‪#‎TackleFuelPoverty‬

The “Social Innovation to Tackle Fuel Poverty” CHALLENGE (September 1 – October 31 2015)

In Europe, 50 to 125 million persons are living in fuel poverty. Our friends at Ashoka and the Schneider Electric Foundation believe that the most leveraged way to enable underprivileged people to have affordable access to energy is to invest in and engage entrepreneurs who create innovations that lead to system-changing solutions. That is why we are looking for the most innovative social entrepreneurs in the fuel poverty field in six European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland and UK). The winners will be awarded about 300 hours of mentoring sessions during 3 months to build-up their scaling-up strategies. Furthermore, they will benefit from inspiring meetings within a European network of peers and increased visibility during the whole program, and particularly during COP21, on December 4th, when the winners will be announced in Paris.

More information: http://www.tacklefuelpoverty.eu

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oikos International

posted September 24, 2015

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THE “FABRIC OF CHANGE” CHALLENGE (SEPTEMBER 16 – NOVEMBER 18 2015)

The Fabric of Change challenge seeks innovations for building a fair and sustainable apparel industry that respects people and planet. Winners will be awarded a total of Euros 100,000 in prizes and all. Finalists will receive a travel stipend to present their solutions to key industry players at the Fabric of Change Summit (dates and location to be announced shortly). The deadline to enter is November 18th, 2015, but projects submitted before October 21st, are eligible for an Early Entry Prize of an additional €1,000. 

More information: https://www.changemakers.com/fabricofchange

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oikos International

posted September 23, 2015

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The oikos Summer School 2015 – Creating Solutions for Georgia

The oikos International Summer School on Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation was a 9-day event for international and Georgian participants that took place in Mestia, Georgia. Forty participants from eighteen countries gathered in order to learn more about the topics and actively transform the Svaneti region for the better.

Through various lectures, workshops and field trips, participants acquired knowledge on the meaning of social entrepreneurship and how it relates to innovation. They were also exposed to the topics of campaigning, financing, how to advance your own ideas, creating values through one’s business and more. The workshops were delivered by Socionext, our partner for the Summer School. The hands-on approach, which allowed participants to directly apply the knowledge learnt on Svaneti cases, was energetic, constructive, and thought-provoking. By working in teams throughout the 9 days, participants developed real businesses for the region: one related to the entertainment industry reusing an abandoned building, one related to water, one related to preserving cultural heritage and one selling an almost lost tradition of drinking Rakhi.

11953165_538734992950279_9046140759093230397_nLocal participants from Mestia were consciously involved in order to make a local difference. They were exposed, like the other participants, to an international perspective on entrepreneurship and how to implement sustainable principles in developing countries, especially. Locals were actively engaged in the development of the ideas, who will hopefully be pursued on the oikos VBI. With the businesses developed during the Summer School, locals will be able to keep the social entrepreneurship spirit alive in the region. Moreover, success will be achieved if more entrepreneurs will be born, which will lead to sustainable development in the region.

After having engaged in the Socionext workshops and the development of business ideas in the first 6 days, the 7th day entailed a workshop on behalf of Ian Choo. Ian dived deeper into the concept of entrepreneurship with the participants and brought alternative perspectives to the table. Participants then met with the Director of the partnering foundation and the Deputy Ministry for Youth Affair. At the beautiful museum in Mestia, participants presented their work in front of a wide audience and were successful at doing so. Participants then received their certificates.

On the 8th day, participants traveled to Ushguli, the highest village in Europe. There they connected with nature and discovered the importance of maintaining cultural heritage. The Summer School was concluded by a typical Georgian buffet dinner and a wonderful cake. On the final day, a 9 hour bus journey awaited participants to move back to Tbilisi. Amongst the fatigue and happiness of the past few days, participants expressed enrichment and stopped at a wonderful restaurant on the way right next to the Prometheus Caves.

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Post the Summer School, the oikos VBI will be utilized. As mentioned above, the oikos Virtual Business Incubator is an innovative aspect of the event, it is an online platform, which will become a guarantee of success for business ideas. It will answer modern business incubator challenges. Through which users will have online room, where they exchange with experts and learn more about entrepreneurship practices. Users can do many things, amongst which, test their ideas through various models, such as the canvases.

Overall, participants showed in their feedback that they have achieved a better understanding on the topics and appreciated the, sometimes too fast, hands on approach. Thank you to everyone who made this Summer School possible and until the next time!

“The oikos Summer School increased my knowledge and understanding about social entrepreneurship and the impact it can have for sustainability.” – Musa Babatunde Lawal, Nigeria, Participant 

“The oikos Summer School was a great opportunity to connect with people from different cultures and backgrounds and to exchange social business ideas. I really liked the 5-day course with Socionext because rather than just being theoretical, it was very practical and hands-on and together we developed great social business ideas for the Mestia region.” – Berenice Bruegel, Germany, Participant

“Having been a participant of the oikos Summer School was a great challenge and experience for me. It taught me that, if you are motivated, everything can be done. The fact, that we managed to make our business plan in 4-5 days proves the same. Plus, the charming views of Mestia were a great inspiration to us. The topic also was interesting for me. I think, that, especially for Georgia, development of social entrepreneurship and social innovation is very important. The speakers were highly educated and careful. I liked the way they led the workshops, they enabled us to see the issues in a practical way. I met very motivated, successful and positive people and I still keep in touch with them. Due to the Summer School and its participants, the willingness to be better and to do more during these years, woke up inside me. Everything was organized perfectly. Every next day was better than previous one. These nine days, which I have spent in Mestia were unforgettable for me. I will always miss the warm and businesslike atmosphere.” – Ruska Gurashvili, Georgia, Participant 

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oikos International

posted September 23, 2015

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oikos Spring Meeting 2016

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oikos International

posted September 14, 2015

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oikos Newsletter September 2015

To some of you: welcome back to school! “By all these lovely tokens, September days are here; with summer’s best of weather, And autumn’s best of cheer”.  This Helen Hunt Jackson poem beautifully sums up the mood of the September edition of the oikos Newsletter. As always we have a comprehensive lineup of articles that make for interesting reading. From oikos Alumni debating on the food of the future to world leaders discussing the Sustainable Development Goals, in this edition we touch upon some significant sustainability challenges. We also take the opportunity to build on the remarkable success stories of the earlier editions of our flagship oikos Case Competition and invite cases for the 2016 edition. In this edition we get to interact with Ana, from the organizing team of Summer School 2015, for 30 seconds.
Happy reading!

Read more here.

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oikos International

posted September 12, 2015

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Call for Applications: oikos PhD Fellowships on “Finance and Sustainability”

oikos and the University of Zurich are inviting applications from qualified candidates for an oikos PhD Fellowship at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, starting in February 2016. The fellowship will provide a grant for a PhD focused on “Finance and Sustainability” at the University of Zurich’s Department of Banking and Finance.

Successful applicants need to demonstrate outstanding analytical skills, solid knowledge of finance, a commitment to sustainability, as well as strong leadership and personal competences. They also have to fulfil the requirements for doctoral studies at the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Information Technology of the University of Zurich. In addition, fluent English is a must. Additional language skills are an advantage.

The deadline for applications for the current selection round is November 10, 2015. Further information is available here.

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oikos International

posted September 9, 2015

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oikos LEAP Webinar | Communicating Effectively

On December 9 at 5pm (CET),  Julian Treasure will be speaking on our LEAP webinar  about how to communicate effectivively. Special attention to listening and speaking will be given.  Julian Treasure is a leading sound expert and a five TED.com  talks on sound and communication have been viewed over 20 million times; the latest is in the top 30 TED talks of all time.

This webinar is open for a wider audience. Join us!

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oikos International

posted September 8, 2015

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oikos LEAP Webinar | How to Manage Myself as a Leader

Our first webinar will take place on 18th of November at 5pm (CET Time). And we are very honoured to have Robert E. Quinn with us! He will be talking about “How to Manage Myself as a Leader”

Robert E. Quinn holds the Margaret Elliot Tracey Collegiate Professorship at the University of Michigan and serves on the faculty of Organization and Management at the Ross Business School.  He is one of the co-founders and of the Center for Positive Organizations.  Quinn’s research and teaching focus on leadership, organizational change and effectiveness.  He has published 18 books on these subjects.  His best-selling book,Deep Change has sold over 100,000 copies.  His book, The Best Teacher in You won the Ben Franklin Award designating it the best book in education for 2015.  His latest book is The Positive Organization: Breaking Free of Conventional Cultures, Constraints and Beliefs.  He is particularly known for his work on the competing values framework.  It has been used by organizations across the globe and thousands of managers have been trained in the use of the Framework.  He has thirty-five years of experience consulting with major corporations and government agencies.  He is a fellow of the Academy of Management and the World Business Academy.  You can read more about Bob on his website at http://www.bob-quinn.com.

This webinar is exclusive to the advanced track participants. 

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oikos International

posted September 8, 2015

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