BFW Koln of Germany, EPR Innovation Prize 2018 winner

Celebrating Mutual Learning and Continuous Improvement

Each year, we launch our Innovation Prize call. Our members are encouraged to send us their best practices, methods or products they think are outstanding that year or they feel to be particularly innovative and useful for service users. The best practice can be of any type (a service, a programme, a methodology, a tool, etc.) and related to all areas of service provided by EPR members. If the practice is submitted within the scope of time comprised between the last awarding ceremony and the next, they will be eligible for the prize.

One application can be submitted on behalf of an individual or a team. Members are asked to submit one practice per year.

Collected practices will be included in the our products catalogue and published on our website.  The winner, as judged by our EPR Centre’s Coordinators, is awarded the Prize during the EPR Annual Conference.

The winner will present the practice to the audience and receive a 1000€ prize (to attend EPR events), including return tickets and 1 night accommodation to attend the Annual Conference.

Selection procedure

Centre Coordinators will receive the guidelines and application form. The practices are evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Needs-driven (Does the practice address a clearly identified and unmet need?)
  • Systematic Approach (Are the problem, the milestones and outcomes well specified?)
  • Stakeholders’ involvement (Is the practice centred on the user? Do other stakeholders have a role in the initiative?)
  • Direct Impact (Is the impact on beneficiaries obvious and clearly demonstrated?)
  • Strategic/wider impact (Has the initiative derived important lessons learned? Can it be transferred to other centres/target groups or generalized to the sector?)
  • Practicality (Is the initiative cost-effective and easy to implement?)
  • Inventiveness/Creativity (Does the initiative include new ways of thinking or working?)

For more information, please contact Alicia Gomez Campos at agomezcampos@epr.eu.

Previous Winners

  • 2018: Go2job for modular qualification for older people in vocational rehabilitation (BFW Koln, Germany)
  • 2017: Introduction of socio-cultural activities in the vocational rehabilitation program with the aim to increase the quality of life of people with disabilities (Evalda Bizjak, URI, Slovenia)
  • 2016: Serious Games (Chrissi Kotretsou, Theotokos Foundation, Greece)
  • 2015: Dundalk Football Supporters Club (Stephen Caraher, RehabCare, Ireland)
  • 2014: The online intervention the Growth Factory: Developing a Growth Mind set! (Petra Helmond, Pluryn)