Accelerator Program Updates

As part of the Caring Communities project’s Accelerator activity, six Regional Innovation and Capacity-Building Programs were successfully piloted across Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The initiative aimed to strengthen local capacities and enhance community-based solutions for care and support.

The main goals of the accelerators were twofold:

To further develop 12 homecare and community-based solutions, enabling them to reach a greater number of care-dependent individuals, formal and informal caregivers.
To build the competences of six regional accelerators, empowering them to scale, adapt, and disseminate social innovations tailored to diverse territorial needs, generating transformative impact from the bottom up.

Throughout project periods a total of 31 organizations participated in the accelerators. Each regional program adapted its format and engagement methods to local contexts, offering between 4 and 23 participating organizations per region.

Implementation and Activities

The accelerators combined various learning and support formats, including:

Workshops and seminars (both online and in-person)
One-on-one mentoring and coaching
Stakeholder meetings and focus groups

In total, more than 50 workshops, seminars, meetings, and training sessions were organized across regions, employing a mix of online, in-person, and hybrid approaches.

Key topics addressed during the programs included:

Social Business Models and Strategy
Fundraising and Financial Sustainability
Human Resources, Psychological Safety, and Time Management
Social Impact Measurement and Theory of Change

A strong focus was placed on direct mentoring, enabling participants to receive personalized guidance in developing and scaling their initiatives. For instance, FONT provided 96 hours of one-on-one mentoring, exemplifying the program’s hands-on approach to capacity building.

The completion of all six core accelerator programs marks a significant milestone in the Caring Communities project, contributing to stronger regional innovation ecosystems and more resilient, community-based care solutions across Europe.