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It’s almost time for the 1%EVENT! This event brings people from all over the world together for one day in which they share their time and expertise. At the event there will be some world famous social entrepreneurs that want to tell you their story.
This blog is about Tiina Urm; Tiina is a coremember of the international team from the Let’s Do It! team. We are very happy – and proud – that Tiina is coming to Amsterdam for the 1%EVENT. And this is her story..
“I studied and worked in PR for some years, but after a while I started to feel more and more unhappy and empty. So I quit my job and went on a long journey which took me to Australia and South-East Asia. I was 1.5 years away from home, friends and everything that had surrounded me till then. And then in 2007, I returned home.”
“At the end of my journey I remember sitting on top of a hill on PhiPhi island, watching the sunset. And just being filled with all the beauty around me. I just felt so grateful for being able to experience and see all those places and those people I had met during my journey. And I understood that I want to be part of this world in the best way I can be.”
At this point, Tiina was invited by a friend to attend a meeting that would change her life and the future of Estland. It was about the growing problem of massive illegal dumping and the lack of responsibility for cleaning it all up. Four friends had sat together some days before and one simple idea had emerged – to clean up all the garbage together in only one day. This crazy concept started to spread from friend to friend, just in a matter of days. She was attending one of the first meetings and was instantly attracted.
“What really appealed to me was the fact that this wasn’t just about taking care of the garbage, but going into the heart of the problem – by raising the issue in public and engaging as many people as possible, into direct action, a shift of awareness in the society could be achieved.” And all in ONE DAY.
I asked Tiina what the reason was to act: “This issue had been placed into the hands of the government, but we realized it shouldn’t be, it couldn’t be. A country is a home for all the people living there. Unless they all started to care about it, nothing would change.”
So they took matters in their own hand and acted. The project was a huge success! Over 50.000 Estonians helped in cleaning up the whole country in that single day. But what were the key ingredients to achieve this kind of result, I asked Tiina: “First key was definitely that we boldly and blankly pointed out the problem which people had become custom to overlook. We organized events all over the country to get people involved actively, mapping the garbage in the local area. To make it personal. To make it real. Not just reading it from the newspaper.”“Second key was that we proposed a simple solution, where everyone could personally participate. One day to clean it all up.”
Is Tiina expecting the project to become the greatest campaign in Estonian history?: “It became bigger and more powerful than we dared to dream at the beginning. In the sense of the amount of people this action attracted in Estonia and later in the other countries, but also in the sense of the co-operation achieved in the country. All the organizations from public, private and NGO sector, as well as individual people working together, rivals, different generations, etc… all working together.”
Not only was this project a success but it was also a great learning experience for everyone involved in the project. I asked her what hers was: “I’ve gained enormously. Firstly I was amazed and stunned by how beautiful people are. How much compassion and power lies in each of us. It seems to be sleeping during our ‘normal’ days. But it’s all there, all the time. And we can do amazing things with all this.”
Getting curious about Let’s Do It? Check out this video:
The session was really inspiring, and we can’t wait to meet Tiina at the 1%EVENT. Do you also want to meet Tiina, visit the website and order your tickets now!
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.
Today we want to tell you about one of our favourite politicians in Dutch parliament. We have been following him for a while and we are so happy that he is coming to the 1%EVENT!
Arjan El Fassed is a member of parliament for the GroenLinks party. He worked for Oxfam Novib and has over ten years of international experience in the field of human rights. He was interim head of Oxfam International humanitarian campaigns. Previously, he worked for various human rights organisations in Palestine. About that period, and about his Palestinian family, he wrote the book ’Not everyone can throw stones’ (Niet iedereen kan stenen gooien). He is involved in several successful Internet initiatives, he was in the Twitter’s suggested userlist and is by far the most popular tweep (@Arjanelfassed) in the Netherlands with almost 300.000 followers. He is the only Dutchman in the global top 1000 tweeps.
We’re excited to see him at the 1%EVENT! Wanna learn how you can get 300k Twitter followers? Come to the 1%EVENT and ask him yourself!
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!
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!
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 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 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!
I asked Tiina what the reason was to act: “This issue had been placed into the hands of the government, but we realized it shouldn’t be, it couldn’t be. A country is a home for all the people living there. Unless they all started to care about it, nothing would change.”
