The kindergarten inauguration in South India in a tribal village When I arrive in the late morning and see all the people in front of the new anganwadi (kindergarten), the drumming boys welcoming everyone with an exciting sound and rhythm and the parents and children who are dressed up in the best way for the…
Category: innovation
Social Entrepreneurship has many faces
This week I participated in the Ashoka Social Entrepreneurship conference in Berlin. Besides the official workshops and speeches given in the big glass building of the Allianzforum I had the possibility to speak to many social entrepreneurs cooperating with investors, traditional NGOs and Corporate enterprises. It is fascinating to see how all are looking…
Save it or kill it: business needs a new heart to survive
Business vs social – an artificial separation that does not work any more The popular 1970s slogan “The business of business is business” is symptomatic of an artificial separation of social and economic concerns that affected education, process thinking and the CSR units of corporations. The demand for increased corporate social responsibility is growing louder….
The world is big. Why just becoming a chicken farmer?
The world is asking for more education. Wherever you go, the call for more, for a better education is obvious. Be it in the developed or in the developing world. But what often is underestimated is that we do not need just education, but diversity of education for ensuring economic growth and change making people….
Luxury and social change in Zermatt – dare to care
Zermatt, Switzerland. Sounds luxurious. Somehow a destination for a few people at the top of the pyramid. Impressive mountains that seem to be accessible just for a few people – too far away for all those living in poverty. But in these days Zermatt is also the location of changemakers, of people who want to…
From Nimby to Pimby – 6 recommendations make change happen
During the Ashoka changemaker week in Paris I heard great things from very successful social entrepreneurs: 1. Everything goes through people. It is not the organization, not the plan, not the initiative, but just the people who make it happen 2. You can change only if you think that you are not in a traffic…
Good solutions found. But what if there are better ones?
There is a huge number of meetings, conferences and daily discussions everywhere – just around needs: the needs of creating better conditions, setting up new infrastructures, restructuring, implementing new systems and machines. Organizations, cities, governments take decisions every day on how to solve problems and often these solutions are cost- intensive. The process of finding…
With snacks towards a better future
Womens’ life in small cities and poor urban surrounding has always been very hard – like womens’ life in many parts of India. Women in rural areas have a long working day: they get up very early, carry huge containers of water or bundles of wood on their heads, clean the houses, engage in fieldwork…
Next month you will do better, won’t you?
Do you know this? Thinking of what is happening with your health, your relationships, your business, your surroundings, your private life – you know the challenges and you know where change is needed. There is so much we can do better: care for our partners, work in a more strategic way, start to implement long…
Chairs on the wings – how crazy thinking changes the world
Have you ever heard about Design thinking or how the new generation of planes could benefit from it? That’s a crazy approach, but more than helpful. Often it is difficult to put directly into words the needs for change, or re-inventing and developing further something that already exists and we are all get used to…
Go India, go future! 