CHANGEM AKERS LAB LESVOS COWORKING HUB
CHANGEM AKERS LAB OUR VISION IS TO APPROACH THE REFUGEE CRISIS FROM THE PRINCIPLES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION. OUR CORE AMBITION IS TO CREATE A SOLUTION SPACE AT THE MYTILINI HARBOUR, A SPACE THAT WILL BRING TOGETHER REFUGEE COMMUNITIES, INSTITUTIONS, NETWORKS OF ENTREPRENEURS AND INVESTORS TO DEVELOP EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO ISSUES FACED BY REFUGEES. M ISSION Build a collaborative platform aimed at resolving the humanitarian challenges through entrepreneurship. Provide refugees with necessary tools to start their own business on Lesvos or enable them to join a startup or international business operating on Lesvos. Foster job creation and employment for refugees and local population on Lesvos. Boost economic activity, attract talent and investment into Lesvos Become catalyst for similar initiatives in Europe and build a network of coworking spaces supporting the refugees.
PROJECT OVERVIEW "We are undisputed leaders of technological change. But with our abundance of talent and resources, we also have an opportunity to be the pioneers of social change and ultimately, this might be our greatest contibution." COW ORKING HUB FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION The hub will be an entrepreneurial coworking space focused on creating new solutions and jobs. Learning, incubation and acceleration programmes will be a crucial part of what happens in the hub. The focus will be on the tech and creative community. The hub will invite locals and refugees to come together and assist in integration. Our ambition is to let the hub develop into a major leading tech and creative hub in the Mediterranean area. Part ners/ St akehol ders Our first objective is to build the capacity among the local staff to run the hub on a daily basis. OPEN will provide the systems and procedures for them to run the hub in a transparent and efficient way. To govern the activities of the hub, a committee will be formed with representatives from: UNHCR, the Mayor of Lesvos, Visions2Ventures, OPEN Collaborative Workspaces, NGO's. We have specifically engaged with SAP and indirectly with Salesforce who have shown commitment in supporting our initiative.. At the World Humanitarian Summit we also connected with leading stakeholders that showed interest in supporting this initiative. These include: Microsoft, UNHCR Innovation Team, PwC, Techfugees and others.other potential partners that showed interest: EmpowerHack, Beyond CSRNet, ERCI, Impact Hub Athens, Eurobank, Ashoka,Incubators for Refugees, University of the Aegean. In addition, we also have stakeholders from Greece, the Netherlands and South Africa that are committed to supporting our initiative we have attached some of theproposals which we have received below for your interest
DEM O DAY The program will culminate with a showcase where teams of entrepreneurs will receive feedback from the key players in the ecosystem. This will provide another opportunity for entrepreneurs and coworkers to share their vision and perspectives discuss existing challenges and yield meaningful insights on advancing the enterprises and the environment on our platform. TO CONNECT THE DOTS TO SHARE Celebrating solutions that have been adopted and shared with other regions at final event Operators of respective programs to share outcomes / impact achieved and entrepreneurs to pitch their solutions TO BRING AWARENESS TO NETWORK International journalists from all over Europe and beyond to be invited to attend event Impact investors & corporates to be invited to attend event
Act ivit ies/ areas of l ong t erm int erest which we would like to launch early and which we believe could be key catalysts for economic development on the island: testing and implementing solutions for humanitarian challenges tech skills development (for both locals and refugees) business skills development support for local social impactful enterprises encourage impact tourism Next st eps to deliver the implementation of the Changemakers program To put up a website and start a crowdfunding campaign To firm up with all programme partners to support and activate the hub, and ensure inclusivity among all the stakeholders with the emphasis on the needs of refugees to create and implement an activation plan for the first year of operation Logistics managing and the staff for the hub Start of the first programmes, linking solutions, locals, NGO?s and refugees Areas of needed support Secure a location for the coworking space, including necessary amenities (e.g. strong internet connection (WiFi) and equipment) Inform / identify existing NGO?s / local stakeholders that would like to participate Assist in fundraising to cover the operational costs & expenses Collaborate on the preparation of the Demo event and handling logistics (invitation of speakers, travel arrangements, venue management, equipment etc.)