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Archive of entries posted on August 2010
Posted by Jeffrey on 30 August 2010, 2:29 pm
It is almost time for the 1%EVENT, which brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers. They invest one day of their time, expertise, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches towards International Co-Operation 2.0. At the event there will be some interesting guests who want to tell you their story. But in the upcoming weeks towards the 1%EVENT we are going to tell you theirs in regular blog posts.
This week we give the floor to Stef Kranendijk, who practices the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) philosophy at DESSO, a carpet manufactury where he is CEO and co-owner. We think there is a lot we can learn from him, that is why we invited him to the 1%EVENT.
The Cradle to Cradle concept is a new view on sustainability and was introduced by William McDonaugh and Michael Braungart in their book: Cradle-to-Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. The core of the Cradle to Cradle principle lies in the concept: waste is food. All materials used in a specific product should be re-used in another product. There should be no loss of quality and all rest products have to be re-used or be environmental neutral. Then this circular course is complete… and waste is food.
Sustainable development is the development in which the present-day generation produces, without limiting the possibilities for the next generations. The Cradle to Cradle principle goes beyond that and also wants to come up with more possibilities for future generations. With the motto: try to be good instead of less bad!
Source: MBDC
Do you want to see, meet and speak to Stef Kranendijk about Cradle to Cradle and how this is practised at DESSO then do not hesitate, go to the 1%EVENT website and get those tickets!
Amsterdam, 25-08-2010
Dear development sector,
John Lennon sang a song 39 years ago that’s called ‘Power to the People’:
“Say we want a revolution
We better get on right away
Well you get on your feet
And out on the street”
I never really listened to the lyrics of this song, but thinking about you, the 1%CLUB and my work here, this song popped into my head referring to my vision of development. I think that development can be achieved when you act as a supporter for people in development countries. I’m so excited when I read the international project proposals of people from communities in development countries. Working here helped me realize that it’s possible to contribute to poverty alleviation not only by giving money but also by investing knowledge or expertise. It is the wisdom of the crowd that can make a big difference. And everyone can be a part of it. Let’s make it work together!
Unfortunately, working with you is not always possible for everyone, as ViceVersa headlined on August, 4th: “The development sector has a lack of job opportunities for young talent!”. I probably did something wrong, but somehow I was one of the lucky few that managed to get a (voluntary) job without any experience except my finished thesis on private initiatives, so thanks! But, instead of participating in this the ongoing discussion about you, let’s discuss my own experience. After all, that’s the one I can talk about.
What did I do?
I started at the 1%CLUB in May 2010 after finishing my thesis. After having read lots of books about development, I now found myself on the other side of the table. Development cooperation in action! Unlike others that are dreaming of a career in development cooperation to ‘save the world’ since they were three years old, I was always a little skeptical about charity. So, I decided to take courses in this area to see who you were and what was true about my skeptical attitude. And here I find myself, two years later, done with my first job. Time travels fast.
As a Project Assistant, my core task was to support the project managers in their job. I reviewed several projects and provided them with feedback. Next to that, I did a research on the quality of the 1%PROJECTS. I set up a survey for all the finished projects, so that the 1%CLUB can see where improvements are necessary. I also welcomed many new members on the website. All of these tasks helped me to create a proper view of you and the 1%CLUB, and I gained insight in the activities in and around development cooperation.
What’s left of the skepticism?
It’s certainly very easy to create your own skeptical vision while studying development, but it differs a lot from working with you. It’s never as easy as you can put down on a paper; the so-called implementation gap. But, instead of being skeptical, I learned to challenge this gap. We learned from our mistakes and dare to take it to the next level. The skepticism is definitely not gone, but I learned to turn it into something positive together with you.
I won’t make a list with hints that will help others to work with you, because I don’t think that my experience is applicable in every situation, but with the help of three keywords: proactive, creative and enthusiasm, I managed to get where I am now with you. You’re hard to get, but you’re quite a catch. Thanks for the time that we spent together, I hope we will meet again someday, but now it’s time to do something else.
Kind Regards,
Marij Swinkels
Posted by Jeffrey on 24 August 2010, 1:21 pm
It is almost time for the 1%EVENT, which brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers. They invest one day of their time, expertise, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches towards International Co-Operation 2.0. At the event there will be some interesting guests who want to tell you their story. But in the upcoming weeks towards the 1%EVENT we are going to tell you theirs in regular blog posts.
We would like to introduce you to Pim Betist, a social entrepreneur and one of the most innovative people in the Netherlands.
Pim is the Founder of Africa Unsigned and also created the online label SellaBand, attracting music fans to invest in their favourite artist by helping them to raise the funds for a new music project (a new album, tour or the promotion of their music). More than 3 million dollars were invested and around 50 artists ‘crowdfunded’ $50,000 to record and release their album. He was nominated Dutch Direct Marketing Man of the Year in 2008 and in the same year won the title of Best Speaker at MIA, Holland’s largest marketing conference. In January 2010, Management Team, the largest Business Magazine in the Netherlands, listed him as one of the top 25 creative business people.
We are really amazed that one guy can achieve all of this in such a short amount of time. It is not a secret that we are very happy that he is coming to the 1%EVENT! Do you also want to go to the event? Get your tickets now!
Posted by Jeffrey on 24 August 2010, 12:46 pm
It is almost time for the 1%EVENT, which brings together innovators, young professionals, entrepreneurs and change-makers. They invest one day of their time, expertise, talent, network and energy to work on new innovative approaches towards International Co-Operation 2.0. At the event there will be some interesting guests who want to tell you their story. But in the upcoming weeks towards the 1%EVENT we are going to tell you theirs in regular blog posts.
In the first edition we’re starting with a BANG, introducing: Herman Wijffels and Ruud Lubbers, both members of the Worldconnectors!
Herman Wijffels
Herman Wijffels was born in 1942 in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, a Dutch province. He grew up as a farmers’ son, so already at an early age he learned about hard work (as he illustrates in this interview with Paul Rosenmoller – in Dutch). During his career he held various important functions, for instance Chairman of the Board of Rabobank Netherlands, where he worked for 18 years, and Chairman of the Social-Economic Council (SER). He was the former Dutch Representative at the World Bank and Chairman of Natuurmonumenten. He never had any ambitions to go into Dutch politics, so people often refer to him as the best Prime Minister the Netherlands ever had.
At this moment he is Co-Chairman at the Worldconnectors trying to achieve the goals he’s citing in this video.
Ruud Lubbers
Ruud Lubbers is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal party (CDA), who served as Prime Minister from November 1982 until August 1994, which makes him the longest serving Prime Minister in Dutch history. In January 1995, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State. From 2001 to February 2005, Ruud Lubbers served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He is the founding father of the Earth Charter and Worldconnectors initiatives. To get an impression of him, watch the video of last year’s 1%CLUB 24-hour action.
Because of their impressive backgrounds, we are greatly honored that these two Worldconnectors are coming to the 1%EVENT. We can’t wait to hear what they have to share and if I were you I wouldn’t miss it for the world! Get your tickets for the 1%EVENT now!
Check http://www.parlement.com/ for more background information.
I am Ethiopian. I was born and grew up in Ethiopia. I moved to the Netherlands recently; and now I am working at the 1%CLUB. I have had a number of opportunities to visit countries in the western world. It seems unthinkable for me to introduce myself to people I meet without mentioning my homeland ‘Ethiopia’ proudly. Oh, yeah! We Ethiopians are known for being proud; the fact that we are the only African nation who has never been colonized makes us to be proud together with many supporting reasons which most people in the world are not even aware of. But where ever I go, once people know where I am from I always get questions like ‘Do you guys have enough to eat? Once when I was in a friend’s house for dinner her six-year-old boy was asking me if I ever eat such food items in Ethiopia pointing his finger to each and everything on the table. After all, who will blame this innocent child? Isn’t it the stereotyped image Ethiopia has in the world?
“A stereotype is something preconceived or oversimplified that is constantly repeated without change. Stereotypes involve icons, which are figures that represent events or issues. Icons have a sacred history but the attention they attract as objects of our gaze can produce a range of affects depending on time and place. The photographic deployment of particular icons (children) via an established aesthetic to represent famine is a clear example of stereotypes at work.” (from Imaging Famine Blog)
It has been difficult for me as an Ethiopian to give a proper picture of the reality on the ground as many people have a thick background reinforced with terrible images of war, famine and overall poverty for Ethiopia ever since the high profile Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s. Many who even born after 1984 do still associate Ethiopia with the 1984 famine, not even with the less adverse ones we have had after they came into this world. I am not here to deny the fact that we are the 2nd (the latest) or the 3rd poorest nation in the world. In fact, it is a plain truth that more than 50% of the population live below the poverty line and many Ethiopians are starving due to crop failures from drought as well as due to corruption, human rights violations, mismanagement, and the lack of good governance, severe structural weakness, poor economic performance, and many more reasons.
It is not fair to blame neither the audiences nor the fundraisers which uses the media especially in need of immediate action. The point is as a result of the imprinted lasting stereotypes in the western society, so much is at stake for Ethiopia to introduce its endowment of abundant and diversified natural resources. Ethiopia has several agro-ecological zones and sub-zones each with their own physical and biological potential, raw materials and mineral reserves, a relative cheaper and abundant human capital and many other factors that can make the country to create investments opportunities in a wide range of areas. For example, Ethiopia is often ironically referred to as the “water tower” of Eastern Africa because of the many (14 majors) rivers that pour off the high tableland. But due to few irrigation or other systems to manage water supply in place, the country’s economy is mainly dependent on low productivity rainfed agriculture. Therefore, the focus should be more on securing food in a sustainable way through the potential resources in the country than requesting an ‘urgent call to action’ to help millions of people at risk of acute hunger.
Development organizations need to consider the long term bad effects of stereotyped images. Those images hide people not to see the possibilities which they can contribute through their knowledge and skills. The 1%CLUB Platform encourages positive images in its project pages for avoiding such threats. This could be an inspiration for other similar organizations.
References:
1. Blogspot.com
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