics with natural ones - SUTU's material has a 13X smaller footprint than ordinary plastic.
Nida Vildžiūnaitė
Postpartum depression center raises awareness about postpartum depression and its prevention, and provides help and advocation. They create various content, including educational magazines, which provide parents with the necessary information, like Pregnancy calendar and Baby diary.
Andra Strautiņa
Es varu empowers community leaders and leaders-to-be by boosting their self confidence and knowledge in order to develop their own social and business ideas. Their main target groups are teachers and students in schools, university students, people with ideas, early stage startups and NGOs.
Elin Lütke
ConnectArt is an innovative organisation that collaborates horizontally in culture and education to promote children's health. We want to increase students' opportunities to influence their mental health through culture, and to make culture more accessible, especially in vulnerable areas, which means investments on several fronts. We have a vision of a Trilogy; three different art expressions for children to highlight the relationship to our I. thoughts, II. emotions and III. body. The first work is Monster, now our second work is being produced.
Madara Mickeviča
Centers SEVII create fun and easy games to train emotional and social intelligence skills - self awareness, empathy, communication, self regulation. They produce printed and digital materials - books, methodological materials, master classes, lectures, created by a team of educators, psychologists, therapists, businessmen and parents and provide consultations.
Ingemar Essenson
ResQ Club reduces food waste one portion at a time. For consumers, using ResQ means discovering new restaurants, cafeterias and grocery stores at around 50% discount and creating a more sustainable environment while at it. For partners, every portion sold in ResQ is one wasted portion less and one revenue item more in their bookkeeping.
Baiba Blomniece Jurāne
Barboleta creates an efficient environment for child development. Barboleta has developed balance platforms as an innovative and efficient tool for the focusing of attention, motivation, recalling of information, and boosting energy in work and learning process, and offers training on how to incorporate movement and balance into the learning process.
Indra Džiojeva - Stulpinienė
Žvaigždžių slėnis is helping people regain self-confidence, increase resistance of stress, internal balance. They are creating a nature therapy place for different types of services, like camps, events, nature amphitheatre, places for being alone in nature, resting without alcohol.
Iris Koristin
Eratunnid OÜ mission is that every child can get success at school and less stress at school and at home. They help parents manage the stress, caused by studying at home with their child, after a tiring day at work. Their teachers help parents in teaching children, including children with special needs (eg ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia), and gifted children.
Liene Reine-Miteva
Ligero aims to empower young people with disabilities by providing them with opportunities to explore different types of employment. Through their events, they connect employers with potential employees who face challenges in finding occupation. Since 2022, they have organized four Job Opportunity Festivals for All, reaching hundreds of participants and partners.
Annelie Hultman
The Good Talents empowers young people in regions grappling with socioeconomic challenges enhancing their quality of life, fostering community engagement and enabling better solutions to sustainability challenges. They broaden the perception of who is a talent, increasing diversity in organizations and companies.
Elīna Bušmane
Kano Editions is a family business that creates giant colouring posters with educational content. The posters are illustrated by both Latvian and Ukrainian artists and are 100% biodegradable. They outsource part of their packaging to people with mental disabilities at the Pērle Day Centre in Cēsis and 10% of their revenue goes to civic initiative projects in Ukraine.
Živilė Kurienė
With the vision – A Happy Old Age for Yourself and Others – Senjorų pasaulis wants to comprehensively address the problems of the elderly population. By inviting seniors to participate in remote lectures, they are creating an environment where people who experience loneliness and social exclusion due to their age can stay active, healthy and independent for as long as possible.
Rasa Valinskienė
The protection of the cultural heritage of Skuodas district and Samogitian region is very important to SYVAS. They care about retired folk artists, craftsmen and help them to earn extra income by selling their handicrafts in an e-shop syvas.lt. This way SYVAS is giving them a possibility to sell their products and live a more comfortable and joyful life.
Anne Wells
ResQ Club reduces food waste one portion at a time. For consumers, using ResQ means discovering new restaurants, cafeterias and grocery stores at around 50% discount and creating a more sustainable environment while at it. For partners, every portion sold in ResQ is one wasted portion less and one revenue item more in their bookkeeping.
Judith Jønsby
Papmor works to equip vulnerable children to gain self-awareness, courage and learn to think outside of the box, so that they can become co-creators of a better future both for themselves and the society around them. They do it mainly through value-based workshops based on the individual child's point of view and with focus on creativity, care and play with cardboard.
Bart Cosijn
The Estonian Dialogue Academy is a place of encounter, inspiration and learning. They teach dialogue and critical thinking skills, train dialogue facilitators and organisers, and promote a more inclusive and interactive culture of communication – in local communities, schools, NGOs, governments, businesses, politics and public discussion.
Egle Celiesiene
Lithuanian College of Democracy organizes seminars, develops projects for the promotion of democracy, civic education and development, carries out programs of public education, organizes public debates, prepares research papers and publications. They aim to improve the key competencies, skills, and learning performance of young people in schools, by promoting quality improvements, innovation excellence at the educational level, and involving digital inclusiveness.
Inna Falko & Sergii Kulyk
Mental Health & Gamification promotes digital gamification for theenagers in psychotherapy. At the moment they are in a deep dive into Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Art-therapy focusing on the painting tool for psychotherapist working with teenagers and kids.
Tea Eldestrand & team
Edyoutell offers 17 children's books based on the UN's 17 SDGs to educate children age 3-6. With the help of their characters they start the conversation about sustainable development, increase understanding about the world and make something complicated applicable in everyday life.
Raul Savimaa
CESERE is a research-oriented SME carrying out projects and studies related to sustainability and environmental awareness. They also develop and conduct environmental education programs, promote environmental awareness, conduct seminars and practical outdoor activities in the nature. They contribute to the sustainability and security of the environment and communities:
Maria Svahn, Josefine Hölling
Funki makes musical instruments adapted for users with intellectual and other cognitive disabilities, and they are made to be played together. They can be used with Funki instruments, but also with traditional instruments like piano or a guitar, which creates unique possibilities for collaboration among all kinds of people.
Maryna Hordiichuk
Baidyk Pets crafts high-quality and distinctive products designed specifically for cats and dogs. They specialize in incorporating unique Ukrainian ornaments into their creations. From stylish pet accessories to comfortable bedding, their range of products reflects their commitment to both pet well-being and cultural appreciation celebrating Ukrainian heritage through the lens of pet care.
Ieva Karulaitienė
MB Solidari erdvė staff the Solidarity Cafeteria with people with intellectual disabilities. This way, people with disabilities are included in the labor market. Coffee and desserts are also served on a mobile coffee bar, a coffee tricycle, which travels around Lithuania, delivering coffee and a message of solidarity.
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Oleksii Zarychanskyi
Biedrība "Eiropa: būt kopā" assists with problems of integration of Ukrainian citizens into the society of Latvia and EU countries. Intercultural exchange and cooperation.
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