Founding partners
Founding partners
CIRCULAR ECONOMY CHALLENGE
IDEAS TO CHANGE THE WORLD
An initiative by the VUB Chair of Social Entrepreneurship and its founding partners, BNP Paribas Fortis, Close the Gap and Euroclear, in cooperation with the VBO-FEB VUB-ULB Chair of Circular Economy.
Circular Economy Challenge - Results 2020
In the voting period (4-10 May 2020), we are delighted to announce that 2653 people from 61 countries visited the contest page, of which 1567 cast out their vote. Three of the participating projects got the highest vote: Sustainalyze with 171 votes, Paperless with 234 votes, and Altepetl with 348 votes. Congratulations!
Meet all the participants of the CEC 2020
Altepetl
Low-cost wireless internet service and knowledge platform for
Ilamatlan, Mexico
By Lorena Perez
Altepetl means community in Nahuatl, the indigenous language of the village. Imprinted in its name, the aim of this project is to provide low-cost, quality wireless internet service and customised online content to inhabitants of Ilamatlán for community-building.
Through this ICT implementation and practices this project will provide a means to inhabitants of Ilamatlan to take control of their present, strengthen their community, and discover a future with opportunities for everyone.
Altepetl will bring technological infrastructure and know-how to the village. Through an education programme, users will be enabled to create customised content for local consumption. Moreover, the users will be responsible for the administration of user access points and use the technological platform for the fair trade of organically grown regional products, local handcrafts, and to share best practices on sustainable agriculture. The platform will also provide the possibility to be used for transport sharing within the community.
Circul-ECO
This is an environmentally responsible and social conscious APP
By Sami Bayran, Baris Bektas and Norhan Kelany
Apart from other apps, this APP is Society Inclusive, Socially Responsible and Recognition Awarding . It motivates millennials to circulate within the city in a more enjoyable and satisfying way with reasonable choices.
Paperless Business Models
Digitalization strategies and efficiency use of paper in administrative processes.
Paperless Business Models (PBM) aim to be a consultancy that helps and provides solutions to SME's in order to be more efficient in their administrative processes, decrease paper consumption, reducing administrative costs, and taking care of the environment by digitalization strategies, because the use and consumption of paper generate 15 million of deforestation per year, waste of water and energy.
We believe with PBM, the companies that join the digital world and carry out their administrative activities through mobile devices, software, workflow, etc. without the use of paper, should apply digitalization strategies for being a paperless company and contribute to a circular econome, those strategies can be implemented in al SME's segments.
To make this project a reality, we need the support of an expert to be able to develop a business plan, make a budget prospection and guide us to start with Paperless Business Models project.
PSMC Services
Sustainable & Social employment in Kenya
By Maxime Evens
By employing (mostly) low-educated Kenyans in the sustainable cultivation of crops and trees, we are trying to empower locals with limited opportunities and give them a safe environment to prosper in. When we get the opportunity to add value to these products, we will be able to raise our game and provide extra education and housing to our employees, ever improving their standards of living.
Spinster TBR1
The project is an indoor sporting and electric generation bike
By Sami Bayram
Is a sustainable, energy producer and energy storing new generation indoor sporting bicycle. This is an electric bike, apart from others, in each spin, it storages the energy into the detachable battery.
As much you produce, then simply that much you can use the battery for other housing appliances to make it work. With the saving energy, you can charge your laptop, phone even washing machines. By doing so, you return the energy back to nature with a healthier and nicest way. That is why we call it TBR: Turn It, Burn It, Return It. For this project, I need Investors, Investing Capita, Electric & Mechanic Engineers for developing the project.
Sustainable Communities Office
Connecting local sustainability entrepreneurs with financial institutions.
According to the United Nations, 5 billion people will be living in urban areas by 2030. That means 6/10 people will be packed together in cities and communities across the globe. Severe and growing pressures on urban challenges such as waste, safety, air, transportation, health, and housing, can be expected.
We acknowledge the potential of social entrepreneurs to solve these problems, but noticed they are limited in resources and networks to make an impact truly. At the same time, we also see that financial institutions do have the means for those solutions, but lack the entrepreneurial character to develop it.
It is for both parties of enormous strategic importance to work together. Because of the SCO members’ combined background and networks, familiar to both parties, we’ be able to deliver consulting services that generate win-win situations! Our ambition is to make the relationship between social entrepreneurs and corporates more sustainable.
Sustainalyze
A step closer towards a greener lifestyle.
Sustainalyze helps people who want increase their sustainable buying behaviour, but find it difficult to start. Upload pictures of your current wardrobe, Sustainalyze them and take a look at the sustainable alternatives. Apply filters to come up with the best match and start living a more conscious life.
Use the Sustainalyze extension to find greener alternatives for the clothing you find on your favourite fashion websites and discover new brands that have been thoroughly vetted when it comes to their sustainability. We will help you taking the first steps on the path to a more sustainable, green and conscious lifestyle.
The Water Challenge
A public service announcement
This information is intendend to make people aware of the enormous challenge, with regard to the use of (rain)water.
Water Advertising Campaign
A Kavadias Service is my start-up which can offer solutions to individuals, companies, and governments.
The Clean Water Initiative
Farmers grow the coffee we drink, and they don´t even have access to clean drinking water. In addition, they get sick along with children due to polluted water consumption. This is not fair.
With this campaign, I would like you to help me in bringing clean drinking water to 200 families of coffee farmers that inhabit in the Colombian mountains.
I designed a water filter that removes up to 93% of the contaminants that cause diarrhea, foodborne illnesses, and skin diseases in both farmers: adults and children.
The idea is to install such filters in every kitchen of those 200 farms whilst teaching farmers how to build up and clean up their filter. This is the only way to have a long-lasting sustainable solution.