CHEST — Collective Intelligence for Social Good

Problem & Context

Europe faces interconnected challenges in sustainability, health, digital inclusion, and social equity. Addressing these effectively requires not only scientific expertise but also practical knowledge from communities, civil society, and social entrepreneurs. Yet traditional research and funding models often fail to tap this distributed intelligence, marginalizing grassroots solutions and limiting the impact of innovations that might benefit millions. CHEST responds by creating inclusive platforms where citizens, researchers, and innovators collaborate as equals in identifying and developing solutions with genuine societal impact.

Collective Intelligence for Social Innovation

CHEST pioneers a Digital Social Innovation approach that differs fundamentally from traditional research funding. Rather than scientists defining problems for citizens to solve, CHEST enables citizens, social entrepreneurs, and researchers to work as co-designers—with citizens and communities defining priorities and shaping solutions that affect their lives.

Harnessing Distributed Intelligence Through Open Calls

CHEST conducts multiple structured open calls that invite breakthrough ideas from any source: social entrepreneurs, civil society organizations, community groups, and individual innovators. Ideas are evaluated not only by expert panels but also through community voting and feedback, ensuring that solutions reflect diverse perspectives and real-world needs.

Digital Platforms & Collective Evaluation

The CHEST platform leverages social media and participatory mechanisms to enable broad-based engagement. Rather than evaluating ideas in isolation, the community participates in assessing, improving, and validating solutions, creating a collective intelligence system that strengthens emerging innovations through many eyes and experiences.

Meaningful Funding & Sustained Support

Selected innovations receive substantial EU funding to move from concept to implementation—not mere seed grants, but resources sufficient to test and scale solutions. Beneficiaries gain access to expert networks, business mentoring, policy connections, and implementation partnerships essential for real-world impact.

Empowering Citizens as Knowledge Brokers

CHEST treats citizen participants not as passive data providers but as knowledge brokers—individuals with expertise about community needs and solutions. By involving diverse communities in defining challenges and co-designing responses, CHEST ensures innovations address genuine societal needs and have pathways to adoption and scaling.