The Play Exchange is excited to announce the top three early entry winners! Since the challenge launched in February we have received numerous innovative and creative ideas to empower Canadians to make healthy choices and address major health concerns. These three submissions stood out from the bunch for their inspired and resourceful approaches.
Editor's Note: This article was written by Simon Stumpf, the Regional Director for Ashoka in East Africa. This article originally appeared on Fastcoexist.com. The article highlights 9 emerging job industries that will power Africa in the new future.
Ever heard of an "Invisible Executive" or a "Nutrient Banker"? Those are just a few of the positions that are being created in Africa today that will drive economic development in the coming decades.
Some time early next year, the Changemakers program at Ashoka will hit an interesting milestone—100 online challenges designed and executed during the past decade.
On April 30th, Canada’s Minister of Health, the Honourable Rona Ambrose joined Steven and Chris to talk about getting Canadians active with The Play Exchange. From their studios at CBC in Toronto, they discussed the challenge and how important it is for Canadians to get engaged and get active!
Αθήνα - 5 Μαΐου, 2014 - Η Ashoka, η Ελληνική Πρωτοβουλία (Τhe Hellenic Initiative), το Κοινωφελές Ίδρυμα Ιωάννη Σ. Λάτση, η Boehringer Ingelheim Ελλάς και η SAP Hellas ανακοίνωσαν το διαγωνισμό «Προορισμός: Αλλαγή. Νέες Λύσεις για την Ελλάδα» (Destination: Change. New Solutions for Greece), ένα online διαγωνισμό, στις 12 Μαρτίου, 2014, με σκοπό να εκπηγάσει και να τονιστεί με καταλυτικό τρόπο η καινοτομική κοινωνική αλλαγή στην Ελλάδα.
Athens, May 5, 2014 - Ashoka, The Hellenic Initiative, the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, Boehringer Ingelheim Ellas, and SAP Hellas launched Destination: Change. New Solutions for Greece, an online competition, on March 12, 2014 to source, highlight, and catalyze innovative social change projects in Greece.
As a gymnastics program in Nova Scotia, Tumblebugs is showing young children that exercise can be the foundation for play, fun, and most importantly, physical literacy.
Στην προσπάθεια αναζωογόνησης της ελληνικής οικονομίας δύο βασικοί τομείς συχνά παραμελούνται αν και ο τουρισμός και η γεωργία βρίσκονται στην καρδιά της ελληνικής οικονομίας και βασίζονται σε ένα υγιές περιβάλλον. Ευτυχώς, οι Έλληνες πολίτες έχουν ξεκινήσει να βρίσκουν λύσεις για να προστατέψουν το περιβάλλον και αναζητούν νέους τρόπους για να ενισχύσουν τις φυσικές πηγές και τη βιοποικιλότητα με στόχο την πράσινη ανάπτυξη.
Στο πλαίσιο του ηλεκτρονικού διαγωνισμού Προορισμός: Αλλαγή. Νέες Λύσεις για την Ελλάδα, το Κοινωφελές Ίδρυμα Ιωάννη Σ. Λάτση θα βραβεύσει τις ιδέες που στόχο έχουν να ενισχύσουν τις ελληνικές κοινότητες με περιβαλλοντικές λύσεις. Ο διαγωνισμός είναι μια πρωτοβουλία της Ashoka, της Ελληνικής Πρωτοβουλίας (The Hellenic Initiative), της Boehringer Ingelheim Ellas και της SAP Hellas.
As Greece struggles to revive its economy, a key insight often is overlooked: tourism and agriculture, the two biggest engines of the country’s economy, depend on having a healthy environment. Fortunately, Greek citizens can play a role in protecting the local environment, and can find ways to connect their livelihoods with natural resources and biodiverse ecosystems in new, sustainable ways.
The John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation is offering an award for projects that are responding to this opportunity to strengthen local Greek communities with environmental solutions as part of the Destination: Change. New Solutions for Greece online competition, launched in collaboration with Ashoka, The Hellenic Initiative, Boehringer Ingelheim Ellas, and SAP Hellas.
When discussing the articulation of individual versus collective interest, general interest is usually referred to as carrying a fairly obvious content. However, one soon realizes that what they believed was a solid platform for consensus is in fact the place for important misunderstandings, each party defining it in its own way.
Road safety problems aren’t new in India, but they do make Indian roads some of the deadliest in the world.
The following is a list of key trends and insights from the first #PlayExchange Twitter Chat:
Η οικονομική κρίση στην Ελλάδα έχει επηρεάσει πολλούς ανθρώπους, οικογένειες και κοινότητες, αλλά ταυτόχρονα έχει αναδείξει οικονομικά και κοινωνικά προβλήματα που προϋπήρχαν. Ο διαγωνισμός «Destination: Change. New Solutions for Greece» επιχειρεί να αξιοποιήσει αυτή την ευκαιρία προκειμένου να βρει βιώσιμες και συστημικές λύσεις για τα βαθια ριζωμένα προβλήματα που αντιμετωπίζει η Ελληνική κοινωνία.
The economic recession in Greece is affecting many people, families and communities, but it also reveals economic and social problems that predate the crisis. The “Destination: Change. New Solutions for Greece” competition is seizing this opportunity to find sustainable and systemic solutions for the entrenched problems that face Greek society.
Ashoka Greece and The Hellenic Initiative have launched this competition to find new, empathy-based solutions that provide social and economic inclusion. These solutions will go beyond offering charity by empowering communities and creating more fair systems for Greek society.
Η παρούσα οικονομική κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα έχει εφιστήσει την προσοχή σε διαρθρωτικά προβλήματα του συστήματος υγείας, καθώς οι ανθρώποι χάνουν την πρόσβαση σε υπηρεσίες υγειονομικής περίθαλψης και θεραπείας, ως αποτέλεσμα του αυξημένου κόστους και των περιορισμένων πόρων. Αυτό ενίσχυσε την ανάγκη για αποτελεσματικά και χαμηλού κόστους μοντέλα που κάνουν την υγεινομική περίθαλψη προσβάσιμη σε όλους, και προωθούν νέες προσεγγίσεις για προληπτική φροντίδα. Η Ashoka βρήκε κοινωνικούς επιχειρηματίες σε ολόκληρο τον κόσμο οι όποιοι ηγούνται της ανάπτυξης αυτών των νέων μοντέλων. Τώρα είναι η στιγμή να μάθουμε από την διορατικότητα τους, και να εντοπίσουμε τους ανθρώπους καταλύτες αλλαγής (changemakers) που δοκιμάζουν νέες ιδέες στην Ελλάδα.
In order for our global society to develop solutions to pressing problems in an increasingly technology-driven and constantly changing world, we need to re-train our workforce to do what machines can’t: to be enterprising, independent and strategic thinkers—to be purposeful creators.
The Government of Canada and Canadian Tire are challenging students, teachers, principals, school boards and parent councils to get involved in promoting active and healthy living across Canada by joining The Play Exchange.
Check out some Social & Business Co-Creation cases in Europe
The current economic situation in Greece has drawn attention to structural problems in the healthcare system, resulting in more people losing access to health services and treatments, through increasing costs and limited resources. This heightens the need for new low-cost and efficient models that make health care accessible to all, and promote new approaches to preventative care. Ashoka has found social entrepreneurs around the world who lead the way in developing these new models. Now is the time to learn from their insights, and identify changemakers in Greece who are piloting new ideas.
Call for Projects - Impact Journalism Day 2014 by Sparknews
Your project offers concrete solutions to the pressing challenges of the day? Impact Journalism Day by Sparknews: your story showcased in our newspaper and 40 newspapers throughout the world, reaching 100 million people.
As a Canadian, mother, gen Y-er, kinesiology graduate, and consultant in the social innovation space, my perspective on the potential for wellness throughout this country is one of hope. I have been inspired by the blending of social entrepreneurship and health, inclusive of sport, nutrition, wellness, and more, to delve into the emerging field of social innovation.
Do you want to learn about the innovative ideas and programs that are helping Canadians become healthier and more active? Do you have ideas for encouraging healthy living in Canada?
In Europe, millions of people don’t have access to essential products and services. What can YOU do to address this challenge and generate big impact?
Are you a social entrepreneur or a social-mission organization?
(Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Forbes.com)
Scaling up innovation is rarely as simple as investing in a company. The best social innovations aren’t companies – rather they are social movements, coalitions co-created by businesses, social sector organisations and governments working together.
But how do you fund and scale up a movement?
Blue Wing changemakers, like Asher Hasan, offer innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious, visionary, and inspiring. They’ve done more than tackle major issues: they’ve proven that with persistence comes positive, lasting change.
(Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Forbes.com, photo credit: Editions Diateino)
We are entering an Age of Complexity characterized by intensified economic unpredictability, tectonic demographic and technological shifts, and accelerating resource scarcity. Adversity has become the New Normal. When you face adversity you either throw in the towel quickly or keep on fighting the issue. But what if you could transcend this “fight-or-flight” reaction and uncover a third way that could empower you to see adversity as an opportunity for personal and collective growth?
Omayma was paying for a crime she didn’t commit.
After taking out a loan to finance her sister’s trousseax, her father convinced Omayma to sign as a guarantor claiming it was “just a formality.” When he passed away, Omayma was left responsible to pay the price.
Unable to pay back her father’s E£ 7000 (about $1,140), Omayma was sentenced to three years in prison. “He has always been lucky,” Omayma said. “He died and left me the bill to pay – it cost me my freedom and my children too.
The Brock Niagara Penguins is the only sports club of its kind in the Niagara, Ontario region that enables disabled youth and adults to come together and achieve active, healthy living. Penguins offers three programs for para-athletes: swimming, a wheelchair basketball team, and bocce ball.
Every year, road accidents create an estimated 2 percent loss in GDP by affecting workforce members and placing added pressure on the health care system. According to the World Health Organisation, there are 1.24 million road traffic deaths worldwide with 130,000 occurring in India, the country with the worst road traffic accident rate worldwide.
Ashoka and The MasterCard Foundation have partnered to bring the third webinar in the Future Forward series featuring youth and innovators, Ashoka Fellows selected in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation to discuss creating solutions by redefining jobs for youth in Africa.
Panelists:
Fred Ouko, Founder and Executive Director of Action Network for the Disabled (ANDY), Kenya
«Σα βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,
να εύχεσαι να’ναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.»
Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης
Αθήνα - 12 Μαρτίου 2014 – Η διαδικασία υποβολής συμμετοχών άνοιξε για το “Destination: Change. New Solutions for Greece.”, ένα διαγωνισμό που φιλοξενείται από την online πλατφόρμα των Ashoka Changemakers για να αποτελέσει πηγή, αποκορύφωμα και καταλύτη πρωτοβουλιών που θα φέρουν λύσεις στην Ελληνική κοινωνία.
As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
- Constantine P. Cavafy
Athens – March 12, 2014 – Entries are now open for “Destination: Change. New Solutions for Greece,” a competition hosted on the online Ashoka Changemakers platform to source, highlight and catalyze new solutions and approaches to problem solving in Greece.
On February 22, The Play Exchange was launched live on CBC. Watch the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Health, talk about helping Canadians be more active and make healthier choices. Speaking from Ottawa, Minister Ambrose was joined by CBC’s Scott Russell and Canadian Tire President Allan MacDonald in Sochi at the Olympic Winter Games to make the announcement. Watch the broadcast above.
(Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Forbes.com. Welcome desk in main Paris agency for telecommunication services (photo credit : Emmaüs Défi)
Today, over 16% of the population of the European Union lives in poverty and does not have access to several essential products and services. But according to a recent European study from Accenture France, co-creation between the business and social sectors can enable the emergence of hybrid models that are better positioned to meet key societal needs, create new market opportunities, generate public savings and create new jobs.
(Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Forbes.com)
In 2009, in the middle of the economic crisis, Danone CEO Franck Riboud made the following statement: “It is a common sense observation that no living organism can grow and develop in a deprived environment or a desert. It is in a company’s best interests to take good care of its economic and social environment, in one word, its ‘ecosystem.’”
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, only 14.3% of women in the country participate in the labor force. Lack of social and financial support and restrictions imposed on access and mobility serve as major obstacles for women who want to pursue fulfilling careers. In this landscape, Sabiha Ghani has been a game changer who has redefined the economic space for women in her community. She has fostered initiative and independence by founding the Women Development Foundation Pakistan (WDFP) which supports hundreds of women in starting their own business ventures.
(Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Forbes.com. Photo credit: peshkova / 123RF Stock Photo)
Last summer, Jennifer Sigler, the Chief Operating Officer at Global Giving, shared with me that her entire staff was reading the Lean Startup by Eric Ries. The idea that a senior manager of a non-profit would have all of her employees read a book about start-up strategy sounded unconventional and fresh. After our meeting, I headed straight to the local bookstore to pick up a copy and quickly realized Jennifer was onto something big.
Many of us tout the fact that a Canadian invented basketball, and that other sports, including hockey and lacrosse, find their roots in Canada. But what do a prosthetic hand, peanut butter, and insulin have in common?
Launched a year ago by Nesta and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Renewable Energy Challenge Prize has a tried and tested winner!
The winning solution exceeds all the technical requirements for the challenge, covers the energy needs for war returnee families and still costs no more than €5,000 per unit.
More widespread participation in the creation of renewable energy will push the UK closer to its low-carbon economy goal, says Valerie Mocker
Last week, consultants Oliver & Ohlbaum published astudy for Google looking at the question of how to define and measure the creative industries. Its diagnosis of the problems in the metrics is in many ways correct.
This year the race to build the critical mass of data needed to revolutionise healthcare will begin, and the UK will be the first to cross the finish line, says Sir John Chisholm
Star Trek’s Tricorder diagnostic device will make a real life appearance in 2014, says Jon Kingsbury 2014 has already been touted as the year of wearable healthcare. By that I mean items of wearable technology that count steps, sleep and calories, allowing the user to upload, analyse and share their own health data. Indeed, I’m wearing a high-tech bracelet now as I write this (and wondering why I haven’t yet achieved my 12,000th step of the day). But I want to predict something more exciting in the world of health technology – that of the Tricorder.
“Women are not making it to the top of any profession anywhere in the world – the numbers tell the story quite clearly,” says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg in her 2010 TEDx Talk. Sandberg’s advice to women in her New York Times bestseller, “Lean In,” is relevant across the globe: less than half of working-age women worldwide are employed, they are paid less on average than men for the same work, and the chances of rising to the top of a Fortune 500 company are not in a woman’s favor.
(Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Forbes.com)
The breakout year for the social intrapreneur continues. After being recognized as 2014’s most valuable employee last month, the social intrapreneur will now be at the center of an upcoming book by Professor David Grayson (photo) of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility and co-authors Melody McLaren and Heiko Spitzeck. “Social Intrapreneurism and All that Jazz” is filled with evidence of intrapreneurial social impact, analysis of intrapreneurism and its most distinguishing characteristics, and how all this can be understood in the context of jazz as a comparison.
It might surprise you to learn that chronic diseases are the most significant cause of death and disability worldwide. In fact, three in five Canadians over the age of 20 have at least one chronic disease, such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Obesity and being overweight is a huge contributor to chronic diseases. Today, one in four adults in Canada is obese, and a third of all children are already overweight or obese. These are startling numbers. And they relate to a trend that is reversible.
Grow in a disciplined way. Define your story—before someone else does.
“If you have a preconceived notion of good, you cannot be creative,” said Zahra Ebrahim, founder of archiTEXT. “Let go of everything that already is, and design something that truly does not exist.”Armed with this advice, 15 social innovators in a design-thinking workshop led by Ebrahim went to work twisting pipe cleaners and arranging popsicle sticks to prototype new toothbrush designs.Ebrahim compared design thinking to the mindset required for social innovators during her workshop.
