M A G A Z I N E
BRUSSELS DECEMBER 2010
GREEN FOR GO! A generation is changing the world
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MAGAZINE CONTENTS 3 | There will be a future The Forum on green entrepreneurship in Brussels wants to make sure that there will be a future. But what exactly does GreEn mean? 4 | Small is beautiful if you think big ORANGE had the chance to meet charming Catie Thorburn, the President of the Generation Europe Foundation. This fascinating woman tells us about her life. 5 | interview organizers The organisers allow you to hear about the steps they took to prepare the international session. Follow up! 6 | Be prepared to be surprised The participants worked hard and their ideas prove that together we can make a difference. It will be step by step, but there will be a change.
12 | methods Between the circle and open space – what does this mean? We are talking about the art of hosting. 13 | You need to be present. Creating a good website is never easy. Lucy Setian and ORANGE help you to do it right!
14 | You Are the Change Everybody is talking about the social web, allegedly blog ging can change the world. Didem from Turkey conducts an experiment.
8 | How green are you? Rwanda, Philippines, Greece or Azerbaijan. They all have an interest in green entrepreneurship in common. Find out more about the participants of the GreEn Forum. 10 | A Bridge between NGOs and big companies Is it a new generation we are talking about? They are just in their twenties and already high-flyers.
15 | fashion People make clothes or do clothes make people? How people dress fashionably green!
11 | the hub. The ORANGE team shared its working space with these interesting people. Get to know the HUB!
EDITORIAL The GreEn forum stands fo r sustai nab i lit y an d diversit y: 32 commit ted p e o p le f r o m d i ffere n t places and cultures all over the world that gathered together for an amazing co-creation workshop about the needs of the world’s young people in the working space of the HUB in Brussels. The forum is a safe place where people can open u p and share their thoughts; where they can co - create and collaborate. Jo Susann Graff, Germany
The organisers have been preparing for months and the participants were involved online long before the actual meeting, but as the saying goes, the “bedding is dry without water” and so they all came together in Brussels – and the “water flowed”. Our sexy salad lunch, your thoughtful presents from your home country and fresh comments made a good start for the first day, then we welcomed more participants and dove deeper into the topic on the second day. It was different to see everyone in person than just communicating over the Internet: to get to know your professional life as social entrepreneur, student, teacher, blogger or employee at the Ministry of Health as well as your private life as football fan, sweet tooth or mobile geek. Even though the third day started with a calm moment, it was the day of action and everyone set their attention to the finale.
Why do young people need to be green entrepreneurs? Where does the everlasting search for creating meaning end? What does it mean not to prioritize life over career? Take a moment to listen and speak from yourself, speak from your heart: the forum is a great chance to become a catalyzer and, according to Catie Thorburn, what we are doing here is building the future. We, the ORANGE team, worked to cover everything and watched every single step of yours, but in the end, as exciting as it was, it was just not possible to catch all your bright green ideas. ORANGE tried to get all of the important things into one magazine and we hope that we have not only created a nice memory for you, but also a sustainable guide to a changing of your fellow human beings into “greenies” and the world into a better place.
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GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship 8 - 10 December 2010 • Brussels, Belgium
GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship There will be a future Will people in the future speak about the 21st century as the green one? Do we realise what consequences could follow after centuries of apathy and carelessness? It is obvious that the world must change somehow, but not only in people’s head or on paper.
Jo Susann Graff, Germany Luzia Tschirky, Switzerland
The GEF observed that a lot of young people knew very little about their rights and did not realise their responsibilities. The elderly population seemed to anxiously look to the future, doubting the capacities of the millennium generation and wondering how knowledge about sustainability could be spread. The GEF thought about the consequences and hence started addressing future decision-makers with a project called GreEn Forum. It all began in May 2010 with the launch of an online platform: a co-creation community, including more than 800 members from 95 countries. The capital letter in the word “greEn” not just hints at it, but makes it clear: the organisation, which has been focused on young entrepreneurship since its foundation in 1995, wants to make a difference. The mission is to empower young people to find the sustainable entrepreneur within him- or herself – to become change makers in their communities and in the world. But green is not automatically green: “Our definition of green entrepreneurship addresses needs in the natural environment, but also focuses on broader economic, social and personal needs”, says Elise Bouvy, GEF board member and
Generation Europe Foundation (GEF) The organisation empowers young Europeans to shape their future and facilitate mutual understanding among decision-makers and tomorrow’s leaders. Established in Brussels in 1995, it is based on the conviction that the young represent tomorrow’s decision-makers, and that public and private sector actors often find it difficult to reach an adolescent target audience. GEF has developed a unique skill set and network of partners throughout Europe to be able to respond to this challenge.
GreEn Forum coordinator. The people behind the GreEn Forum want young people to be capable of dealing with essential situations in complex societies. The network they have set up for that includes webinars, skype conversations and a comprehensive blog where everyone can constantly share their views and knowledge about green entrepreneurship. Online interaction, though, is not enough: therefore the GreEn Forum in Brussels was organised to have
some of the people meet in real life. These three days are the first of many steps towards a permanent change. “It is not a talk, it is an action workshop. It took a lot of time to choose the right people with the right understanding. The information exchange, dialogues and mutual learnings during the workshop are keys to achieving our ambitious objectives” states Elise. The GreEn Forum wants to transform the outcomes into specific actions. “We hope it will help to lay a foundation for a more sustainable future”. But there is still a long way to go. In the end the progress needs to be made by the participants. Elise explains that the GEF has reached its limits of what it can invest. To bring greEn to another level, GEF need collaboration with other organisations and individuals. “We want to work with the communities on our vision and road map and finalise it at our summit in November next year. In general, we are broadcasting greEn needs and where we can take part. Join us.”
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Small is beautiful if you think big GreEn is important. The need for a forum in Brussels is just one proof of that. Orange helps you to get to know the woman who pulls the strings – charming Catie Thorburn.
Catie Thorburn
Jo Susann Graff, Germany
Operating in 29 countries the Generation Europe Foundation facilitates the communication between the private and the public and supports Europe’s future leaders. Each year millions of youngsters benefit from GEF’s awareness campaigns: whether it is online interactions, special events or media outcomes. If one wants to put a face to the name, it should be Catie Thorburn’s. She is not only the president of the Generation Europe Foundation, but also the founder and driving force of the organisation. Born in the UK, Catie Thorburn is now a resident of Belgium since 1975. But changing her country of residence is not the only thing that this Scot has done in recent years. This experienced international business networker forged close links with people in the government and the media while working in a
multinational, as a consultant for the Eurexpansion Group and later on as international director of one of the leading European think-tanks “Club de Bruxelles”. Catie also juggles a family as well as being a board member of several European NGOs. “Not everyone can be a great entrepreneur, but everybody can empower themselves. It is a question of willpower, self-confidence and believing.” This energetic optimist can work the whole day and still have 14 people over for dinner the same evening. “Just see it from that perspective: if there is a problem, there is also a solution.” Catie’s heart belongs to the Generation Europe Foundation for more than 15 years, for which she even won a European Women of Achievement Award. “In fact, I was afraid, because a lot of people back then did not know anything about the EU. Only five percent of the Belgians could name the member states. A simple campaign would have not changed
anything. But imagine getting young people to understand the European issues, wouldn’t that be great?” She instigated many successful campaigns, developed the GEF online community and made a name for herself as accomplished public speaker. Moreover, since 1996 Catie stands for the “Europa diary” which is, as a free educational tool supported by the European Commission, aimed at awareness raising as well as better understanding of the EU and now is issued in 28 countries in Europe with Serbia as the first non-EU country. In 2010/11, almost 4.3 million copies will be distributed to 21,000 schools. Catie believes in teaching entrepreneurship: people can be empowered. Pupils and students are the future; therefore teachers should play an active role within this process. The change is achieved step by step. The Generation Europe Foundation is the perfect example: run by only six people, the organisation does extraordinary projects that most human
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GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship 8 - 10 December 2010 • Brussels, Belgium
Behind the Scenes
beings could not believe in. “Being small is sometimes better. One can understand the other’s needs. You can think big still. Do not get scared.” Among her friends and colleagues, Catie is known for her dedication to the job and her ability to motivate. Her down-to-earth attitude and enormous knowledge function as inspiration. The GEF’s president says that she is just an ordinary person with lots of energy everyone should use. “You do not have to have 15 degrees. We all have certain talents. Decide what you would love to do and then go for it. If you enjoy what you do, you will succeed and the other way around as well.” But does a committed woman like her have spare time at all? Apparently Catie does. Looking back, the only thing she might have changed in her life is that might have given up her job to have more time for her family. Apart from that, there is nothing to regret, she adds. Catie is an accomplished musician who loves writing, gardening and bee keeping. “A lot can be done through music. It is a medium of its own, just like the written word. Therefore the GEF is planning to include music as a new concept in a couple of projects next year.”
We see them smiling, caring and ready to help – these are the people who make up the team of GreEn Forum. They were working round the clock and they put in a lot of efforts and hours during the last weeks into prepairing the event. What were they thinking about before we arrived? How was it to
bring us all here? Orange got hold of Elise Bouvy and Bieke van Dijk to speak about it. Elise has been a GEF board member since 2008 and is a coordinator of GreEn forum. Bieke is a young graduate of the alternative business and leadership school in Denmark, who knows a lot about participatory methods.
How did the idea of GreEn forum appear?
what you are passionate about, you attract the others.
Elise Bouvy: GEF was created 15 years ago, and challenges and contexts were very differen. The aim was to create dialogue between young people and public and private sectors on the issues that concerned them. The issues haven’t really changed - it is still employment which concerns young people most, but the way GEF goes about it did change. What is GEF’s objective now in this new setting? It’s kind of a difficult thing to define. We did feel that in the terms of empowering young people, entrepreneurship is a vital element and the combination with sustainability aiming to bring about more harmonious global setting made a lot of sense. I think minds are shifting, it’s more and more normal to try to contribute to society, and a lot of people recognise that everything is connected, and feel better, contributing positively to the world.
Some advice on how to work on a project like this?
So why GreEn? E.B.: There are lots of meanings to Green and that’s the word game we are playing, because sustainable entrepreneurship felt like too much of a mouthful. We knew it would be understood mostly as environmental, that’s why we tried with a big E to add more context and different levels. GreEn is social, environmental, sustainable entrepreneurship.
How come you have such a great team? B.D.: It happens naturally. When you are clear for yourself about
E.B.: Drive and passion has to be the starting point and then a community of like-minded people and practices, which bring some value to the process without losing sight of the output/results. Nowadays, most of the energy goes into the process and the outcomes get forgotten. B.D.: Be clear on two things: what you would like to achieve, and also be clear on what you could and what you couldn’t achieve. My strength lies in making something better, and that’s why I’ve been searching for organisations, who were searching for improvement.
What fears did you have? B.D.: You always have fears. Of course, at some point we were not sure if we could get everybody. But the fear wasn’t here for too long.
What will you take as a lesson from here? B.D.: I’ve only been out of school for one and a half years now. I’ve been searching for different projects and this one is one of the biggest I’ve organised and the belief that you can get from it that you can make a change is the biggest I thing I will take from it.
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Be prepared to be surprised If we want to change the world, we have to take action. The GreEn Forum brought us together to do so. No one can make a difference alone, but together we are powerful.
Jo Susann Graff, Germany
Myriam Djebli
The Forum was supposed to be for exploring, connecting, learning, exchanging, initiating and co-creating. “We wanted to play a useful role. We are extremely known by young people. About 18 million Europa diaries – an EU student planner – have been distributed during the last year. Our aim was to find a theme that excites the young, but still gives a mean for them to get involved”, explains Catie Thorburn.
Entrepreneurs and social media The social media world seemed like a great place to realise the concept. Consequently, a lot of participants were involved in the progress of the event in advance: blogging, twittering and skyping. Catie thinks it is not possible to navigate all the problems we
have to face these days, she continues: “Just listen what others have to say. Keep an open mind.”
Encouraging the search for answers Thus the aim of the Generation Europe Foundation was to give future decision-makers a voice and to find answers. What are the needs of young people for becoming active in the field of GreEn? What initiatives can we catalyze to respond to these needs? Active practitioners and young leaders with different perspectives, various backgrounds and diverse experiences tapped into the GreEns collective intelligence – to move beyond the shallow discussion, to develop ideas on every level and make them more concrete. The participants
agreed that we have to include and transfer our knowledge to inspire the young generation so that everyone becomes a part of the change. There are a lot of things we have to learn about each other. During the open session, which everyone thought was very inspiring, 12 groups developed ideas. Elise Bouvy explains: “We do not want to reinvent the wheel. There are great models, networks and organisations to tie in with. Basically, we want action to unravel, but at the moment it is not quite clear what the action actually is, so we are here to find answers and to empower our generations for a sustainable future.” The issue has to be examined from different angles starting from individual to social needs. Implementing a change of how most of the world’s population think about GreEn and raising awareness for related issues
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GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship 8 - 10 December 2010 • Brussels, Belgium
visualisation of the results by Nick Payne
might be a good beginning. The world has to recognise the demands and be willing to take actions. Individuals should start by reflecting on their own behaviour, providing relevant information to interested people and getting family and friends active. Jakob von Uexküll, founder of the “Right Livelyhood Award” and the World Future Council, says: “We are all potential leaders and planetary trustees. We need to empower ourselves as global citizens to take responsibility and to participate in public life.” To sustainably support the change as green entrepreneur, one should learn and develop the main needs: personal positive values, skills, your product, networks and capital.
Bridging business and social together Knowledge management and networking are basic keys on the social level: education plays a major role. Educational institutions e.g. universities could provide room and
resources for students that would like to start their own business and offer entrepreneurship programs. A better education in the future could encourage self-development, lifelong activism, sustainable behavioral patterns and project-based learning. Local networks and communities, that should include the knowledge of different sectors, though, can also be strongly used as a positive influence. Moreover, it is necessary to find ways of collaborating between different initiatives and to establish an open database for innovators. Social networks are really important as well, because they offer the possibility to exchange different perspectives and best-practice examples. Competitions can encourage public participation. Regarding political and governmental issues there is the need for simplified regulations and rules for start-ups as well as comprehensive financial support for social entrepreneurs. In the end, Jakob von Uexküll makes it clear what humanity needs: “Every civilisatory advance depended
Nick Payne in the process
on both a large number of active supporters as well as on a minority willing to take greater personal risks. Such risk-taking as well as inspirational leadership is what our current crises demands of us.”
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Participants of the workshop talk about their own lives
How greEn/green are you? Young representatives
Roxana Stefanescu, Romania „I’m quite careful with nature and try to protect it and I’m quite careful about social aspects. I’m think I’m kind of green.“ Anu Olvik, Estonia “I go by bike, go shopping in second hand shops and eat the vegetables my Granny grows.” Nikolo Amaglio, Italy “I’m 75% green.” Tobias Martens, Germany „I’m as green as possible.“ Bahruz Babayev, Azerbaijan „I’m green so-so.“
Nike Kondakis, Greece/Denmark „I’m super GreEn.“ Jean-Claude Bwenge, Rwanda „I’m not that green as I should be.“ Tariq Al-Olaimy, Bahrain “I’m not that green. I’m green, blue, and red. I’m the mixture of the social, environmental and financial, which I think is actual sustainable entrepreneurship” Didem Uygun, Turkey „It’s my lifestyle and how I interact with other people.“ Marcin Sendercki, Poland „I’m as green as it is possible to be in Poland.“ Elizaveta Mamaliga, Moldova „I’m green, because I’m socially active.“
Augustus Narag, Philippines „I’m still learning and exploring.“
Participants of the workshop talk about their own lives How Green are you?
Nike Kondakis “It is a bit of a paradox that we meet here and talk about how to engage more entrepreneurs. Are entrepreneurs, consumption, wanting too much and having the choice all the time the problem that drives the world down? Even the greEn way might not make it better. How much is enough? Maybe stopping entrepreneurship in general is the only green way.”
Elise Bouvy “In my heart I’m very green. There are several reasons for that. I believe it does me good – obviously in the food I eat, but the energy of the things as well – it’s more global. I do use my car maybe a little bit more than I should, but I walk quite a lot, and probably fly too much.”
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GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship 8 - 10 December 2010 • Brussels, Belgium
Representatives
Samuel Gonzales, Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability „I’m not green enough.“ Marieke De Nijs, Enviu „I’m very green. I get everywhere by public transport.“ Chiara De Caro, YES – European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs „I don’t have even a driving licence.“ Craig Willy, Future Challenges „I’m very green! I work for environmentalist MP.“ Seden Savaskan, Junior Chamber International & SAVASKAN Law Office „GreEn is for me sustainable.“ Matt Kimmich, Global Changemakers „Not as green as I should be.“ Masha Tarle, Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign, European Commission Alessandro Falleiros, European Confederation of Junior Enterprises „You see, I’m brown!“
Simone Baldassarri, European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry „I don’t know if I’m green. I work on entrepreneurship; I don’t know so much about green.“ Ozan Sönmez, Junior Chamber International Elise Bouvy, Generation Europe Foundation „I believe it does me good!“ Kristina Pietikäinen, European Commission DG Information Society and Media „I’m as greEn as I can be.“ Lorna Stokes, The Hub Brussels „I’m pink!“ Lisa Spiro, Oxygen Capital „I’m greEn from my head to my toes.“ Lilian Danial, Masar high school „I’m trying to learn from others to be green.“ Yannis Sotirakos, A2K Dennis Hoenig-Ohnsorg, Ashoka „I’m not really green.“
Madi Sharma, The European Economic and Social Committee
Collected by Palina Mahilina, Belarus and Jo Susann Graff, Germany
Tariq Al-Olaimy “My biggest personal contribution is co-founding 3BL Associates. Sustainable business is an emerging paradigm; one that proposes that business goals are inextricably linked to the societies and environment in which they operate, and that short-term economic gain which fails to consider social and environmental performance makes those business practices ultimately unsustainable. This is also known as a ‘triple bottom line’, abbreviated as 3BL or TBL. Adopting this strategy can contribute tremendously to socio-economic development.”
Tobias Martens “Green is actually the matter of perception. The problem is that green is connotated in a very environmental way. But it’s the term which in fact underlines general sustainable approach towards society – people as well as environment. So I’m pretty green, but just as long as it goes in both directions. ”
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THE HUB IN BRUSSELS a cozy place for a change
For three days of the GreEN forum, we have become a part of HUB, not really knowing what it is. Luckily, Lorna Stokes, one of the hosts, joined us for the training, while Eric Theunis, one of the founders, was there sharing the space of the big room with us. Palina Mahilina, Belarus
First of all, HUB is a social enterprise. This type of business is driven by a social or environmental purpose and organises activities that are neither part of the public nor private sector. Brussels Hub is just one of the 12 centres on 4 continents that host a special community of people who have something to share. The network started in London in 2005 (the UK is also the home of the social enterprise idea), and by 2008 it had already begun in Brussels. Lorna explains how it works, “You come here and you don’t have to worry about anything – coffee, heating, print-
the hub coworking space
ers – everything is organised by us. So entrepreneurs can come here not worrying about a thing.” Eric, together with other co-founders, was looking for a proper place for the HUB for about a year. And they finally stopped searching when they found a part of an industrial building in the centre of the city. The green renovation lasted for about six months, bringing heating, electricity, furniture into future co-working space. There is no exact answer to the question of what is special about the people who choose to spend their working hours at HUB. “We are very open. Everybody has the potential to make an impact on the world. So we are very diversified community in terms of culture, business, gender, nationality, skills. It’s important for us to keep it, as one can get a bigger value from here,” says Eric. He adds, “When they come for the first time, we ask them what
they want to do, why they do it and what change they will bring to the world.”
Collaboration is the answer “We are not good at everything. And that’s why we need collaboration.” This is Lorna’s recipe for success. The Orange team had a chance to experience the power of collaboration during the sessions. Different opinions, different life stories were the part of the common picture, created by Nick Payne, who was visually harvesting our discussions. Everything, from the desk to the restroom in HUB is full of ideas and thoughts from different people, “If people have a problem or need, we encourage them to ask the network. Sometimes it’s a little bit abstract, but that’s what makes it beautiful,” says Lorna.
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GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship 8 - 10 December 2010 • Brussels, Belgium
going solo young people leading the field in entrepreneurship “All the time you are on the road or doing thousand things at once. but where are you really going?” These days more and more young people seem to want to break free to enter uncharted territories. the 21st century is demanding flexibility, directness and creativity.
Jo Susann Graff, Germany
Young people want to have a crack at different things, experiment and gain new experiences. Some of those open-minded youngsters and adults want to use their skills to start a career in business. The generation international – digital natives – is at home in the social web and knows the strategies of networking better than anyone else. They want to make a difference and become agents of change. Anu Olvik from Tartu in Estonia is one of them. She is 23 years old, a committed and self-reliant student, economy teacher and entrepreneur selling handmade computer bags at the same time. She wanted to combine theory and practical experience. Establishing her own company offered a great balance and a new challenge in her life. “I wanted to decide independently and I like to have many
things going on at once, because I want to see if I can handle everything.” She guesses that is also why a lot of young people start their own business. There are not afraid of risks. “Entrepreneurship can give a certain freedom if you give the freedom to yourself.” The young woman is aware, though, that young entrepreneurs are not completely free in their actions and still influenced by the society – a society that either supports (green) entrepreneurship or not. In Estonia it was easy to found her own company – basically, it took just two hours on the Internet. In the northern European country you just need a valid ID and proof of seed capital, which is 2,500 Euro at the moment. Coming from a small, relatively unknown island called the Kingdom of Bahrain, Tariq Al-Olaimy had a totally different experience, “There are no laws under which a social enterprise can actually viably register. It was a challenge to get it legally recognised
and we had to be creative in the loopholes.” The only ways to get funding for his social enterprise were business plan competitions. Surprisingly the twenty-two year old made a go of it and became a leading proponent for social innovation. Apart from several other positions, he is the founding partner of 3LB and co-founder of Al Tamasuk. As a social entrepreneur, his motivation stems from his idealism – the desire to make a positive impact on the world and the need for a job that is meaningful. Both Tariq and Anu believe in changing the world and want to pass on what they have learned to their social circles. History has shown it is young entrepreneurs who have truly transformed the modern societies we live in. A popular entrepreneurial story is the one about Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of facebook, who has essentially revolutionised the way we interact and interconnect with society.”
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Responding to a complex world Methods used during the workshop
World Café: for hosting conversations that link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions. Open Space: allows participants to find, choose and work on topics that are relevant to them, based on the idea of a “coffee break”. The Circle: rotating leadership, adaptable for a variety of groups, issues, and time frames. Appreciative Inquiry: strategy for intentional change that identifies present and future needs, useful when different perspectives are needed, or to start a new process
Myriam Djebli
Sitting and listening like a student in a lecture hall is not adequate anymore when it comes to international networking events. Times have changed; the audience wants to play an active role and become involved in the working process.
Jo Susann Graff, Germany Mariya Vasileva, Bulgaria
To meet the exigences of today, a group of individuals from all over the world initiated a different methodic concept for working on crucial issues and developing projects – the art of hosting. They wanted to find a new way for people to meet and get creative. The methods they tried to implement were supposed to bring out the best in other people. Maria
Scordialos, co-initiator of the art of hosting explains the necessity of the idea: “It is a response to a world that is becoming increasingly complex and fragmented, where true solutions and innovation lie not in one leader or one point of view, but in the bigger picture that can be grasped only by our collective intelligence.”
no direction, just a frame The GreEn Forum provided the frame for participation and cocreation in its workshop on entrepreneurship rather than directing the content in one direction. The participants were supposed to network and develop ideas themselves. “We truly believe that the relevant aspects arise out of a collaboration.
We did not want to create a program in our offices or define every detail in advance. Our aim was to invite people”, explains Nina Nisar, one of the workshop’s facilitators.
continuoues work The art of hosting is a great method to work with, but also challenging. According to Dennis Hoenig, GreEn expert and director of the Ashoka Youth Venture Germany, it is difficult to get a group to a common goal. “I am a fan of the art of hosting and use it for my work as well, but it is not easy to become concrete. It is a really open method. Now we have a lot of different ideas, but not a common vision. That is our next step. We have to continue our work in the future.”
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GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship 8 - 10 December 2010 • Brussels, Belgium
What a good entrepreneur website needs You need to be present. Are you a young entrepreneur who wants to create your own website? Or do you already have one, but are uncertain if it is an attentiongrabber or not? Here are some tips for building a great website.
Back in the 60s, the foundation for the Internet was laid, but it took many years for it to develop from a medium of the military into a medium of the elite to a medium for the masses. Now 1.5 billion of our planet’s 6.8 billion
Orange: What is so fascinating about the Internet? Lucy Setian: The Internet makes it possible to reach the audience you need for your project. You can easily define your target group.
Why should an entrepreneur have a website? Two words: digital life. Internet, so many people have it, so many people live it. It is pretty much a part of everyone’s life. Entrepreneurs have to envision the future. Even our grandparents start using the Internet. Especially young entrepreneurs need to respond properly to that – not only in the real, but also in the virtual world. There are people you can just reach over the Internet.
Can you tell us more about entrepreneur websites? At present, there are just a few big entrepreneur websites that
are networking internationally. Setting a number is difficult, but it is said, that approximately one trillion websites now exist, and one would need about 31,000 years to read them completely, according to google. The Internet becomes more and more important to companies of all sizes – for selfrepresentation, customer acquisition and communication. Lucy Setian, proficient in digital media strategies, working for the GEF, focuses on communication and website improvement
help people with building their own platform. I recommend www.entrepreneur.com or the German website www.gruenderszene.de. There is also a great blogging website named www. answers.onstartups.com where a lot of people seek advice. It is difficult to tell specific numbers. It is for sure, though, that entrepreneur websites became – like blogs – popular within the last five years.
How is an entrepreneur website usually created? It depends if you want to do it all by yourself or if you assign a company to do that. As starter you have different choices, but I recommend free source software. Wordpress for example is easy to use, user-friendly and looks really nice. All GEF websites are based on Wordpress. If you have more time, though, and want to work more proficient, content management systems
Lucy Stetian
such as Joomla, Drupal and DNN will make your website look more professional.
How important is it to include social web tools? If you really want to be present, you have to show what you are striving for. Social web is a marketing tool. Depending on your target group, tools like facebook, linkedIn or XING can be great for involving cooperative clients. Microblogging tools catch attention as well: twitter, foursquare and co. One can even create a personal social media website (e.g. ning): it is like your own facebook that you can brand.
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A turkish blogger tries to change the world by changing herself You Are the Change Didem is one of the most eagerly awaited participants of GreEN forum. Coming to Brussels was not only about taking a plane, but also of getting the visa. When she speaks, she is a bit worried, but always eager to share her point of view.
Palina Mahilina, Belarus
Didem Uygun
While studying for her BA program in Management Didem became interested in socially responsible business. Inspired by the blog of “No Impact Man” who carries out, Didi has started her own green experiment didigoesgreener@blogspot.com. She began in August by reflecting on the question, “Have we ever tried to stop consuming, do we know how hard it is? Is it really that hard?” That was her first challenge. “Starting from yourself is a way to learn. I was too optimistic. And still I am. You need to have a dream to change the world,” she says. And then adds a quote by Gandhi, “You need to be a change you want to see”. Didem is now doing her gap year, which is not that usual in Turkey, and therefore, a challenge, too. She explains the situation in Turkey, “Being an environmentalist is not the thing that you can make money from. There are no job opportunities and nobody cares about sustainable development.”
Everyday Work Her September started with the promise not to go shopping for clothing or accessories. October was the most difficult, “I tried not to buy packed food. It was even harder than not going shopping. Unpacked food is really a big deal. Everything is just available to buy and ready to eat. And you can hardly resist buying it – all chocolates, chips and snacks that are so delicious. I’ve noticed that though I have time for cooking, I used to buy those things because they are everywhere.” Didem’s garbage separation month, November, showed some deeper problems that she couldn’t solve herself. Making the long trip to the separation bins, she discovered that waste products are not collected by the municipality in the right way. She began to learn more about the environment every day to make her posts interesting, and began gathering followers from all over the world, “I’m
also writing about the things that make me happy: people are starting to send me the links about environmental problems or what they have started to implement in their lives, because they read my blog. There so many things to be done. It’s not discouraging me - it’s encouraging me to do more.”
Great Expectations Recently, Didem began working at a Regional Environmental Center. She believes that many things have to be done to educate younger generations. Sometimes people are just unaware about the change they can bring. The Little Prince was a sustainable environmentalist. Every morning he would begin with himself and then take care of the planet "It is a question of discipline," said the little prince to me later on. "When you have finished your toilet in the morning, it is time to attend to the planet's toilet with great care. Didem does the same every day.
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GEF Forum on Green Entrepreneurship 8 - 10 December 2010 • Brussels, Belgium
Comment from Palina Mahilina Back to USSR DIY I was born in the USSR. I remember standing in the queue with my Mom, so we could buy some clothing of restrained colour for me for the years to come. Apparently, I didn’t have a chance to wear a pioneer suit my uncle presented me “for future” when I was five. Thus, only those who were born on the eastern side of the iron curtain understand the happiness one can have appearing for the first time in jeans at school – even when the east-west war was over. It feels like the Soviet Union wasn’t so bad if we look at it as the country with sustainable consumption – the clothing was produced not for wearing for once, but for years. Be sure, every Granny still has some things in wardrobes from their youth. All the beauty and differences have to be invented by women themselves. Knitting,
embroidery, sewing, altering old clothes into something new, wearing the same things for several generations were very popular. West things were officially criticized for their freedom and quality – Soviet ones were supposed to bring discipline to the society. But secretly, a girl would be dreaming about the dress from DDR, Socialist Hungary or Czechoslovakia. These countries have disappeared from the map, and I don’t care about jeans anymore. Several of my friends in different parts of the world sell their handmade earrings, t-shirts with exclusive design, knitted scarves and socks through Facebook. It feels like DIY times are back. The generation that is supposed to smash the shops, because of the sales, is turning out to be different – it is concerned more about values.
What clothes do GReEN forum participants wear? And what do they think about fashion?
European Youth Press European Youth Press is an umbrella association of young journalists in Europe. It involves more than 50,000 journalists working for university magazines, Internet projects, radio and video productions, or are interns in editor-rooms, freelance journalists, journalism students or trainees. With print magazines or Blogs, PodCasts and V-Casts, the association wants to give young media makers from all over Europe the opportunity to cooperate directly with each other. Above all, the aim of all member associations and the umbrella structure is to inspire young people to deal with media and take an active part in society by fostering objective and independent journalism. Orange magazine Fresh. Vibrant. Creative. Orange is a youth-driven magazine dedicated to tackling urgent international issues. Writers and photographers from different countries with diverse backgrounds make this magazine unique. They create multi-faced magazines with new and interesting contents. Creating it means having an exciting time in a quite unusual environment. Reading it means getting facts and opinions directly from young and innovative journalists.
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Anu, economy teacher in Estonia “I go to second hand shops. I spend there max. 10 euro per month – I think it’s not much. I only buy shoes in the normal stores. One can find really interesting things there. In Estonia it’s now so popular to buy things from a second hand shop, it ’s a fashionable thing to do. I don’t think people do it because they are green, but because it’s inexpensive and it’s more
Nike, designer based in Kenya as a protest against big stores and brands, not their environmental concern. I don’t see the point in buying a shirt for 15 euro as there many other things I can do with this money. My friends do not respect clothes that much nowadays. You shouldn’t put much money that you’ve earned into things that are not valuable.”
“Fashion s one of the most polluting industry in the world, and that’s why we need alternatives to existing traditions. My company makes the clothing from recycled parachutes and jewelry from dead wood.”
IMPRINT Publishers line: Orange Magazine, European Youth Press, Rue de la Tourelle 23, BE-1040, Brussels, Belgium Proofreader: Aoife O‘Grady, Ireland Editorial staff: Jo Susann Graff, Germany Luzia Tschirky, Switzerland Mariya Vasileva, Bulgaria Pahlina Mahilina, Belarus Silvio Heinze, Austria Photos by: Yann Verbeke, GEF-team Belgium www.yannverbeke.com Layout: Silvio Heinze, Austria
Roxana, JA-YE, Romania Elizaveta, student in Moldova “I like hand-made accessories, and I do it myself.”
“I wear clothes for comfort. I’m not really fashionable person. I just try clothes. If it fits me, I will wear. And yes, I’m against wearing fur.”
For other issues of Orange look on: www.orangelog.eu All articles do not necessarily represent the opinions of the magazine.
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