The award winners are selected in a two-step scoring process that combines an Expert Judging Panel and Online Public Vote.
An expert judging panel score the applications and create a shortlist of finalists for each category.
The panel is selected based on their strong experience in social service management, planning, funding, provision and research. The composition of the judging panel aims to reflect the diversity of the ESN community by achieving a balance of gender, countries, areas of social services, sectors, levels of government and seniority.
In order to reflect the nature of ESN also as a platform for the wider social services community, an online public vote will be held for all shortlisted applications. This score will be combined with the judges scores to determine the winners.
The Expert Judging Panel’s evaluation will account for 85% of the final score and the Public Voting will account for 15% of the final score.
* During the evaluation process, ESN or the judging panel may decide to assign the application to a different category and will inform the applicant accordingly.
Meet the Expert Judging Panel
Ana Buñuel Heras
Ana has a PHD in Sociology, and is a civil servant of Madrid City Council since 1987, where she has developed her professional career in planning and evaluating social services, international development cooperation policies, gender equality, and combating gender-based violence, care for the elderly, family and childhood, as well as international coordination of the Social Policies Area. She has been the General Director of Gender Equality (2015-2017) and of Family and Childhood (2018-2019) at Madrid City Council. She has collaborated on several postgraduate university courses (University Complutense of Madrid, UNED) and has several publications in the field of social policies. She is currently Senior Advisor to the General Coordination of the Area of Social Policies, Family, and Equality of the Madrid City Council.
Andrzej Klimczuk
Andrzej Klimczuk, PhD, a sociologist and public policy expert, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Policy of the Collegium of Socio-Economics at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland. He worked as the external expert of institutions such as the European Commission, URBACT Programme, Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme, and Fondazione Cariplo. He is a member of various scientific organisations such as the European Sociological Association, European School of Social Innovation, International Political Science Association, European Citizen Science Association, and Human Development & Capability Association. Author of many scientific papers and books in gerontology, labour economics, public management, and social policy. He is an editor of the series “Towards 2030: Sustainable Development Goals. A Sociological Perspective” (Frontiers Media) and a Sections Editor in the “Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging” (Springer Nature).
Chiara Crepaldi
Chiara has a Master’s degree in Political Science - Università degli Studi Milan and now works as a policy analyst and impact evaluation specialist at national and international level in the area of social inclusion. She is also a project coordinator in studies for EU institutions (European Commission, European Parliament, EESC, Eurofound, etc.) and for many EU organisations (Caritas Europa, Social Services Europe, European Social network). She has worked for almost 30 years at the Italian Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale as Head of the European Social Policies Research Unit on poverty and social exclusion and on vulnerable target groups. For Fondazione The Bridge, she worked on the the access to health services by vulnerable target groups and on promoting the public debate and advocacy actions on health topics within the decision-making in particular in the areas of HIV/AIDS, Mental health, Eating disorders, Children and adolescents' health and prevention strategies. She is currently involved in the development of quality and impact evaluation of social services, to provide recommendations and methodological guidance to public authorities in Middle Eastern countries.
Elena Weber
Based in Trieste, Italy, Elena is a dedicated leader with extensive experience in public service, disability advocacy, and European collaboration. From 2008 to 2024, they served as CEO of the Istituto Regionale Rittmeyer per i Ciechi, a regional public body supporting individuals with visual impairments of all ages through person-centred services and empowerment initiatives. Since 2016, they have also held the role of Director General at the Regional Council of Istituto per la Ricerca, la Formazione e la Riabilitazione (I.Ri.Fo.R. FVG), promoting independent living for visually impaired individuals. At the European level, she has been a board member of ENVITER (European Network for Vision Impairment Training Education and Research) since 2014, serving as its President from 2022 to 2025. She was also active in AGE Platform Europe between 2015 and 2023, holding roles including Secretary of the Executive Committee, Vice President, and Council member, and will return as a substitute Council member in 2025. As President of the European Network for Inclusion Beyond the Borders since 2022, she fosters collaboration among organisations serving people with disabilities and older adults. She is also a board member of the European Ageing Network. Elena holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Organisational Sciences, a Degree in Public Relations, a Master’s degree in European Studies and a Master's Course in Social Innovation, Complex Organisations and Fundraising.
Jim Thomas
Jim has had close connections with ESN for many years and believes that the work that ESN does is essential in supporting and enabling social care colleagues across Europe to work together. For many years, until his retirement, he was head of workforce capacity and transformation at Skills for Care, England's social care workforce strategy organisation. Jim now works part-time supporting municipalities, small organisations with all aspects of workforce development, training and education. His interests, skills and knowledge are very wide - from how to coproduce workforce plans, to the role of training and education on community development, to working in partnership with people who draw on care and support on a range of national guidelines. He writes a weekly blog at longhouseman.com on whatever comes to mind from the last week.
Pascal Bijleveld
Pascal has over 20 years of leadership experience in global development at country, regional and global levels. He has straddled the private as well as public sectors, working with McKinsey, WHO, UNICEF, CHAI and Gavi. In his current role as CEO of ATscale, the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology, he works to increase access to Assistive Technology in low and middle-income countries. Across his roles, Pascal champions innovation in services and products as a means to accelerate sustainable impact, bring greater value for money, and foster a more inclusive society.
In his presentation, Pascal will discuss the vital role of assistive technology in creating an inclusive society. He will highlight how investing in these technologies is not just a right but also a smart economic decision, benefiting both individuals and the broader economy. Drawing on examples of his work from across the world, Pascal will showcase some of the newest innovations in assistive technology and how innovations in technology make services more accessible, especially in harder to reach areas. Yet, he will emphasise that we must get the basic solutions right first. Against the backdrop of ageing populations, increased conflict and displacement of people around the world, Pascal will argue that assistive technology will be key to ensuring all citizens are supported and included in society.
Pritish Mistry
Pritesh works in the policy team at The Kings Fund where he focuses on how digital tools and technologies can improve health and care. He is particularly passionate about using evidence-based digital technology as an enabler to improve quality of care and outcomes while critically assessing buzzwords and technology as a silver bullet. Pritesh combines his understanding of technology with the broader picture of the essential ingredients needed for digital change to have an impact. This encompasses culture, unmet need, infrastructure, change management and knowledge all to improve quality, inequalities and outcomes.
In his presentation, Pritesh will explore the transformative potential of technology in the realm of social care to discover how we maintain human connection and compassion in an age of increasing automation and digitalisation. By considering futuristic scenarios, we will delve into how advancements in welfare technology such as AI & robotics can revolutionise the way we approach care and support, while ensuring that human touch, autonomy and quality of life remain at the core.
Robin Miller
Professor Robin Miller, University of Birmingham, is an applied academic with an international reputation in relation to collaboration, leadership, and implementation in health and social care. Current research interests include strengths-based approaches, co-production with people and communities, and professional leadership in social work. He is the social care lead within the West Midlands Applied Research Collaboration, Senior Fellow of the NIHR School for Social Care Research, UK Demonstrator lead for the IMPACT (IMProving Adult Care Together) Centre and an Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Integrated Care. Robin is one of the founding members of the ESN Social Services Research Group and led the winning project in the European Social Service Award category for Research & Evaluation 2024.
Ruth Paserman
An economist, Ruth Paserman joined the Commission in 1993. She has since worked in a number of services: Eurostat, DG Employment and Social Affairs, DG Competition, DG Enterprise and Industry. She was also member of cabinet of Vice-President Tajani, Vice-President Dombrovskis and deputy Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Thyssen. Since November 2020 she is Director for Funds Programming and Implementation in DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. She is responsible for the legislation, policy development and coordination of implementation of the funds managed by the DG (European Social Fund +, Social Climate Fund, European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, InvestEU social window), as well as for the social economy, social innovation and better regulation.
Sarah Carlick
Dr Sarah Carlick started her professional career as a social worker and then as a probation officer, gaining experience in the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. Her experience builds on a rigorous academic background. Sarah is the Director and founder of two companies, a Safeguarding Training and Consultancy company for over 20 years as well as MeSafe that supports organisations developing a strategic approach to Digital Safeguarding that promotes co-design with children and young people. She also currently Chairs the Digital Safeguarding Special Interest Group on behalf of the Association of Child Protection Professionals (UK). Is a visiting university lecturer and associate researcher.
Toni Codina
Graduated in philosophy and with studies in political science and business management. Since 2018 he is the co-founder and CEO of the iSocial Foundation for innovation in social action. Likewise, he has been co-director of the Postgraduate course in public management of Social Services, of the Catalan Association of Municipalities; evaluator of the Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technologies (CIMTI); advisor to the Nous Cims Foundation; and member of the board of the Oportunitas Foundation.
Previously, for ten years he was the general director of the Third Social Sector Platform of Catalonia (2007-2018), after a long previous career in the international cooperation sector, where he was director of the NGO SETEM (1991-2007 ), vice president of the Catalan Federation of NGOs for Development (1996-1998) and promoter of various fair trade and ethical finance initiatives, including Oikocredit-Catalonia (2000).
Viktoria Stein
Viktoria Stein is an Assistant Professor at the Department for Public Health and Primary Care at Leiden University Medical Centre and joint editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Integrated Care. She also co-founded VM Partners Integrating Health and Care, a consulting company supporting integrated care implementation around the world, and the Karl-Landsteiner Institute for Health Promotion Research to strengthen public health research in Austria. She is a consultant for international agencies like the World Health Organisation, World Bank, the European Commission, or Accreditation Canada, providing input on topics such as workforce development, integrated care design, evaluation and monitoring, or population health management and community involvement. A special focus throughout her career has been the creation of opportunities to develop learning organisations and systems.
Vincent Meyer
Vincent Meyer is Professor of Information and Communication Sciences at the University of Cote d’Azur and the Mediterranean Institute of Risk, Environment and Sustainable Development (IMREDD), where he is currently leading research on the acceptability of technology innovation in the social sector. In his presentation, Mr Meyer will help us understand better how digital transition is having an impact on social services professionals, particularly in relation to their training and management, and how this impact challenges synergies between care and technology. Drawing on his current projects, Mr Meyer will address the key question of up to which point will professionals accept to transfer human competences to non-human devices, or what will be the future social acceptability of technology solutions for people with long-term care conditions and the professionals who support and care for them.