Envision the World Cup in Brazil to make more social entrepreneurship happen

Brazil? If you mention Brazil in these days people start to discuss and talk about the World Cup: football games, teams, players, interviews, discussions on goal decisions … How many of us would like to be there and to support our teams and enjoy the atmosphere of Brazilian lifestyles, parties, dancing. Vivid discussions, colorful pictures…

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…

Core business and its little sister called social

When I talk to colleagues about social needs and social entrepreneurship, about making profit not just in terms of money, but also social profit, the reactions are most of all very positive. People like these ideas, independent from which kind of career level they have reached. The meaningfulness of acting and changing for a better…

Why social entrepreneurs need more socializing

There are a lot of good initiatives ongoing in several parts of the world. Some of them are more social driven, others has also a sustainable financial business model behind. However, what is often underestimated is the aspect of involving people from ‘outside’ actively and making them part of the implementation, be it on site,…

Twoandahalfweeks in India – a day at TNAU and the milky mushrooms

One of the things that will remain in my mind is the milky mushroom production we have seen during our stay at the Tamil Nadu Agriculture university (TNAU) in Coimbatore. The TNAU focuses on Agricultural Education and Research and supports the State Agricultural Department by delivering research products. When we arrived at the university our…

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…

Changing the world: start a social enterprise or empower them

Starting an own social enterprise is one of many possibilities on how to change the world. Another one is to build a network and environment that empowers social enterprises. Which is your way? What’s happening in many parts of the world, is that there are many social entrepreneurs engaging in various critical areas: education, environment,…

Social change? Culture is the key to people’s heart

It’s culture that often is underestimated when plans are made how to offer a better education, how to change economic crisis and critical social behavior. But culture is often the key to people’s heart. An example is the music school in India. Music lessons, normally not accessible to the average and poor population, are the…

Donations are good, creating social impact is better

Without doubt: donations you made to others are always helpful. Somehow. Donations help non profit organisations to continue their work. Donations are very helpful in large crisis situations. Sometimes, donations help to save lifes. But donations are not the main factor when it comes to decide whether a company is socially responsible or not. Do…