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November 2006 |
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3. Idea
lounge issue-driven entrepreneurship
The Idea
lounge for issue-driven entrepreneurship on October 28th
gathered an enthusiastic and energetic crowd of 40 young
professionals. The core focus of the day was to search
for innovative and self-sustaining entrepreneurial
solutions for social and environmental issues appealing
to the large public, e.g. issue-driven entrepreneurship.
The contemporary lounge ‘De Loft’ in Westelijk
Handelsterrein Rotterdam provided an inspirational
setting for this creative brainstorm objective.
Innovation,
co-design, non-loss, passion, value creation, new
business models, sustainability, poverty reduction,
empowering communities and environments. A small
selection of topics that participants came up with
during an associative brainstorm on issue-driven
entrepreneurship. After this interactive step-up Stef
elaborated on Enviu’s positioning on issue-driven
entrepreneurship. Key emphasis lies on facilitating
venture start-up and growth by finding synergies within
Enviu’s professional and international networks.
 The inspirational case study by Oriol Pasqual on Escama appropriately familiarized participants with a successful issue-driven venture. Escama simultaneously reduces waste and provides jobs for women in the slums of Rio de Janeiro by the |
production of
Brazilian design bags from can lips. In contrast with many other
sustainable products these bags combine a sexy and appealing
design with ‘story-telling’, therefore enhancing the likelihood
of product adoption throughout Western markets.
 Later in the afternoon the creative torch was handed to the participants, guided by brainstorm facilitators Arjan and Ton from the Ministery of Economic Affairs and Stef. Daunting quantities of creative post-it output eventually led to three ‘elevator pitch’ one-minute presentations of innovative concepts, high-lighted below, possibly solving real-life issues. Escama’s continuity
In order to guarantee
Escama’s long-term sustainability the first group
enthusiastically presented their ideas of product range
extension and seizing tourism benefits. Product extension in the
broadest sense; using different kinds of lids (e.g. Heineken,
Coca Cola), configuring new lid-based (co-design) products (e.g.
wallets, Gucci lid-belts) and creating waste-based products
(e.g. can-watches and jean-shoes). Moreover Brazilian Escama
production studios could be tourist attractions featuring
workshops for adults and children. |
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