GEEBIZ Challenge Booklet

U L P E Y O V S Z

Y N T R D S D S Q W G U

P J E O U T F G B N M F D R E

K L B G Y I R D G R E W A D

A R E L U E I H F D S V S R L

T I B D E A E E R T Y U N G F

A V D N H J N L I U Y R Y

T D N R N H V Y J J I L O

M J O T I O F S I A E E L

O F U T R L K J R F D B

I N N O V A T I O N S

R F A A

A D E S Y T I J O P T H D B

R U F H D S C X E F G M L

J T F S I F E B E B A O E

B L J D Y C O M P M A I U

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H A D C B V S D E Y U G K

A T R E N P R E N E G

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16

Foreword Introduction

What is Geebiz?

History of Geebiz

Youth Unemployment Crisis

Brown Economy Green Economy

Green Business Innovation

Greenovators

Sustainable products

Sustainable transportation

Sustainable energy

Sustainable construction

Sustainable waste Management

Sustainable lifestyle

Sustainable idea

Step by Step guide to become a green entrepreneur

Geebiz Festival

Peace Child International

Be the Change Academy References

by David Woollcombe, President, Peace Child International

Business built the brown, fossil-fuelled Economy; Business will build the Green Economy – if governments legislate to make it happen. But they don’t: at last year’s Rio+20 and Doha Climate Change Summits, our governments flunked it. They are leaving it to us to avoid the apocalypse because they are more short-term matters – winning elections, gaining influence over their neighbours, winning economic battles for resources and power. So – what do we do? Wail and wring our hands? Protest, complain and demonstrate?! – or just start building that green economy and show how we can make a profit doing it? Of course – the latter!

Sadly, our schools are doing a terrible job of teaching us how to do it – or even of explaining to us the dangers of NOT doing it. But, happily, most young people now get more than half their knowledge from the internet – not from school. So young people can learn how to meet this challenge themselves – partly! It’s not easy! The dangers of exploding wind mills, solar generating systems that don’t work, GM foods, fish farming that spreads disease… building a Green Economy is unbelievably complicated but also endlessly fascinating and exciting.

So, dive in with us and explore how you can help build the green economy in your community, your region, your nation, your world. For those who are successful, the rewards are infinite: the Billionaires of this 21st Century will be the green entrepreneurs who build the green, sustainable, economy our planet and humanity needs to survive. You will read in these pages about earl steps that young people are taking to do this in their own communities. The momentum, and the ambition, has to be massively accelerated over the next decade. So – this is just the Beginning: every year during Global Entrepreneurship Week – PCI will host a Geebiz Festival, online and, we hope, at the UN, to showcase the latest achievements of young green entrepreneurs.

We hope you will be one of them!

Introduction

If the present growth trends in population, industrialization and pollution continue, sometime within the next one hundred years we will arrive at the end of our non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels, minerals, and metals. This will mean the end of our economic system. We have to come up with alternative solutions right now, instead of sitting back and enjoying what we have until it disappears. Each of us has to start tracing a future that will sustain that quality of life that we are now enjoying. That needs a shift in our way of thinking, characterized by long-term thinking and responsibility for nature and humanity.

There have been decades of discussions going on about how to implement new policies in order to urge industries and societies to reduce their ecological footprints, but it seems that the desired transition is too slow. The human ecological footprint is likely to overshoot the physical limitations of the planet because there are significant delays in global decision making.

The inspiring young entrepreneurs who you will meet in these pages have all understood the urgent need to shift to new methods of consumption and production. They all have sensed the potential for innovation and profit in the building of the green economy and of finding new answers to pressing daily needs. They also strive to use their businesses as a way to educate people to challenge existing methods if they are not working.

As the world moves towards a Green Economy, there has to be corresponding encouragement of Green Entrepreneurship. The younger generation can be the catalyst that will empower societies to move rapidly and effectively towards a sustainable future.

What is Geebiz

1 A showcase for young green entrepreneurs with business plans and projects already in operation around the world.

The Green Economy Eco-Business Innovation Initiative (Geebiz) provides an opportunity for young green entrepreneurs to show what tangible steps they are taking towards the transition to the green economy. Above all Geebiz seeks to get youth to start thinking about green business as a possible, sustainable solution for their own future.

2. A competition for youth from all over the world to come up with innovative green business plans.

The main target group is that of the young innovators between the ages of 18-30 who have developed a green business plan. Submissions are assessed by the quality of their business proposition, their innovation, their proven market research and the green criteria of the product. They have to show the product life-cycle management and how it demonstrates resource efficiency. Although we are not providing the winners with financial support, we help them to showcase their projects at selected international events and the forthcoming Geebiz Festivals.

3. Geebiz wants to connect and encourage creative cooperation between the stakeholders of green economy around the world.

We look to create an arena where we can feature existing young entrepreneurs from around the world as well as providing networking opportunities where youth can support each other through mentorship, and where ideas can be intergenerational. Geebiz also seeks to motivate schools, business schools and universities to promote green entrepreneurship as a viable business model for the 21st century.

Goal of the Geebiz Challenge

… inspire and encourage youth to help to build a green economy in their lifetime by coming up with innovative business ideas that serve their community based on renewable energy, resource effciency, social equity, and the restoration as well as the conservation of the earth’s eco- systems.

…to persuade elders and government offcials that young people merit investments in their green economy business start-up efforts.

The history of Geebiz

Since 1992, PCI has worked with youth all over the world to raise awareness about the imperative of ‘sustainable development’. We have done this in many ways; through school education programs to affect behavior change, as well as sponsoring communication action projects that ensured sustainability. But although these personal actions were important it was not going to deliver a transition away from the Brown, fossil-fuelled economy to that of a green, sustainable, resource-efficient one. For that, there needed to be wholesale government reform of regulations. And, essentially, the involvement of Business.

NGOs have traditionally had a somewhat jaundiced view of private industry. Then, at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, many of us were amazed by how much private companies were investing in green initiatives – in contrast to the timidity of governments. Again, at the “Rio+20 Summit” – it was the private companies who were leading the charge to sustainability. Government efforts paled by comparison. Not all companies were involved. Coal, oil and gas companies were notably less enthusiastic partners than insurance and investment companies whose profit margins stand to shrink due to climate change and extreme weather.

“The Private Sector build the Brown Economy; the Private Sector will build the Green Economy as soon as governments create a regulatory environment that makes it profitable to do so.”

When we started our preparations for our Road to Rio+20 awareness campaign, it was our Chinese partner, 51SIM, who pointed out the central role that the Private Sector would play in forging the transition from the Brown to the Green Economy. They ran an exhibition of Chinese youth green business start-ups in Beijing – and were happy to internationalize the concept ahead of the Rio+20 Earth Summit in 2012, June.

In general youth are inspired by ideas and practical steps taken by other young people, rather than policies or declarations. We wanted to showcase what young people were doing to bring the green economy to life at a global or regional level to inspire others to sit up and think what they could do. Not only to inspire youth but provide a platform for young people to show their elders at global events and conferences the role that young people could play in effecting the transition to the Green Economy. The United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) and the UN Fund for International Partnerships were enthusiastic supporters, and the Government of Denmark offered some startup funds– so the Geebiz project was launched with a stimulating side meeting at the Rio+20 Summit in Brazil – and later with an evening event at Rio’s startling Planetarium.

We continue to be inspired by what we learn about what young entrepreneurs are doing. We want the ones who have been successful to mentor and encourage those who have an idea but don’t know how best to actualize it. Our annual events aim to inspire succeeding generations of entrepreneurs to recognize the profit potential in the Green Economy. This book represents the latest stage in our effort to do just that.

“Without peace, there can be no development, sustainable or otherwise!”

Challenges

Youth unemployment crisis

BAD NEWS

75 million of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are unemployed globally – with another 621 million who have given up looking for work. The problem is getting worse with another 600 million youth coming on to the job market in the next decade with, at best, 200 millions jobs awaiting them.

The problem of youth unemployment is a chronically serious global issue which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

However, youth unemployment actually costs governments money. Whereas employed youth pay tax and stimulate growth, unemployed youth are a drain

on the economy. That is why it is such a priority for governments to create jobs. Youth unemployment represents

“As youth, we are not only 50% of the world’s population today, but we are the 100% of the future. This is the decade for change. If you take charge and bring your ideas and thoughts into action, tomorrow will definitely be yours!”

- Ravi Theja Muthu, India

Global

Central and South Eastern Europe

GOOD NEWS

East Asia

Latin America & the Caribbean

Middle East

North Africa

South Asia

South East Asia & the Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Did you know?

In Tanzania the youth who stayed home and never went to school are the less likely to get a job. But the unemployment rate of young people graduated from high school is higher than youth leaving primary schools! A big part of the problem is that many country’s economy are simply not mature enough to have enough jobs for well-qualified youth.

Actual numbers show that youth are doing much better than older folks in starting up their new businesses! Why? Because while we are young our main goal is to make something of our lives. Youth can be brave, flexible, open-minded, and are willing to upset the system if it is not working. We can come up with crazy ideas, untainted by negative experience or failure and above all we have the potential of an indestructible power to create something new!

Brown Economy

It takes 100 tonnes of primeval forest vegetation to create a gallon of gasoline!

It has taken the planet 200 million years to compress and fashion that vegetation into oil and coal.

Brown Economy is one which depends on fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum or natural gas. In the process of this form of production, great amounts of carbon dioxide and soot are released into the atmosphere.

Experts calculate that, if we use just 60% of the reserves we know we have in the ground, we shall trigger catastrophic climate change; sea level rises, warmer waters leading to fish species disappearing or being forced to migrate to cooler waters, water shortages, etc. The fall out will be extreme - all because of our fossil fuel dependence. As long as the world continues burning carbon in a business-as-usual basis and oil companies are making so much money out of fossil fuels, it’s hard to get the actual economy shift to sustainable methods. As nonrenewables become scarcer and harder to extract, fossil fuels are becoming increasingly expensive, requiring the world’s poorest country governments to subsidise fuel costs for their citizens.

Humanity has hurtled forward in the name of progress for two hundred years. Now is the time to stop – and it is the young generation that is going to have to call that halt and come up with a new road map!

By 2100, in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, up to 145 - 220 million additional people could fall below the $2-a-day poverty line, and every year an additional 165,000 - 250,000 children could die compared with a world without climate change.

“Between 1900 and 2000, human use of the planet’s resources increased by 34 times and that resource demand will increase by a further 70% by 2050.” - The European Commission’s Road Map to Resource Efficiency

“While agriculture in higher-latitude developed countries is likely to benefit from moderate warming (2-3°C), even small amounts of climate change in tropical regions will lead to declines in yield. Here crops are already close to critical temperature thresholds and many countries have limited capacity to make economy-wide adjustments to farming patterns. The impacts will be strongest across Africa and Western Asia (including the Middle-East), where yields of the predominant regional crops may fall by 25-35% (weak carbon fertilisation) or 15 – 20% (strong carbon fertilisation) once temperatures reach 3 or 4°C. Maize-based agriculture in tropical regions, such as parts of Africa and Central America, is likely to suffer substantial declines, because maize is less responsive to the direct effects of rising carbon dioxide.” - The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change points out how climate change can be the greatest challenge for our economies.

Green Economy

What is the Green Economy?

The green economy is often accused of being a screen behind which banks and large corporations try to take over the natural world turning it into a large factory. Some stopped using the phrase – feeling that it had become too controversial, preferring the original phrase; ‘Sustainable Development’.

One Planet Living has created a framework describing the ideal green economy in then main principles:

A green economy is Zero carbon... buildings are energy efficient and delivering all energy with renewable technologies.

is Zero waste... waste is reduced, reused and recycled.

course pollution. Protects land and wildlife...

biodiversity and natural habitats are protected and restored through appropriate land use and integration into the built environment.

“Green economy improves human well-being and social equity, while significantly reduces environmental risks and ecological scarcities. It is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.” - Definition of the Environment Programme of the United Nations, as we prefer.

We believe that the green economy is the real solution in order to avoid a total global breakdown, caused by natural disasters and an entire economic collapse. But to build this economy, new investments and innovations have to get green light to offer real sustainable solutions in our everyday lives as in all levels of our economy. The green economy is low carbon, resource effcient and socially inclusive. It REDUCES carbon emissions and pollution, ENHANCES energy and resource effciency, PREVENTS the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Economy: Oekos + Nomos= Home + Management

Ecology: Oekos + Logos= Home + Knowledge

uses Sustainable means of transport... low carbon modes of transport are encouraged to reduce emissions. uses Sustainable materials... sustainable, healthy products are used with low embodied energy, sourced locally, made from renewable or waste resources. promotes Local and sustainable food... low impact, local, seasonal and organic diets are promoted while reducing food waste.

creates Sustainable water... water is used more efficiently in buildings and in the products we buy; tackling local flooding and water

Develops culture and community... local identity and wisdom revives.

Promotes equity and local economy... bioregional economies are created that support fair employment, inclusive communities and international fair trade.

Green Business

Is the way how the GREEN ECONOMY can be built!

A green business…

...produces eco-friendly products and services while staying harmless to the environment. The materials used for production are always eco-friendly, most of the time sourced locally in order to minimise carbon footprint and are of high quality.

...invests in alternative means of transportation as a way of minimising the use of fossil fuels.

...manages waste from the sourcing of materials through the process of production, transportation to customers, and consumption until the disposal!

…can provide jobs and decent income to the members of society.

A green business is NOT one which engages in ‘GREEN WASHING’!

Many companies create a smoke-screen of environmental friendliness to make their products more attractive to consumers – using the Green Economy as an advertising tool. A classic example would be an energy company that runs an advertising campaign promoting their Solar division which in fact represents only a tiny percentage of their total not-so-green business, or may be marketed on the heels of an oil spill or other environmental disaster.

Green entreprises are likely to create a whole lot more jobs in both developed and developing economies than the brown economy. A million dollars invested in building windmills, retrofitting houses, and similar porjects to become more energy efficient creates ten times more jobs than investing in oil prospecting.

Two examples to help you understand what we mean by a green business:

Billions of plastic bottles are thrown away every year. In April 2011, a young Filipino, Illac Diaz, thought of a clever way to recycle them. He filled the bottles with chlorinated water and glued them into a roof-tile. The result is the Liter of Light – a solar bulb, powerful enough to light up a home, to communities living without electricity. Illac has grown his business as a social enterprise, creating jobs for hundreds of young workers making and fitting the bulbs. The business is now working in India, Indonesia, Colombia and Switzerland and aims to have one million solar bulbs installed around the world by 2015.

If a Linear Economy is one where you make a product, use it, then throw it away. A Circular Economy is one where you make a product, use it, recycle it, then use it again – repeating the process for ever!

Renault Car Company in France has embraced this idea with its Innovative CAR Recycling programme, ICARRE 95, which recycles 95% of every vehicle at the end of its life. Called a cradle-to-cradle recycling process, each car is cleared of pollutant materials, dismantled and shredded with the components moved on to a second life. Not only does this empty junk yards, it is a cost-effective way for the company to make new cars.

Innovation

An Innovation is about something new; a radical improvement of existing products and processes, an extension of an old, or a clever adaptation of an earlier idea.

“There is nothing new under the sun!” – meaning that, if you thought of it, someone else, somewhere on the planet, has thought of it too. What Geebiz is looking for, is something that points in a new direction, something that stimulates new ideas in our thinking. The projects showcased by Geebiz are all innovative in a way. They are all unique and original, bringing improvements to their own local environment, showing something new and sustainable in the field of business. Geebiz celebrates and showcases those young people who are brave enough to stick their necks out and experiment, try new ideas that meet a definite social need. A successful innovation is also one which delivers financial benefits for the consumer as well as the supplier.

Eco-Innovation

Eco-innovations are embracing new or significantly improved solutions introduced at any stage of the product life-cycle. Their aim is to satisfy human needs and bring a quality of life while reducing the environmental impact, no matter whether or not that effect is intended.

Co-Space

Spud Marshall

Christian Baum

State College, PA, USA

Citizen Energy

Chris Castro and Edwin Luevanos

Orlando, FL, USA

The group of projects which have been selected for this book are all embracing eco-innovation at their heart. Here you will find local start-up entrepreneurs with businesses, business plans and ideas in energy efficiency, green production, green construction, waste management, and green transportation. They are some of the most committed young people leading business in the field of green economy.

You Green

Roger Koeppl

São Paulo, Brazil

Symbiose

Elias Kindle, Michaela Hogenboom

Triesen, Liechtenstein Keynovations

Renergy Technologies

Ravi Theja Muthu

Bangalore, India

Walltop Forest

Thang Phom

Ngoc

Hanoi, Vietnam

Mir&Ryvi

Laiden Mark

Components of an innovators mind

Divergent thinking Creativity

Ilyes El Ouarzadi, Yassir El Ouarzadi, Sameer Khan, Žarko Petrović, Hardeep Singh Dangh

Junjun Laguna, Philippines

Creative Recycling

Alina Blaga, Georgiana Cremene, Dan Dinu Bucarest, Romania

Bevis Bors

Bogdan

Venture

Bernice Dapaah Kumasi, Ghana

Richard Bbaale, Bukibila Village Uganda

Johnson Gituma

Nairobi, Kenya

Marija Tresoglavic

Zadar, Croatia

Iasi, Romania

Sustainable products

BaNa Pads

Uganda

8 million women and girl have their monthly cycle in Uganda. They need at least one pack of 10 sanitary pads, available for about 1 US dollar. Given that 70% of the population lives on less than 3 dollars a day, it’s not difficult to imagine that only a small proportion of girls and women can afford a regular supply of sanitary pads for themselves.

During the menstruation period women and girls often expose themselves to infection by using unhygienic materials. They also often have to stay at home. That means they are off the school for 4-5 days a month. When they get back, they are under great pressure to make up for lost time and this contributes to bad grades and negative reports.

“Those sensitive days” walk hand in hand with stigma and disgrace in Uganda, as society perceives menstruation to be a socially undignified act. As youngsters don’t get any proper sexual education either in school or from the family members, girls often don’t even know what is happening to them.

The BaNaPads Social Entreprise Ltd. is an innovative business manufacturing cost effective sanitary pads made from the processed stems of readily available bananas. They ensure that as many girls as possible have constant access to these pads in the rural Uganda.

“One of the most effective ways to prepare fellow young people to face the future is by teaching them to innovate and to help them become active, life-long learners.”

Who?

Richard (30) recognizing this serious issue, initiated the local production of affordable and environment friendly sanitary pads for young women using stems of the fast growing banana plants in the central regions of Uganda, with the help of two friends Michelle and Susan (25, 27).

How? BanaPads has developed a micro-consignment distribution model which comprises a network of distributors. They are individual young women entrepreneurs who sell the pad-packs for less than half a dollar, and still make a profit on each on them. This is still less than half of the price girls would pay for foreign made sanitary pads. The pads are packaged for a monthly distribution in schools.

banana stems + paper waste = eco-friendly, all natural, cost effective sanitary pads

BaNaPads are made from the processed stems of the fast growing banana. The eco-friendly absorbent material is derived from the plant and paper materials and it is packaged for monthly distribution in the neighboring communities.

What happens

with the used pads?

BaNaPads has the solution: a waste management and reusability system!

The special bins for used pads are made of aluminium and get warm from solar heat enough, to kill any viruses alive inside. When the pads are crushed into small pieces, the physical decomposition starts and are finally reused as natural fertilizers for the land.

www.banapads.org http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCte6nW-S-U

Mir & Ryvi

Philippines

If you thought you could only eat banana, papaya and tomato, think again.Now just imagine these amazing ingredients caressing and enriching your beautiful skin. From the organic farms of Laguna in the Philippines to Jeju Island in South Korea no one knows more about eco-innovation in the beauty care products than Mir&Ryvi; Home of Organics Company. This social enterprise manufactures handmade beauty products in the Philippines. Who? Everybody has a hobby. Some people like to collect stamps and others love modelling, baking, or playing chess. What Laiden (32), Mark (30) and Junjun (28) like to do most is designing soaps. They started off offering their creations to friends and relatives at Christmas time. They had already been teaching arts to indigenous communities together since 2001 and in 2010 they decided to turn their passion into a real business.

“Follow your heart and see how your passion can colaborate with nature!”

Why? Perhaps in some countries making soap might not be considered so innovative but in the Philippines there is the huge challenge of empowering local disadvantaged youth by creating jobs in the countryside with high unemployment. Marginalized youth lack the possibility to pursue their studies. Often as the breadwinners for their poor families they are left with no choice but dropping out of school. Employing these young people and young mothers, Mir&Ryvi provides them with a decent income, continuous training and the opportunity to finish their schooling while they earn their living.

“To marginalized youth ‘sustainability’ means having a decent job and the security of tenure.” - Laiden How? For the first two years they invested their own money, time and passion. They started selling their products in local bazaars. Through norturing a friendly and exclusive relationship with their clients, they were able to improve their products based on the regular feedback. Thanks to their passionate work Mir&Ryvi products are already in the mainstream market and being promoted nationwide through on-line markets and almost 16 on-site stores nationwide.

“You will encounter so many challenges of establishing your own green business along the way – there will be times when no one believes in you, you run out of cash, your employees don’t follow you - prepare yourself. Success can never be sweeter without these challenges. However, it is also important to find a mentor - someone who is knowledgeable, for example in company policy, human resources, taxation and reporting because you do not need to learn from ALL your mistakes - you can learn from the mistakes done by your mentors in the past.”

- Laiden

http://www.mirandryvi.com/

The company provides natural products within the beauty industry which is often full of synthetics and superficial beliefs of instant beauty. They establish longterm relationship with certified local organic farms who serve as the main source of their main raw materials: fruits!

Sustainable transportation

Mir&Ryvi Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative

Ghana

You can always find something that can be used in a creative way, you just have to look around, fire up your creativity and start to realize your ideas. If it’s bamboo that is growing in your neighbourhood, why don’t you start to construct something really useful and innovative out of it?

What? In most African countries, bicycles are still used heavily as a means of transportation. The Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative ventures into this field with great enthusiasm. They produce locally handmade, eco-friendly bikes offering the smoothest ride on the roughest surfaces. These bikes can even be used to transport goods, thanks to the heavy-duty design and strength of the raw material. What’s more, this project creates direct employment opportunities for bamboo bike builders and improves the living standards in the most disadvantaged communities.

Who? The idea came from a group of university students, when they realized that most rural dwellers in Ghana lack the skills and the necessary knowledge to create wealth from the unutilised bamboo that grows abundantly in the wild all around them. Meanwhile, Ghana’s rural population has to transport their products far away from where they produce them. For this, they use imported, low quality bicycles not designed for the rough roads, or intense use they receive. The Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative tackles these two challenges at the same time, directed by Bernice (32) who provides the project with a scientific, responsible background in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

How? Bamboo is the fastest growing plant of our planet. It has been used as food, medicine, and construction material for thousands of years. Bamboo improves air and water quality, its root system reduces soil erosion, and doesn’t take away many nutrients from the ground. The composite nature of bamboo gives it an enviable advantage over metal for absorbing road shocks and vibrations. Unique shockabsorbing quality of the bamboo provides a sturdy, yet comfortable ride for the biker.

This award-winning group is coming up with new ideas all the time: bamboo bike ambulances, “pedicabs”, bamboo bike carts and more – all being developed to meet the expectations of customers. This will produce an indigenous business and provide much improved transportation options.

While carbon, steel or titanium frames all require high levels of energy during their production before being suitable for bicycle manufacture, the organic bamboo is much easier to produce - cheap, sustainable, non-polluting and recyclable!

http://ghanabamboobikes.org/

Sustainable energy

Keynovations

International

5 different nations, 1 team, 1 goal

Inspire, innovate, implement... Keynovations

Have you ever been in a situation where you desperately needed your phone but the battery just went dead? Or have multiple electronic portable devices making you tangled in the web of charging cables? In these moments you would do anything just for a few precious seconds of energy in your cell or tablet.

Charging phones while running, dancing, or even just by walking seemed possible only in our wildest dreams. Now, this ‘keynovative’ team is most likely to make our dreams come true!

What? Keynovations is ready to manufacture and implement the KEYBATT portable and eco-friendly self-charging battery system that can both reduce the electricity usage and enable devices to last longer. KEYBATT is a lithium-sulfur dioxide aluminum uni-bodied battery which will initially be produced for cell phones and then gradually expanded to cameras, portable music players, tablets and other electronic devices. It can harness the sole power of body movements and recharge itself, offering long lasting and unprecedented battery life to cell phones and smart phones.

politics, and education came together. Our protagonists are passionate about entrepreneurship that can tackle the world’s challenges and improve lives. They decided to use all the knowledge and resources available from their respective fields of expertise in order to create something new which will have an impact on a global level. That’s how Keynovations was born. “The members strive to hand in the keys to the society that will open many doors, believing that happiness is a basic measure of personal and social sustainable success, not just a temporary achievement in personal development!”

How? KEYBATT will be manufactured using standard electronic assembly techniques. All materials and components are readily available in many tools and hardware stores, making it cost effective for getting raw materials.

“We are choosing the materials with extreme care, taking into account the product’s lifecycle, from its initial production to the point when the consumer decides to invest in a new product.”

With the growing demand of portable electronics, investment in the KEYBATT in the present will be a great opportunity for the future.

“It can harness the power of body movements and recharge itself”

Who? The creators of this fabulous innovation are five cosmopolitan young men from around the world. Žarko, Ilyes, Yassir, Sameer, and Hardeep met up during several international conferences, where some of the greatest minds and leaders in the business, technology,

KEYBATT is a zero waste product that is efficient and environmentally safe. It is made out of recyclable materials that can be reused in either KEYBATT or other products. The casing of the KEYBATT is made out of single unibody aluminium. This is a cheap recyclable metal that can be reused and collected once the life of the product is over. The magnets and coils of a charging component of the battery can all be reused in future production.

Renergy Technologies

The zero Carbon communities project

India

Ravi (21) is a young entrepreneur whose story leaves you amazed. With a degree in Mechanical Engineering he is the co-founder and executive director of Climate Leaders India Network and the CEO of Renergy Technologies. He is the ideal of what a young entrepreneur should be and is a true champion of energy and climate solutions.

What? One third of India’s rural population lives without electricity. Renergy Technologies is a successful green business focused on providing sustainable, affordable and reliable alternative energy solutions to people in rural areas. The firm is currently working on several projects in solar, wind, biomass, biogas- energy and waste management.

How can rural dwellers afford these green technologies?

The Zero Carbon Communities is taking proven green technologies to the suppliers at an affordable cost by making minor modifications to them. They are working with regional rural banks to provide loans to the customers who are interested in buying solar power packs for domestic applications, and pay for them in monthly instalments.

“The scheme is very well received as it makes renewable energy solutions affordable”

Renergy Technologies involvement in the use of agricultural and municipal waste to generate energy, also addresses the critical issue of waste disposal. The firm is now in the process of launching innovative products like PVC Biogas plants, community solar cooking solutions, depolymerisation systemsconverting plastic wastes into fuel.

“Innovation and creativity in our thinking, the impact which our products have made on the lives of people in Chittoor and the trust we won from our customers through reliable service and support are driving Renergy Technologies, hence making it worthwhile to invest in the business”

Where? The “Zero Carbon Communities” project is delivering green energy technologies to the population in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. The solar powered packs and cooking systems serve as an alternative to the expensive and carbon emitting energy sources like coal, fossil fuels, firewood and kerosene.

Taking sustainable solutions to the people reduces their dependence on fossil fuels and improves their standards of living. Thanks to Ravi and the Renergy Technologies, children can now learn and study at night while women can cook and work in the home after dark.

Ravi believes that now is the age for Green Technologies. “There is a need to build the Green Economy to have a future which is sustainable and provides equal opportunities for all. Green Technologies are the only long term solutions to the problems the world is facing today. “

http://www.facebook.com/renergytech/info

Sustainable energy

Ben & Johnson

Portable biogas digester for: the Generation of Reliable Energy

Kenya

Great minds think alike. This is very true for the Ben & Johnson Inc.; a company run by two young entrepreneurs with a strong passion for innovation. Biogas is one of the most affordable and sustainable forms of energy and Kenya is ideally placed to produce it. B&J saw the potential and decided to to tap into a new green business.

What? The Ben &Johnson Company, operating in the Kenya, is dedicated to make portable biogas digesters for on-going reliable energy. These biogas digesters are made of Butyl rubber liners and recyclable plastics. These materials are UV resistant and have a 20-year lifespan. The kits are portable since they are light in weight thus easy to market and install!

Who? Everything started as a school project and graduated to a sprawling green business. Ben, the CEO of the company is a project management student who has gathered substantial knowledge in his field over the last four years. His partner, Johnson studies Energy Engineering; he is responsible for coming up with innovative ideas and overseeing the engineering aspect of this business.

Why portable digesters?

They cost almost the half price of concrete digesters. Not only that, they are also efficient with high gas production since they are temperature controlled.

Why? It was the energy crisis in Kenya that inspired the young entrepreneurs to look for alternative sources in the underutilized potential of biodegradable waste. Tonnes of biodegradable wastes are generated daily, either through human or animal waste. Fuel produced from biodegradable waste is clean and cheap. By selling Biogas Digesters B&J contributes to the reduction of carbon emission by 1,600 tonnes a year. This simple technology is not only energy saving and eco friendly, but also provides a wide range of improvements in overall sanitary and health conditions.

http://benjohnsoninc.kbo.co.ke/

“Fuel mainly used for cooking in homes and public institutions of Kenya and Eastern Africa is firewood collected from the forests and bushes by women and children as far as 6 km away.”

Eco Fire

Vietnam

Nearly 1 million Hanoi citizens burn coal for their daily cookingsulfur elements burnt become toxic gases which can cause lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses. Despite this, it’s hard to convince people that the cheap toxic coal they are burning brings deathly effects due to its slow and silent killing. Eco Fire wants to change that.

What? Eco Fire is a social enterprise that develops technological solutions to address urgent health and environmental issues in low-income communities in Vietnam. Central to its work is the sale of Eco Carbon as a renewable fuel produced from agricultural waste like rice straw. Eco Carbon offers a safe and economical substitute to the burning of traditional coal, producing 50% fewer toxic emissions.

Who? Two years ago, on a trip to a small village nearby Hanoi capital, Hong Thai (22) met Le Hong Tam (24) who shared a common interest in working with environmental business. They soon realized the critical need of the countryside to have a better solution to the agricultural wastes and toxic energy from coal burning.

How? During the past 2 years, the project came through very different developmental phases. Initially, they only served rural villages where agricultural wastes problems prevail, but now they serve the entire Hanoi central area with a larger population. They also engage students from various universities to help market the products to customers.

Eco Carbon not only costs 20 % less, but burns 20 % longer! In addition to producing greener energy and contributing to improved health, EcoFire tackles the issue of poor management of agricultural waste in rural areas.

“Actually, I want to share with other young entrepreneurs that a social entrepreneurial spirit by is embedded into your heart by nature. Please activate it by pressing a button of passion. Once you deeply understand and sympathize with a specific social problem, from the bottom of your heart, you will find a way to become a success through active learning of business and management skills, and fostering your determination of prioritizing social missions over your personal benefits.”

http://thanoxi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=ar ticle&id=77&Itemid=471

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWAakA47cU&feature=youtu.be

Citizen Energy Corporation

United States

It’s hard to understand the real challenges of growing environmental risks and ecological scarcities while we are sitting in a house provided with electricity, heating and all we need for a comfortable life. All we experience are the bills we pay at the end of the month. But things are changing because the price we pay for energy is getting higher and higher; no wonder that more and more of us are looking for ways to reduce expenses and save money.

So if you want to make your building energy efficient, but don’t know how to start, where better to look than the fresh green minds of the Citizen Energy Group?!

What? Citizen Energy is a consulting firm focused in Orlando, Florida. It has triple-super functions:

• Educating young people and their customers about the energy efficiency life -cycle: the technique to assess the environmental impact of a product’s life from the raw materials through the production process until recycling.

• Lead comprehensive assessments of building’s energy efficiency.

• Partnering with universities, industries, local governments, and community organizations to catalyse student-driven market transformation.

Who? It all started at the University of California, where Chris (24), Edwin (28) and a couple of friends got involved in an energy efficiency training program about transforming buildings in energy-saving mode. Being deeply inspired, they realized that these kinds of training programmes could be replicated in other communities giving inspiration to other young people. So they put their ideas to action and established a new community-driven model: the Citizen Energy.

IDEAS for Biomimicry: Chris Castro at TEDxOrlando

“On my free time, you can find me playing Mexican mariachi music or Spanish flamenco, what a blend! Chris and I are both musically inclined, so our strategy sessions, sometimes turn into jam sessions! It’s actually good for our work because we’re able to relax, exercise some of those other creative parts of the brain and take inspiration from the music.” - Edwin Buildings consume 74% of electricity that is generated in the USA, of which nearly 30% is wasted due to inefficiencies and poor operations. The huge amount of electricity is generated through carbon-rich energy sources; the homes of greenhouse gases.

http://citizen-energy.com/

Walltop Forest

Vietnam

As an innovation in interior design, this business taps into the heart of Vietnamese cosmopolitan lifestyles, injecting the spirit of nature where we thought to be impossible.

What? WallTop Forest is a bionic plant furnishing for the information age, equally at home, in galleries, public spaces and cultural institutions. It integrates plants, design and technology to bring a sprinkle of Flora in the indoor densely populated cities. In Vietnam, as in all fast growing cities, green surfaces disappear and new buildings and smoggy roads replace them. Thanks to this project, a piece of Mother Nature moves into the living and working spaces, bringing a peaceful and healthy ambiance.

Who and How? It is the genius born in the hands of a group of young architects, designers, technologists and environmentalists building a new way of interacting with nature. The sculptural terrariums effortlessly combine modular architecture, basic laws of physics, embedded technologies, and mobile computing. Walltop Forest shapes the greenery in elegant structures wrapped in a field of sensors to help monitor their health. The frame is crafted with cedar wood and copper piping, surrounded by digital sensors and integrated lighting controlled by smartphone applications.

“When the aesthetic meets pragmatic”

“Mankind is increasingly leaving nature behind, migrating to concrete jungles where green space is at a premium. Yet urban dwellers will always long for a connection to the earth...”

WallTop Forest has gone to the basics. The model strives to offset carbon footprint in an artistic and interesting way without making it a cliché. It is professional and contemporary; incorporating sustainability values, WallTop Forest’s mission is to integrate diverse disciplines into a new paradigm that changes the way people live and interact with nature.

www.walltopforest.com

Green Dalmatia

Croatia

The Green Dalmatia Initiative proves that if you look deeper into the well of alternative solutions you will find more affordable, eco-friendly ways to power the everyday activities.

What? Green Dalmatia seeks to convert the waste of olive mills and surrounding forests into briquettes that can be used as a precious source of energy. By turning the pomace into briquettes, they can be used as a renewable source of energy. The briquettes can be burned by a machine attachable to the boiler system, so the cost is cut in half. Since their oil mill is already functioning as a financially stable business, the production of the briquettes not only provides a source of energy for the business but also creates additional income that can be used as salaries for new employees.

Who? Marija (28), Robert (29) and her team near to Zadar, Croatia are passionate about olives and everything that can be made out of it.

“The most amazing thing about olives is the fact they never stop giving. The beauty of their olive fields brings them serenity and peace. They believe in the incredible quality of olive oil, that gives health, nourishes the body, and there’s even more…”

“Don’t waste the waste! It’s such a shame!”

-

Marija

Why? The Mediterranean basin is well known for its olive production. Every year a huge amount of precious oil is squeezed out from the olives and sold both locally and to international markets. Each season an average mill spends around 5000 Euros/6500 Dollar on electricity, so with escalating fuel and energy bills the cost during milling season for powering the machines and the water heating systems gets higher and higher. Meanwhile after the milling season the leftover waste is collected and burnt down before the new season begins.

“People get lazy and a little bit too comfortable once they find themselves in a situation that already functions well, and are unprepared for a change…The main advantage we have is that we have an all-natural product that is right here in plain sight waiting for us to make the best of it.”

Green Dalmatia aims to:

1. Collect the leftover pomace from the oil mills. This would eliminate the waste and owners would no longer have to bother with obligatory waste removal.

2. Clean the forests from debris to prevent fires and use it as an essential supplement of the briquettes

3. Make briquettes out of pomace and forest debris. Biomass briquettes avoid adding fossil carbon to the atmosphere

Pomace

YouGreen Cooperative

Brazil

The world is swimming in waste. The fact that 25% of the world’s waste is not recycled while the world market for waste is worth around US$410 billion a year is shocking. YouGreen is a waste management initiative aiming to build a cooperative system throughout Brazil for waste collection. The goal is to create recycling chains for recyclable materials, engaging the entire society from the production to the final consumer with the participation of government and private sectors.

Who? The project was created by an enthusiastic Brazilian; Roger Koeppl (24) from Sao Paulo who acquired a good knowledge of Reverse Logistics – the most effective flow of materials and unwanted waste, in order to regain its value through getting back to the logistics chain until it’s reuse and recycling.

“I became aware that few people knew how to do the Reverse Logistics. Then I saw an opportunity to finally start up a social business where I could help hundreds of people who are in vulnerable situations.”

How? As one of its first actions, YouGreen started to collect used vegetable oil from neighbouring restaurants, households and companies. This waste produces three different kinds of products; biodiesel, soap and candles. The next project is a waste collection scheme which aims to sort out 37,000 kilograms of waste every month thus creating 15 jobs. YouGreen plans to collect recyclable waste from the customers and take it to sorting centres before being sold to recycling companies.

“Our focus is to act by the cooperative principles, transforming customers in partners, stimulating the creative entrepreneurship in the constant search for sustainable solutions.”

YouGreen is more than a recycling cooperative. It seeks to make a waste revolution for environmental preservation and social inclusion, involving other cooperatives and associations, civil mobilizations, research centres, and educational institutes. It also wants to encourage interaction between organizations, exchanging services and products, providing mutual support as well as creating green jobs.

http://www.yougreen.com.br/en

“I like to be someone who energizes people and gives them good vibrations. And above all, I love peace and movement”

www.facebook.com/yougreen.coop @YouGreen_coop

Creative Recycling

Romania

Who would think that all those things we consider to be useless waste can be turned into beautiful decorations and articles of use?

Why? Alina (28) has always liked the idea of recycling but she wanted to do something creative about it. After studying and volunteering abroad, she joined some highly inspiring workshops with artists and activists from all around Europe. Returning home to Romania, she invested her inspiration, experience and networks and, together with two friends; Georgiana (28) Dan (26) founded the D’Advent Association and started the Reciclare Creativa project addressing a key sustainability issue – how do we manage our waste. From that moment on, the team has grown exponentially with passionate and talented people.

“Creative recycling means people being passionate about transforming objects, materials, little things, parts and pieces into interesting and useful things, or simply to try pure and crazy art… as a manifesto of our own creativity” - reciclarecreativa.ro

Why? Creative recycling actions are relatively isolated in Romania. Freedom of expression and creativity were not among the core values of the communist regimes. Nearly 60 years of dictatorship affected people’s way of thinking about creativity. Being deprived of materials and intellectual resources over such a long period means there is a great deal of suppressed creativity in people’s minds.

“We like to think that we can be superheroes without supernatural powers. And creative recycling gave us the wings to connect people, to bring environmental issues in the forefront with creativity, passion and art. You can also be a superhero...just invest in your green passion!”

Now, creative initiatives are needed also in the new context where people hardly find the time to creative activities after work and tend to consume more without thinking of recycling. The idea of Creative Recycling came to life in order to provide a platform where people can realise their creative activities, in both urban and rural areas. Thanks to the enthusiasm and willingness to experiment of practitioners such as these, there is now an opportunity to inform, communicate, promote and develop common actions in the field of recycling.

How? Based in Bucharest, Creative Recycling is all about communities. In only 1 year, the project has grown from an abstract plan to a community movement. Professionals, architect, designers, artists got involved mainly on volunteer work. Step by step schools, youth centres and festivals with limited budgets called upon them to organize workshops or redesign their spaces in an innovative and creative way by using waste. They are now being contacted by companies or NGOs that are organizing events and invited to share their knowledge through workshops. And next, they plan to go even further with building the first construction from recyclable materials from Romania that will become an open space for art workshops, freely available to the community.

http://reciclarecreativa.ro/en www.facebook.com/ReciclareCreativa.ro

Symbiose

Lichtenstein

This project proves, that no matter how developed a county is, there’s always something to do to make things greener and more sustainable! A greener state of mind can contribute greatly to the development of the green economy.

Symbiose is an initiative of an enthusiastic young couple aiming to create an environmentally and socially more active society in their tiny country; Lichtenstein, where’s still a lot to be done to get people in sustainable activities!

“This project will provoke profound changes in people’s perception of sustainability by making it local, easy and fun!”

Who? Having led their studies in Strategic Leadership, Michaela and Elias (26) decided to turn theory to action. Even though their country has the strongest financial sector and a high quality of life, they experience a low public awareness when it comes to sustainable development. SYMBIOSE brings people together to co-create a resilient and sustainable community which benefits from each other’s knowledge and abilities.

What? SYMBIOSE’s purpose is to empower people to take responsibility for their actions on a daily basis, in their work and free time through community projects. Moreover, they create an environmentally engaged proactive community while serving as a consultant for businesses and municipalities.

How will SYMBIOSE get Liechtenstein minds Green and Active? Communication

Symbiose is fostering dialogue in all segments of society about a sustainable future. This project provides programmes where young people and decision-makers can meet in order to create a general vision of a connected and sustainable society of Lichtenstein.

A Sustainability Map

There are numerous sustainability projects and sustainable practices already in Liechtenstein but they are not connected! By making them visible on an interactive online platform all these projects can now recognize each other and start cooperating easily! This platform is called: the Sustainability Map.

Crowd-funded implementation of projects

A set of concrete actions of independent projects embracing creative solutions will be developed through brainstorming. Through the crowd-funding platform anybody can get involved in the different projects. Symbiose will provide mentorship and know-how to empower young initiative-takers to carry out their projects and ideas. In this way, the vision of a connected and sustainable society of Lichtenstein can become reality within the close future.

www.symbiose.li

Co-space

A deeper sense of home

United States

“What

Move in for a year and move out as the green entrepreneur of the future!

The world will only be able to survive the economic and environmental crises if economies can shift to sustainable methods in their business practices. For that, businesses and entrepreneurs have to come up with sustainable plans. And as we know, without inspiration there is no creation and no innovation. This project provides an incubator for all those future entrepreneurs who will be the pioneers of the Green Economy.

can be more inspiring than living with change makers?”

What? The co.space is an original initiative that aims to help nurture and enable future world-changers to grow by creating and connecting environments for innovation and creativity. Co.space’s interest is to support a global social innovation movement by creating affordable, collaborative co-living spaces for students and young professionals. By linking international networks of change-makers, co.space homes will be launched around the world and linked together by providing video communication in each home so that participants can be in seamless communication with one another. Students are given opportunities to apply sustainability innovation and social entrepreneurship in local community projects and global internships.

“By fostering nurturing environments where worldchanging ideas are encouraged, Co.space will help facilitate the exchange of ideas around the world and develop a deeper sense of purpose for the residents of the home.”

Who? Based in State College, Pennsylvania Spud (25) and Christian (25) are childhood friends and founders of the co.space. Their journeys have taken them around the world form Jamaica to Sweden, giving them a wide range of experiences in different companies. After working independently for a couple years, the two friends joined forces in 2010 and began implementing the early stages of the co.space. Ever since, it has been one exciting ride!

Co.space seeks residents who are active in the sustainability and green entrepreneurship movement and works to accelerate their personal careers and ventures. The homes themselves are designed to be examples of green architecture. From solar panels to greenhouses attached to the kitchens, the co.space homes will demonstrate what living in a sustainable world might look like.

Attention! Co.space is looking for students, community member, business leader or local politicians to serve as local champions in cities around the world who are willing to step up and lead a team to bring the co.space to their community!

“You have nothing to lose! At no other point in your life will you have as much freedom as you do now to risk all for that single passion or idea that has always been nudging at you from within. Take a chance and follow your dreams - the first step is always the hardest!”

http://thecospace.com facebook.com/thecospace

Sustainable idea

Romania

Bevis

Nowadays we take it for granted that plastic bottles are a problem we have to live with if we want to buy our favorite beverages. Never mind that there are 17,000 pieces of plastic floating in the oceans, because drinks are a daily necessity. Nature has to pay the price just because we are thirsty, even if it’s not necessary have to be like that!

Who? Bogdan (19) from Romania has ambitious plans to reduce radically the plastic and waste production in his country and all over the world.

What? His pretentious plan called BEVIS has a comprehensive plan for making reusable polycarbonate and aluminium bottles for everyday use rather than manufacturing plastic bottles. The project aims to create strong partnerships with beverage companies who instead of using plastic bottles will use ‘BEVIS fountains’ to provide their most popular beverages!

The fountains will be beverage tanks placed in public places, available to anybody, any time. Why would we want to buy bottles all the time when we could have our own personalized hypertrendy, reusable ones: the Bevis bottles!

BEVIS can...

• Significantly reduce the use of plastic bottles by an environmentally friendly quality substitute.

• Promote an environmentally aware lifestyle without having to be deprived of our favorite beverages.

• Create jobs by employing people from disadvantaged groups, especially youth.

• BEVIS bottles will be personalized and a cool accessory, a way of expressing yourself and showing where your interests lie.

ILLUSTRATION

Why? 100 million plastic bottles are used worldwide each day; their production consumes 9 million liters of fuel. More than 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the cost of the bottle itself. Beverage companies invest significant amounts of money in bottling and transportation. Using BEVIS they could cut these costs dramatically and beverages could also become cheaper for the customers!

‘Once, a friend of mine asked me what I want from life. I simply said: “Everything”. My dreams haven’t changed much up to this date: I want to meet great people and change normal people into extraordinary individuals; I want to change the world, influence the way education and business work these days.’

A step-by-step guide to become a Green Entrepreneur

If, like so many of us, you find yourself unemployed upon graduation, don’t get down-hearted: think about how you can claim a stake in the $20 trillion dollar Green Economy which will develop in the next decade. Here are some simple steps to get you started:

1 Take a walk around your neighbourhood. See what the major problems are. Think about sustainable, green solutions to them. Talk with neighbours and other business people about what their thoughts / ideas about solutions. Learn!

3 Develop a Business idea: Brainstorm with friends; follow up hunches and intuition –hurt your brain, thinking of things that you can do; go out, get drunk, relax, turn off your mind and let ideas flow into it…. Whatever you do, it has to start with a BRILLIANT idea. Something that makes you cry ‘EUREKA!’ and want to go hug someone…. And, of course, it has to be GREEN!!

2 Learn everything you can about the Green Economy. Check out the websites and pack your brain to over-flowing with information about the challenge!

5 Develop a Business Plan.

There are masses of online sites to help you! Just take care to prepare every aspect of the Business Plan. Take a special attention to explain why your idea is so eco-friendly and green!

7 Get a loan and get started!

6 Get a mentor or better yet, two mentors. Business people or teachers who will support you through the dark times which inevitably happen.

4 Calculate, very carefully, if your business idea is viable. Is there a gap in the market which your idea will fill? Is there any competition? (Today, you can probably find out on Google!) Why is your idea better than that of the competition? If there is no competition, why not? Are there people out there who can pay for your green business idea?

This is often the hardest bit – but, with persistence, you should be able to succeed. Try to find a programme that offers a non-collateralised loan. Though it is tempting, don’t get a rich uncle to gift you funds: you may get started but, when you go to a bank later to get a loan to expand your business, you’ll not have any credit history to demonstrate your trust-worthiness as an entrepreneur.

Good Luck and remember the Golden Rule: NEVER, EVER GIVE UP!!

Useful links

PCI’s compilation website of educational materials about sustainability - http://rioplus20education.info

America’s best guru about sustainable business and ‘getting gold from green’ - http://www.andrewwinston.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT-g__695Go&list=FLtMVIFDBDTHbJK8A0HPdNqA - RMI Video – great!

Rocky Mountain Institute; one of America’s finest think tanks on green solutions - http://www.rmi.org

The Post Carbon Institute; leading the transition to a sustainable world - http://www.postcarbon.org

Masses of educational material about the circular economy - www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

Business Plan - http://www.iplanner.net/business-financial/online/start.aspx

Loan - www.kiva.org

Raise Crowd who likes and supports your idea! - http://www.kickstarter.com/

Future

The dissemination of green innovations and technologies can be even more difficult and complex than coming up with a new idea or solution. Therefore Geebiz aims to launch an international jamboree of green initiatives where creativity, innovation and experience can come together to encourage and promote the tangible steps towards a low carbon economy!

Targeting young creatives and entrepreneurs with green projects and businesses the Geebiz Festival will offer workshops, round tables and lectures. And what will make it a real Festival? The ambiance will be spiced up with film contests, concerts, performances, and cultural programs from all over the word to make the ambiance even more inspiring!

What is Peace Child International ?

“Empowering Young People.”

The Geebiz Festival will:

• Raise awareness of the business opportunities in green economy.

• Be a showcase for the most successful green enterprises started and managed by youth.

• Host experts, practitioners and academic researchers.

• Broadcast the latest research and data on green growth.

• Promote practical steps and examples for youth to follow on how to achieve the necessary transition to green growth and prosperity.

• Serve as a hub of effective sales, marketing, distribution, and aftersales service strategies

• Enable the rest of the world to discover what an incredibly exciting prospect living in a green, sustainable future is.

The first Geebiz Festival will take place in November of 2013, and will be organized each year on, in different parts of the word. For more info follow Peace Child International and Geebiz at: www.peacechild.org, www.geebiz.biz, Facebook, Twitter

Peace Child started in 1981 with a performance of the musical play, Peace Child, in London’s Royal Albert Hall. The play went on to become a useful instrument in the citizen diplomacy effort to end the Cold War, bringing the first Soviet youth and rock stars to the USA on a cultural exchange in 1986. With the Cold War over – PCI moved to tackle the War that humanity was waging against the environment. Following the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, PCI mobilised youth around the world to develop an education campaign to learn about sustainable lifestyle. PCI produced some 30 books and lesson plans on the subject – each one written and edited, illustrated and designed by young people. In 1999, PCI launched the World Youth Congress series – to explore the most useful roles that young people can play in the sustainable elimination of poverty. The first Congress was held in Hawaii; the 6th was held in Rio de Janeiro, ahead of the UN’s Rio+20 Earth Summit proposing ambitious solutions to the impasse of sustainability. It was the Rio Congress that proposed that youth green job and enterprise creation become PCI’s priority for the next decade. Expanding PCI’s network of Be the Change Academies is a big part of that priority but also promoting peace, greater regional collaboration through visa-free travel using the Peace Child Passport is another priority. We are committed to ending the global apartheid which allows youth from the industrialised north to travel where-ever they wish, while youth in the South find it increasingly impossible to travel anywhere. In 2013, PCI will revive the Peace Child play, based on the recently released Peace Child novel. Older staff are there to offer guidance as needed, but everything about PCI is youth-run and co-managed. The Peace Child family is always expanding. Become an affiliate – get on our mailing list.

“In Papua New Guinea, a Missionary discovered that, when warring tribes of head-hunters made peace, they exchanged a baby. The children grew up with each other’s tribes and if, in future, conflict threatened, the elders sent the children out to negotiate peace between them. Such a child was called, a ‘Peace Child.’”

Write to: outreach@peacechild.org

Geebiz festival the celebration of a creative youth for green innovation

...Be the Change Academy Network by

Katrina

Former Peace Child volunteers had the idea of starting an informal business school for the most disadvantaged young people. As most of them were either working in India or coming from there, they were drawing on Gandhi’s famous call to self-reliance: “Be the Change you want to see in the world!”

After several years of planning, the BTCA idea was been set into action in Kisumu/Kenya. How does it work?

Rhoda, in her late twenties (in Kenya people are considered youth up to the age of 35), married with four children, all boys. She told her story, wanting to change something in her life, being able to send all her boys to secondary school when the time comes. She was accepted, an only 10 walking minutes from her home, in a community centre, she has been trained over 10 weeks. Twice a week her training group met and discussed the different topic, such as market research, customer care, book keeping, and environmental sustainability. After she finished the trainings, she got a certificate to proof to others, what she has achieved. The next step was for her to write a business plan about her idea.

Rhoda had had some vocational training before, so she was good at tailoring and dress making, and that is what she wanted to do. But she needed a new sewing machine, and a little shop, as working from home was not possible for her. With the help of the volunteers, she wrote her business plan, and presented it to a selection panel of 9 people. This panel asked her questions about her idea, why she should get a loan to start her business, and why she thinks she will be able to pay it back.

Rhoda was able to convince the board that she can do it, and she received a loan from the BTCA’s revolving loan fund. This means, the money Rhoda paid back would then help the next young person to start up. Rhoda received £150 as a non-collateralized loan, which does not sound much, but made a huge difference in her life. She never had so much money in her hands at one time. She was able to buy a sewing machine, and pay rent to a little shop at the side of the road. Moreover, she bought some materials and fabrics to create samples, so people could see the quality of her work.

After she received the loan, she and the other loanees met on a weekly basis, as part of the differential mentorship approach. During these meetings they discussed the challenges they were facing, and how to overcome them. Staff also visited her in her shop to have a look how she is doing.

Now, a year later, Rhoda has repaid the full loan, and says her life has changed a lot. Her marriage got better, because she now also earns and does not feel so dependant anymore.

This is where the cycle starts from the beginning, with someone new walking into the door of a BTCA. After the successful pilot in Kenya, the BTCA project now is in the scale up phase to start in different countries all over the world, as an environmental sustainable solution to tackle youth unemployment globally.

If you were to stand on the hillside of History on January 1st 3000 –and trace the winding path of human civilisation across the last three thousand years, you’d notice that, for the first 18 centuries, development moved slowly, in harmony with nature.

From 1800 to 2100 – development rockets triumphantly forward with population, consumption, industrialisation and economic activity increasing geometrically driven by coal, oil and gas – treasure created by planet earth over millions of years and recklessly consumed by us in just 3 centuries. As fossil fuels run out after 2100, we shall, if we are lucky, return to less rampant growth and green, sustainable lifestyles based on renewable resources; a Green Economy.

We are the generation who must build it. And this little booklet will show you how some of us around the world are already trying.