E-idea regional workshop kicks-off in Indonesia
04/10/2011
LRQA along with the British Council is organising a regional E-idea workshop in Indonesia to bring together over 40 E-idealists to showcas their sustainable initiatives.
The E-idea regional workshop in Indonesia kicked – off with a cultural night which brought over 40 contestants under one roof at the picturesque and serene countryside resort Rumah Jambuwuluk. This joint initiative by LRQA and the British Council links 7 Asia Pacific countries – China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia. The competition will provide seed funding as well as mentoring and international training opportunities for selected sustainability projects aiming at addressing some of the most pressing needs of our society.
The briefing session and welcome dinner followed by a cultural night on October 2nd provided a unique opportunity to these E-idealists to experience the cultural diversity and share their sustainable solutions with the fellow winners.
October 3rd marked the beginning of the 3 day workshops planned to hone the entrepreneurial skills of these E-idealists and share with them the approaches to addressing climate change and environmental problems in the Asian region.
A press conference attracting journalists form leading publications in Indonesia was organised in the first half where LRQA’s Project Director for E-idea, Simon Batters and British Council’s Regional E-idea Project Manager, Huw Oliphant shared with the media the philosophy behind the E-idea competition and how these sustainable projects are devised to address some of the biggest environmental challenges facing communities in the Asia Pacific region.
“The E-idea has grown over the years to see over 40 E-idealists with all these innovative ideas at this regional workshop. It feels great to be able to create a platform for creativity. There are a number of levels we are working on to support these E-idealists. We intend to help these E-idealists with our expert advice on the environmental issues, providing them marketing and communications skills and also access to our client base”, Simon said.
Expert speakers like Dr. Amanda Katili (Indonesian National Council on Climate Change) and Dr. Mubarik Ahmad (Environment & Natural Resource and Financial Economist) discussed the impacts of climate change and the importance of low carbon economies. Post lunch, Cliff Southcombe (Social Enterprise Europe) conducted sessions on Social Entrepreneurship educating the participants on engaging with stakeholders and adding Social Enterprise Elements to the Business Canvass Model. Over the next three days, the winning teams from these 7 countries will present their ideas to the fellow winners.
British Council’s Huw Oilphant shared his thoughts on the need of mitigating the ecological damage caused by resource extraction over the years. “We live in a world of limited resources and we have to live in a more sustainable ways and E-idea supports young eco entrepreneurs to implement their projects by providing them seed funding, training opportunities and also networking with other like minded individuals from other countries.”
This regional event in Indonesia is a culmination of the various E-idea events staged in each of these 7 countries over the past two months. LRQA along with the British Council is also organising a Public event on October 5th to showcase the E-idea winners and E-idea initiative, and also to look at opportunities and challenges for social enterprises in the green economy.