The Entrepreneurs’ Tool Belt – Event Update
Posted on | May 18, 2010 | No Comments
Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control we must postpone our planned “Entrepreneurs’ Tool Belt” workshop. We will announce our rescheduled date as soon as possible here on our website and will contact all currently booked attendees directly with the new date, and reserve a place for them on the rescheduled date. In the meantime we are refunding everyone’s booking fee in case this new date does not suit, and all booked attendees should have received an email confirming this.
We want to thank everyone for their interest in this workshop, and hope to see you all very soon at our rescheduled event.
The Dublin Hub Team and !AHA!
The Entrepreneurs’ Tool Belt
Posted on | May 4, 2010 | No Comments
When launched the Dublin Hub will provide access to an ongoing series of training workshops and courses designed to equip Entrepreneurs and Social Innovators with the skills and tools to realise their ambitions.
In association with !AHA! we are delighted to be able to offer a preview of the material, content and trainers that will support this cornerstone of the Dublin Hub vision.
The Dublin Hub in association with !AHA!
present
‘The Sustainable Social Entrepreneur Workshop Series’
The Entrepreneurs’ Tool Belt
A One-Day Intensive Workshop Introducing the Essential Tools
for Emerging Entrepreneurs and Social Innovators.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
O´Callaghan Alexander Hotel
Fenian St, off Merrion Square, Dublin 2
Registration: 09.00 AM
Workshop: 9:30 AM – 5:30 PM
Workshop Fee: €40, For Booking Information Visit:
http://entrepreneurtoolbelt.eventbrite.com/
As a Change Maker, do you have the skills and tools you will need to adapt to a world in the process of massive and chaotic change?
Local and global economies, our environment, our social systems and our individual lives are all being impacted on an unprecedented scale. The increasingly evident interconnections amongst these systems, and the ‘ripple effect’ of the impacts they are creating, are demanding fresh and creative responses from us. All who are actively engaged with managing or stimulating change are faced with the need to adapt new perspectives and strategies.Whether you are seeking to improve our situation through your creativity and entrepreneurism, or finding yourself responding to unexpected changes in your life and the world around you, ‘The Entrepreneurs’ Tool Belt’ will introduce you to the four key skill areas you will need to become a more effective and creative Change Maker.
This One-Day Intensive Workshop will comprise 4 modules of 1.5 hours each:
Module 1: An Introduction to Sustainability
An introduction to the key issues and challenges we are facing today; exploring how Social Innovators, Entrepreneurs and ChangeMakers are using the opportunity in the crisis to develop more sustainable products and services.
Module 2: Accelerated Creativity Techniques
Described as “brainstorming on speed”, this module will introduce you to new and innovative creative problem solving techniques that go way beyond mind mapping, which you can apply immediately to find creative and innovative solutions to any business or life challenge.
Module 3: Effective Communication Skills
Introducing the key concepts of Nonviolent Communication and NLP, this module will explore how to develop empathic listening and clear communication skills by understanding how our values influence what we hear, how to identify true needs, and how our personal paradigms, beliefs, values, and the power of our words, affect our effectiveness as communicators.
Module 4: Managing Myself
An introduction to your body’s physical, mental and energetic systems and how to use Energy Psychology techniques to ensure that you remain mentally and emotionally effective in the midst of business and life crises. We will identify how you handle fear, conflict and negative self-belief, and introduce you to techniques to clear them and release the True You!
What They Are Saying (feedback from previous courses):
The Sustainable Design Innovation course content is one of the most well thought out I have seen. It gets the balance and depth just right on key sustainability and design know how to enable professionals to practically apply sustainable design in their areas of expertise.
-Dr. Dorothy Maxwell (Technical Director, Global View Sustainability Services; previously, Senior Environmental Specialist for Enterprise Ireland)
This course is not about the plethora of ‘Post -It’ type solutions available today, It is about fundamental philosophy and knowledge to see through the volumes of misinformation and dubious solutions used to ‘Greenwash’ products , processes and companies, Outstanding.
- David Mavroudis (Architect)
There are so many buzz words around sustainability these days. A course like this goes back to first principles and gives foundation to an understanding of what they actually mean and represent. Putting the theory into practice is the place that a course like this can be a catalyst for any person across different disciplines.
- Patrick Shaffery (Architect)
I would say that sustainability is the way of all future living and that it is really important that we get involved now and at all levels. The SDI course is a fantastic course to get you thinking of moving forwards.
- Fiona Lynch (Graphic Designer with Irish Life)
Workshop Leaders:
Erik van Lennep, TEPUI
Erik van Lennep is a sustainability consultant, green design practitioner, entrepreneur and trainer. He is a co-founder of Cultivate Sustainable Living Centre, Dublin and co-developer of the post graduate national course on Sustainable Design Innovation (SDI). He has worked to set up innovative community projects and NGOs in Ireland and the USA for more than 30 years.
Paul O’Connor, DAEDALUS
DAEDALUS specialises in teaching, training, facilitating and employing the latest creativity, mind-mapping, brainstorming and visioning techniques through individual and group client-focused activities, workshops and consultancy. “We don’t just teach you to think OUTSIDE of the Box. We show you that there is NO BOX!”
Sarah Bird, SARAHBIRD.IE
Sarah Bird is a leading international practitioner and trainer of ‘Energy Psychology’ techniques. Described as ‘The New Psychology’, it is a scientific discipline that combines modern cognitive psychology with bio-energy principles, to shift and replace the chemical patterns in the brain that maintain unwanted habits, inappropriate emotional responses and self-limiting ways of thinking. It is proving highly effective for the treatment and relief of emotional challenges.
On Greenwashing and Innovation
Posted on | March 24, 2010 | No Comments
While reviewing the notes from the World Cafe sessions at the recent Sustainably Minded Enterprise event, I was struck by the fact that a number of separate groups had raised the spectre of ‘Greenwashing’ as a challenge to any new sustainable business initiative. With much of the Government’s recovery efforts focused on the Green Economy, those who have been working within the Green Economy for many years now are concerned that there will be a dilution of Green standards both in actuality and, perhaps more damagingly, in the perception of the general public, as more and more businesses and activities seek to reclassify themselves as “Sustainable” or “Green” to avail of Government funding, tax relief, or simply as a marketing angle given the media profile attached to the sector.
While an Oil Company trying to portray itself as Green is unlikely to convince many members of the public, its attempts to do so will instill doubt in the public over the validity of any business that uses the label ‘Green’. This is the real danger that Greenwashing presents, not that a single company can make erroneous claims, rather that the reputation of an entire sector can be tarnished.
Recognizing the potential for such a widespread negative impact, this week saw the release in the UK of Government guidelines on the use of Green and environmental claims in advertising, particularly on use of phrases such as or “eco” or “environmentally friendly”, and according to Fred Pearce in the Guardian the new guidelines call for Green claims to be “clear, accurate and verifiable”. While unfortunately these guidelines do not carry the full force of law, they do acknowledge the concerns of the public and seek to reign in some of the more outlandish advertising practices.
This was in my mind last night as I followed the reports of yesterday’s Cabinet reshuffle, specifically with the rebranding of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment as the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, and started to wonder are we now entering into an age of “Innovationwashing”? To be clear less than 24 hours after the creation of a new Government department there is no way that any judgement can be passed on the legitimacy of its new name and focus, rather I have been struck by the frequency with which the word “innovation” is appearing in conversations in both the Public and Private sector, alarmingly with little explanation of what exactly is meant by the term. I am reminded of meetings I had with Irish political groups in the immediate aftermath of Barack Obama’s successful Presidential campaign in the US, where more than once I heard people profess “well I don’t know what the Internet is, but by God we have to have it”.
In the last week alone we have seen the launch of the Innovation Ireland report by the Taoiseach, the establishment of an Innovation Center in San Jose to help Irish companies target Silicon Valley, and our own EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn issue a report that placed Ireland in the middle tier of EU Innovation nations.
But does anyone actually know what ‘Innovation’ is?
According to the Oxford Online dictionary ‘Innovation’ is “the action or process of innovating“. A search for “innovating” refers you back to the definition for “Innovation”.
Innovation is thus a nebulous Ouroboros, forever consuming its own tail. We don’t know what it is but by God we have to have it.
To be fair to the Oxford Online, it does offer a second definition of ‘an Innovation’ (the object, not the process) as “a new method, idea, product, etc.”, so the process of Innovation can best be described as ‘The act of creating something new’. However a criticism that has been leveled at the recent Innovation Ireland report is that it simply seeks to expand the loose regulation and tax regimes existent in the Irish Financial sector to other sectors in an effort to attract more multi-nationals to establish operations in Ireland. Within the report are proposals for attracting IP (Intellectual Property) Rich businesses to Ireland on the basis of our tax regime, which as TASC highlights would mirror the current environment where large corporations funnel their global revenue through their Irish subsidiaries without the creation of any local R&D jobs, or the fostering of a local culture of innovation. Again as TASC points out ” In this report, the word “tax” is mentioned 127 times, the word “food” eight times and the words “manufacture” or “manufacturing” just 24 times”.
To me this does not seem to be “a new method, idea, product, etc.”, it simply means the expansion of an existing scheme with no ongoing sustainable benefits for Irish society. While this would see increased returns for the exchequer, it would make no contribution to the creation of a sustainable culture of research and development in Ireland, and we would make no progress towards establishing an environment of Innovation Independence unaffected by the turmoils of the international market. It highlights the need to critically examine the use of the word ‘Innovation’, and ensure that such claims are “clear, accurate and verifiable”.
I would suggest that a successful government policy towards Innovation should not be focused excessively on encouraging international investment into Ireland through Multinationals attracted by liberal tax regimes, rather it should concentrate on fostering a strong native Micro-enterprise and SME sector, developed by a highly educated entrepreneurial workforce who are equipped by a world-class education system for 21st century creative ventures, not 19th century factory jobs.
Anything else is just “Innovationwashing”.
Dave
Sustainability Minded Enterprise March 2010 – Event Roundup
Posted on | March 15, 2010 | No Comments
Thanks a million to everyone who came along to our event on March 8th. It was a fantastic success by any measure with fantastic feedback and a lot of lessons learned. The attendees were from a cross-section of government, Dublin City Council and entrepreneurs and each attendee contributed their own views to create an amazing cross-section of ideas.
Organised by our good selves and Dublin City Council, 4 groups took to the stage to give talks and present the participants with a Burning Question for them to answer. The event was very kindly and excellently chaired by Mr. Noel Casserly from Comhar Sustainable Development Council with Michael Stubbs of Dublin City Council providing a very informative keynote to kickstart the event.
Presenting each question was Mark Bennett from Dublin City Council, a team of Masters students from the College of Europe in Brussels working on a report on how to promote green business in Dublin and two Innovation Studios members. I spoke about the core concept of Innovation Studios from a workspace point of view followed by David and Erik who presented our new concept in learning called “Integral Learning”.
The event took the form of a World Café, where after each talk we presented a Burning Question for particpants to chew over amongst roundtables of 6 people and write down their ideas collaboratively. At the end of each talk/question the participants moved to a different table so as to mix with other people and share ideas. We’ve posted slideshows below to show the contributions made by each table.
All in all, the day was a fantastic success with many people enjoying the World Café format which afforded them the opportunity to mix with peers they wouldn’t normally have the chance to. From our point of view, much of our reasons for the importance of Innovation Studios was reinforced with many people innately understanding the need for a grass roots driven enterprise space with open membership to support our country’s micro enterprises. We also had the opportunity to pitch our relavance to those who didn’t understand / appreciate the need for micro enterprise supports and their input gave us a much stronger ability to demonstrate the importance of an Innovation Studios Space.
Here are the transcripts of the sheets… DCC Hub CoE Workshop Transcripts
Here are the slideshows of participant’s contributions from the day, broken down by each Burning Question.
1. What must we do to ensure Dublin realises the potential of the Green Economy by 2010?
Mark Bennett (Dublin City Council)
2. Could a Green Hub add Value in Dublin? Would a Green hub Work in Dublin?
College of Europe
3. How do we Utilise the Nation’s/Region’s Strengths? We want your help – How can we help you?
Patrick O’Connor (Innovation Studios)
4. How Can We Kickstart Green Business Through Innovation Studios?
David Johnson & Erik van Lennep (Innovation Studios)
Photos taken during the afternoon.
Tags: co-creation > co-design > design > EU > europe > event > events > ideas > inspiration > invitation > our friends > planning > social > workspace > world cafe
EU to provide 45,000 micro-loans to unemployed and small entrepreneurs
Posted on | March 10, 2010 | 2 Comments
From: EUROPA – Press Releases | March 08, 2010
EU Employment and Social Affairs Ministers today agreed on a new facility to provide loans to people who have lost their jobs and want to start or further develop their own small business . The European Microfinance Facility will have a starting budget … Read more at EUROPA – Press Releases »
Youth Employment Consultation
Posted on | March 10, 2010 | No Comments
Let Youth Point Us in the Right Direction
As decisions are taken on how to address Youth Employment in Ireland and Europe, Young People want to be part of the solution not the problem. The National Youth Council of Ireland in Partnership with the Youth Affairs Unit of OMCYA are hosting a consultation with young people on Youth Employment and Social Inclusion in preparation for the European Conference on the issue.
Where: The Irish Aid Centre O’Connell Street, Dublin.
When: Saturday 27th March 2010. 10.30-3.30
Who: Young people and Youth Workers over 18yrs. We especially want to hear the experience of young people finding it difficult to access employment.
Cost: Free. Travel expenses (public transport only) will be reimbursed and lunch will be provided.
Application Process: Booking Required, before Friday 19th March. Application Forms available at international@nyci.ie
The results of this event will become part of the dialogue between young people and policy makers at a National and European level. Participants from this consultation will represent Ireland at the EU Presidency Youth Conference in Spain on Youth Employment.
European Conference on Youth Employment in Spain in 12th-16th April: Contact international@nyci.ie with an expression of interest.
For more information please see www.international.youth.ie or contact international@nyci.ie / Tel: 01 4255945
Jean-Marie Cullen
International Officer,
National Youth Council of Ireland,
3 Montague St,
Dublin 2.
Tel Direct: 01 4255945
Tel Org: 01 4784122
Email: international@nyci.ie
Wesite: www.international.youth.ie
Eco Innovation EU Events
Posted on | March 6, 2010 | No Comments
Call for proposals 2010: Registrations are open for the CIP Eco-innovation European Info Day
Brussels, 13 April 2010: The 2010 CIP Eco-innovation European Info Day will give you a head start to tabling your next project proposal. You will be the first to hear about the call for proposals that will be launched on the same date.
Register today to secure your seat: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fmi/scic/ecoinnov2010/registration.php
If you cannot make it, there will be a live broadcast of the event via the internet. Recordings will be available afterwards.
Check http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eco-innovation/events_en.htm
45 new projects paving the way for Europe’s green growth
45 best green projects will receive € 32 million funding under the 2009 CIP Eco-innovation initiative. Ranging from innovative materials for easy sorting and recycling to advanced production contributing to resource efficiency, the selected projects are set to strengthen Europe’s competitive edge while improving its environmental standing.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eco-innovation/projects_en.htm
Don’t miss the ETAP Forum related to the Environmental Technologies Action Plan
Bilbao, Spain 20 – 21 April: The creativity and dynamism of SMEs means they have a crucial role to play both as eco-innovators and as adopters of green technologies. The European Commission invites entrepreneurs to speak about their daily challenges in a fast-moving environment.
Learn more at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoinnovation2010/1st_forum/index_en.htm
Brokerage Event on Environmental Technologies
Seville, 26 May 2010: In the Framework of the 20th Annual Conference of SETAC Europe, CIT Andalucia as member of Enterprise Europe Network and it Environment Sector Group is organising a “Brokerage Event on Environmental Technologies” that will take place in Seville, Spain, 26th May 2010. The main objective of this event is the promotion of Technology Transfer and the exploitation of RTD results.
For further information, please visit: http://www.citandalucia.es/BE_setac/
If the People Lead, the Leaders will Follow
Posted on | March 4, 2010 | No Comments
Sometimes it takes a while for the obvious to trickle its way upwards from the entrepreneurial trenches to the level of policy. But when it does, entire frameworks are laid out and both national and local strategies are developed to follow suit. This is where we seem to have arrived. For the entrepreneur / innovator it can be important to keep an eye on the policy landscape in which we operate. The Europe 2020 strategy sets out a challenging agenda for a proactive, regional response to the host of issues which have individually sent shock waves through our communities, and which together have shifted the landscape around us. About time; now bring on the “little people”, the entrepreneurs and creative corps.
After all, opportunity and challenge is our daily bread, innit?
EUROPE 2020, A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
(from the Executive Summary):
Europe faces a moment of transformation. The crisis has wiped out years of economic and social progress and exposed structural weaknesses in Europe’s economy. In the meantime, the world is moving fast and long-term challenges – globalisation, pressure on resources, ageing – intensify. The EU must now take charge of its future.
Europe can succeed if it acts collectively, as a Union. We need a strategy to help us come out stronger from the crisis and turn the EU into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy delivering high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion. Europe 2020 sets out a vision of Europe’s social market economy for the 21st century.
Europe 2020 puts forward three mutually reinforcing priorities:
– Smart growth: developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation.
– Sustainable growth: promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy.
– Inclusive growth: fostering a high-employment economy delivering social and territorial cohesion.
The EU needs to define where it wants to be by 2020. To this end, the Commission proposes the following EU headline targets:
– 75 % of the population aged 20-64 should be employed.
– 3% of the EU’s GDP should be invested in R&D.
– The “20/20/20″ climate/energy targets should be met (including an increase to 30% of emissions reduction if the conditions are right).
– The share of early school leavers should be under 10% and at least 40% of the younger generation should have a tertiary degree.
– 20 million less people should be at risk of poverty.
These targets are interrelated and critical to our overall success. To ensure that each Member State tailors the Europe 2020 strategy to its particular situation, the Commission proposes that EU goals are translated into national targets and trajectories.
The targets are representative of the three priorities of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth but they are not exhaustive: a wide range of actions at national, EU and international levels will be necessary to underpin them. The Commission is putting forward seven flagship initiatives to catalyse progress under each priority theme: (keep reading…..)
The climate giant awakes. Have we turned a corner?
Posted on | March 4, 2010 | No Comments
Commentary from the Cockatoo Chronicles, starting from discussions arising around the COP15 climate talks last December, Paul Gilding goes on to look at the shifting global dynamics of economics and governance.
The Green Economy is here lads, and Ireland would be wise to pay attention. For the rest of us, the article gives inspiration and insights we can take into our own entrepreneurial thinking.
Dublin Hub Stakeholder Event – March 8th
Posted on | February 23, 2010 | 4 Comments
INVITATION
SMEs – Sustainability Minded Enterprise
New places of work and new ways of working -
A response to emerging enterprise opportunities
Wood Quay Venue, Civic Offices, 8th March 2010
Registration from 14.30, event starts 15.00 sharp, networking from 17.30
The Dublin Hub Innovation Studios and Dublin City Council with partners invite you to a workshop event followed by refreshments. We would value your input and collaboration on our ideas for stimulating and supporting green business in the city, such as the creation of a green innovation and hotdesking enterprise space with a uniquely tailored training programme.
The event is being hosted by Dublin City Council in cooperation with Dublin Hub Innovation Studios and the College of Europe and invitees include city-based entrepreneurs, public authorities, NGOs and private sector.
Places are limited so please fill out a short form to request an invite. We’d love to have a diverse mix of people attending to demonstrate the wide range of interesting and dynamic entrepreneurs making up the micro-enterprise community in Dublin.
Click here for the invite request form.
Tags: co-creation > co-design > design > event > events > inspiration > invitation > meeting > planning > social > workspace > world cafe
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