Report on Session 3:
Innovation
Thursday, October 14th, 3pm GMT
Thank you very much, our team!”
through the online feedback form
The session consisted of the following components:
- Presentation on Innovation
- Presentation on Social Entrepreneurship by Diego H. S. Baptista
Minutes of the third session.
Participant’s perspective
HOMEWORK
1. Sideshow ‘Tell us who you are’
Create an account with Animoto.
- There you will be guided in how to upload photos, create text boxes and if you like, add an mp3.
- Please upload 5-8 photos and create 5-7 text boxes.
- The theme of the sideshow is ‘Tell us who you are’. Have fun with it. Be creative.
Example here.
Deadline: Tuesday, Oct 26th (before the 4th session starts)
2. Three Earth Charter inspired action projects
Brainstorm 3 mini-project plans. In each plan, answer briefly to the following topics:
- name of the proposed project
- goal
- activities
- assumptions
- resources
- constraints
- budget (very rough, how much money you need to put this idea in practice)
- indicate which EC principles your project is addressing
Respond here.
Deadline: Thursday, Oct 21st
If you have any questions, please email to us!
To think out of the box in mainstreaming youth work towards sustainability is the main focus of the e-GLO 3 session last October 14. Again, youth advocates from across the globe gathered together to yet advance their knowledge and skills towards sustainability leadership through the thoughtful consideration of innovation, creativity and civic entrepreneurship.
Inspiring and refreshing were the thoughts of Selene Biffi of Youth Action for Change (YAC). YAC is an innovative international youth run non-profit organization which equips young people with knowledge and skills that enable them to directly get involved in improving their communities’ livelihoods.
Selene’s real life story on how she weathered the odds to put into reality the vision she had towards social enterprise is indeed empowering. She un-reluctantly thought out of the box despite her lack of funding support, skills and experience towards social enterprise. After six years, her hard work and commitment towards youth development and provision of opportunities to maximize youth potentials have indeed bore much fruit as YAC is currently conducting free online courses which have been even adopted by UN and now more than 10 courses a year.
Selene emphasized that still the youth, which forms the majority on our planet, is the largest, untapped potential for creativity. Giving youth a platform through which they can have a voice to address local issues is still a recurring challenge of the young people. Despite of, she encouraged everyone not to let any challenge or obstacle hinder them to achieve their potentials. Moreover, passionately starting on something is always a good beginning, despite lack of support and volunteers. She concluded reminding everyone on that perhaps, in one’s simple act of starting a social endeavor, it will tremendously impact somebody who will partner in reaching out others.
Jaana Laitinen, Youth Coordinator for Earth Charter discussed the concept of civic entrepreneurship as a civil society perspective on sustainable development. SD is not only the burden placed solely on the reins of the government; however, it is also a responsibility of the civil society. Civil society has to step up from its current secondary and supporting role towards the achievement of sustainability and begin to take part in mainstream major stakeholdership.
Moreover, a new perspective on SD as newness on pulling thing together, mobilizing resources and adapting technology has been discussed thoroughly. This focuses on SD that involves entrepreneurship. Without entrepreneurship, ideas or interventions cannot impact development. This concept breeds the potential towards civic entrepreneurship that brings people together, build partnership and collaboration to contribute to the social capital of the society.
Embedded in the achievement of SD is the ability to innovate in terms of the process. This opens doors for more meaningful collaboration with government, and finally sees things differently across social, economic and political divides. SD, then, is achieved in practice mainly through the imagination and will of ‘public sector’ entrepreneurs.
The concept on civic entrepreneurship allowed participants to interact with each other on innovation and the capacity for innovation. Sogdiana of Uzbekiztan shared that new things are always more interesting, attractive and valued. To spur the capacity towards innovation, Harsha mentioned on capitalizing on learning new things, unlearning things that are not beneficial and relearning things that have worked before and remains useful. Through the eyes of Amanda of USA, the capacity for innovation exists in a person who has developed the necessary skill to be a social entrepreneur, who can see the whole problem and its parts and who create solutions to address challenges and obstacles.
Diego Baptista graduated Master in Management of Development and specialized in Strategy and Enterprise Sustainability and graduated in International Relation. He is the social entrepreneur founder of the Youth NGO Global Society in Brazil with the mission to promote a new model of governance and globalization through education, leadership and cooperation for sustainable development.
He discussed innovation with ethical inspiration using the Earth Charter and how to embrace system change through embracing ethical business.
The session ended with new inspiring thoughts and message for the participants to think about. Expectedly, before the next session, participants are encouraged to think of innovative project initiatives that are in consonance with the Earth Charter. This exercise aims to develop the creative and innovative skills of the participants towards the mainstreaming of SD in the respective areas.