CSSBoost
Social Innovation and Co-Creation Summer School
September 28 to October 02, 2026
Chania, Crete (Greece)
The social Summer School at a glance
International participants
Undergraduate students from any discipline
Study Social Innovation, Design Thinking, Game Design, and Circular Economy
Language: English
Learn How to Apply Social Innovation for Boosting the Circular Economy
In this Summer School, we teach you to design participatory solutions that respond to environmental and social challenges.
Gain practical experience in game design and community engagement. Gain access to insights from the EU Horizon project CSSBoost.
Participants will examine the key challenges and requirements of building circular value chains and discover how social innovation methods can improve them.
Gain practical experience
- Explore social innovation and gain a practical toolkit for applying it to diverse stakeholder needs.
- Learn about digital tools to create, engage, and administer communities.
- Design games for circular value chains to be used within an educational or professional context.
- Develop engagement tools for connecting with stakeholders in and outside of a value chain.
- Investigate the role of Maker Spaces in the exploration of circular value chains.
- Turn your ideas into prototypes through hands-on practice.
Workshop Agenda
Each day includes a full program of lectures and practical activities
28 SEP 2026
Circular Economy, Circular Value Chains, Field Trip
29 SEP 2026
Social Innovation, Community Building, Social CRM
30 SEP 2026
Human Centered Design, Game design
01 OCT 2026
Ideation and prototyping in a creative space
02 OCT 2026
Presentations and learning discussion
Venue
Technical University of Crete, TUC Transformable Intelligent Environments Lab and TUC Innovation Lab, Chania, Crete
Application process and costs
The Summer School is open to students from the Cooperative State University of Saxony and the Technical University of Crete. Please follow the link below to apply for a position at the CSSBoost Social Innovation Summer School. Afterwards, you will receive an email requesting that you submit a motivation letter and a short CV to complete the application.
The Summer School content, including lectures, feedback sessions, learning materials, and the certificate, is fully supported by the CSSBoost Project. Participants are only required to arrange and cover their own accommodation, food, and transportation.
Please note that the EU is providing different financial instruments to support students’ participation in Summer Schools, for example, through Erasmus+ or the Promos Program. Contact the responsible contact person for this Summer School as early as possible, or the international office of your University, to evaluate whether you can apply for funding.
Application deadline in Germany: 31.07.26
Application deadline in Greece (extended): 20.08.26
Organizers
Meet the lecturers
Dr. George Arampatzis
School of Production Engineering & Management TUC
Circular Economy
Dr. Konstantinos-Alketas Oungrinis
School of Architecture TUC
Design Thinking
MSc. Maria Aryblia
School of Production Engineering & Management TUC
Design for Circularity
MSc. Marianthi Liapi
School of Architecture TUC
Game Design and Creative Maker Spaces
Dipl Arch-Eng. Efharis Gourounti
School of Architecture TUC
Participatory Design
Dr. Olaf Reinhold
Cooperative State University of Saxony
Relationship Management, Community Platform and Social Information Systems
Cristina Barahona
Social CRM Research Center e.V.
Social Innovation
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I get a certificate?
Yes, the Summer School will issue certificates to all participants.
How many lecture hours does the Summer School contain?
In total, the Summer School covers 40 lecture hours
Do you have more questions?
Contact us at: socialss.cssbosst@gmail.com
What is social innovation?
Social Innovation is a method for engaging the capabilities, expertise, and creativity of these stakeholders in designing innovative solutions that address risks and barriers earlier on.
About CSS Boost
At the heart of our work is the creation of Circular Systemic Solutions (CSS), multi-actor models that link businesses, public authorities, researchers, and citizens around shared circular goals.
CSSBoost accelerates Europe’s transition to a circular economy by connecting technology, policy, and people. We bring together digital innovation, circular principles, and social collaboration to build integrated, data-driven solutions that work across entire regions.