Social Innovation

Program Description

Overview:
The Social Innovation program at Poraka Nova harnesses creativity, technology, and entrepreneurship to develop sustainable, inclusive solutions that address the complex challenges faced by marginalized communities. We believe that innovation should serve the common good—and this program is our response to creating systems and services that leave no one behind.

Objectives:

• To foster a culture of innovation within civil society, empowering individuals and organizations to co-create impactful solutions.

• To integrate technology, design thinking, and entrepreneurship in addressing social and environmental problems.

• To build the capacity of nonprofits and young changemakers to develop sustainable and scalable models for social impact.

Key Activities:

• Social Innovation Labs: Co-creative spaces where community members and professionals collaboratively design and test new approaches to social challenges.

• Incubation & Acceleration: Supporting early-stage social entrepreneurs and organizations through mentorship, business modeling, and access to resources.

• Digital Transformation: Helping nonprofits adopt digital tools and strategies to increase their impact, resilience, and sustainability.

• Entrepreneurship Training: Equipping young people and underserved groups with entrepreneurial skills to launch impact-driven initiatives.

• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Building networks among civil society, public institutions, and businesses to scale inclusive innovations.

Impact:
Poraka Nova’s Social Innovation program empowers individuals and organizations to move from ideas to action. By cultivating a dynamic ecosystem of changemakers, we spark lasting transformation across communities, promote inclusive growth, and pave the way for socially responsible development in Macedonia and beyond.

Our Work

As a nonprofit organization, Poraka Nova doesn’t have own financial resources, so starting from 2011 we got interested in opportunities that the social innovation and social entrepreneurship are offering, so we could make the organization self-sustainable. Poraka Nova became a member of SIC Europe (Social Innovation Community).

Poraka Nova funded two social enterprises at the beginning (Creative Palm and Ribele – both for arts and crafts), and also three social enterprises offering social services to people with disabilities (Day Care Centre Poraka Nova, ILETE Poraka Nova and NEGA Poraka Nova – all of them explained in program 1).

Poraka Nova is a partner organization in the social enterprise Lice v lice, through which we succeeded to employ one person with Down Syndrome as a vendor of the street magazine, who is the first officially employed vendor in Macedonia).

We have developed business plans for three potential social enterprises: one, for offering products and services for accessible tourism; two, for waste treatment and recycling and promotion of circular economy; three, for nonprofit marketing, offering services to nonprofit organizations to take use of the digital and affiliate marketing.

Poraka Nova in collaboration with organizations from Italy, Spain and Croatia, developed the Social Innovation Network – SINet, which is a platform for digital social innovation, where the nonprofits can learn how to use social innovations, marketing and digitalization in order to become self-sustainable.

We continuously work on training people with disabilities, and vulnerable groups in general, on how to initiate their own social businesses and become self-employed and take use of the business skills they attain.

In the following period we are planning to make use of artificial intelligence, blockchain and other new technological advantages, in service of the people with disabilities and their needs.

Projects

– SINet – Social Innovation Network

– Social Impact NFTs

– SIINET

– Social Impact Influencers

– Mobile App for Deff and Audible Impaired People
– Mobile App for Communication Between People with Autism and Their Caregivers

How to get involved?

Check out the website and facebook page for updates and info on how you can be involved.