The AIESEC Alumni Sustainability Network Blog

Give Your Vote to Help an AIESEC Alumnus win a grant for his project " Modernizing Indian Agriculture and Empowering Farmers With Aquaponics!"

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Himanshu Jakhar, an AIESEC Indian and AIESEC Sweden alumnus, is working on a project in the field of Agriculture and Rural Development. His project aims at addressing the burning issue of farmer suicides (one farmer now commits suicide in India every 30 minutes) in India by provide them with solutions (setting-up an Aquaponics Farm) which help them experience consistent, reliable income from organic crop production year round without depending on depleting groundwater and pesticide. He has listed his project in a competition and has applied for a grant. The project with most votes will win the grant. Kindly take a minute to vote and support his humanitarian cause. Your vote will go a long way. How to?

 

Step 1:  Click on the link below http://www.sparktherise.com/projectdetail.php?pid=5501

 

Step 2:  Click on Green "Vote" button. It will ask you to sign up first. Click on "Sign me up" button. Here you can either choose sign-up using Facebook or just simply sign-up with them.

 

Step 3:  You'll now land on the home page of the website. Click on the category "Agriculture and Rural Development" above and look for his project " Modernizing Indian Agriculture and Empowering Farmers With Aquaponics"

 

Step 4:  Click on the Green "VOTE" button again and cast you vote =)

Thanks for your time and support. Much appreciated!
If you feel like then please do spread the word around!

Global AIESEC Sustainability Impact Award 2012 | Apply!!!

Coordinated by AIESEC International and created in partnership with the AIESEC Alumni Sustainability Network, we are happy to announce that the Global AIESEC Sustainability Impact Award 2012 call for applications' is open - MCs and LCs worldwide are strongly encouraged to apply. The award  will be a prize of 1,000 EUR for first place and 500 EUR for second place winners

The Award for the 2012 edition comes with an annual financial endowment of 1500 Euros, rewarding the 2 most deserving initiatives. A trophy that will carry the inscription of the Award name and year, the winning entity name and the name of the winning project will be offered during a special function at the high-level Official Alumni Dinner during the AIESEC International Presidents Meeting' 2012 in Hungary

View the public version of the wiki and apply by January 13th: http://bit.ly/vqk2S7

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Masters in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability from Blekinge Institute of Technology - Scholarships and Free tuition for interested Alumni

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Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), Sweden, a top ranked sustainability research and education institution is currently recruiting bright, early – mid career professionals for their cutting-edge Masters courses.
 
The Masters in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability (MSLS) is underpinned by the science-based Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (widely known as The Natural Step Framework) spearheaded by Karl-Henrik Robèrt, a global sustainability leader and course tutor.MSLS explores the baseline science of systematic sustainability coupled with the skills required for organizational change. The course produces graduates who can deliver organizational leadership for strategic change towards sustainability.
 
The Swedish state kindly pays for tuition fees for these Master’s programmes for European students and courses are taught in English. Students from outside Europe pay 100,000 Swedish Krona. Scholarships are available. BTH is located in the beautiful coastal city of Karlskrona, a UNESCO world heritage site on the southeast coast of Sweden (video: ).

Presentation of the programme's founder:

Applications open on the 1st of December 2011 and close 15th January 2012.  For more information please visit www.bth.se/msls.>

 

AIESEC 40 Under 40 Publication: Stories of Alumni making happen sustainable change!

Sarah Endline Sweetriot's company produces a natural, healthy chocolate in a way that builds latin american communities. Gabriela Albescu sits as a Managing Director for the Hub Worldwide! transforming the Hub to become an even greater place in stimulating social innovation and entrepreneurship. One of the co-founders of the AIESEC Alumni Sustainability Network, Richard Seshie and his company Vivus are designing real mobility solutions for the collection of agro-residues among some of Africa's poorest and most inaccessible rural communities.

Read about them and 37 other inspiring stories of AIESEC Alumni in the spotlight! 

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Sustainability Excellence - Job Offerings

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Sustainability Excellence is a fast-growing firm, based in Jordan, providing a full range of sustainability services to companies and governments in the Arab world. We view sustainability management as the next step in management excellence and central to business innovation and competitiveness. Our clients are amongst the leading companies and organizations in the region in pioneering sustainability management and reporting. They span 6 countries and more than 15 sectors. The company was founded by Darin Rovere, a former President of AIESEC International.

Sustainability Excellence is looking to immediately hire sustainability advisors and business development officers with a range from 2 years experience (or equivalent studies) and up to the +5 years experience. Below the Job Descriptions:

Click here to download:
[Sustainability_Excellence]_Business_Development_Associate.pdf (219 KB)
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Click here to download:
[Sustainability_Excellence]_Junior_Sustainability_Consultant.pdf (209 KB)
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Click here to download:
[Sustainability_Excellence]_Senior_Sustainability_Consultant.pdf (209 KB)
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If you are interested in applying or for more information please email Layial El-Hadi at lelhadi@sustainabilityexcellence.com.

 

Alumnus of the month May - Gunter Pauli

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AIESEC
- What was your AIESEC experience?

First I helped organize in 1978 a seminar on Economy and Ecology as part of the local committee in Antwerp. We held it at Monsanto factory which had just installed a water treatment plant. That was an interesting experience because we hit all the headlines of the media. 

Then I was elected NCP and hosted the world congress in 1979, and a series of international seminars, including one with Aurelio Peccei. Finally, I was elected AC for Latin America and was able to work in the region for a year. 

- Recount your best AIESEC moment?

Of course the best is when I met my mentor Aurelio Peccei. You know as a student you can ask anyone even the top of the world! And get a response if you are persistent and do not accept a no for a no ... and as a student you never do! 

Main achievements
- How did your sustainability career started?
Aurelio Peccei introduced me to Lester Brown the author of the State of the World and then founder of WorldWatch Institute. And I loved his publications so I started a publishing company to translate his works into Dutch and quite a few other languages. That is how I got the word out - but I was committed long before just was looking for the way as an entrepreneur to contribute.

- Recount your biggest sustainability achievement with us?
The best is yet to come ;-)

Well since 1984 I am involved with Gaviotas and this incredible opportunity to witness and participate in the conversion of a destroyed rainforest (now a savannah) into the rainforest it once used to be. There are 8,000 HA already to demonstrate that this is not only possible, but this is commercially viable. 

Then I built the first ecological factory in the world, completely made out of wood with the largest green roof on an industrial building. 

In 2000 created the biggest structure ever made out of bamboo with the Colombian architect Simon Velez - bamboo is the most sustainable building material used by + one billion people. 

And now I am inspiring would be entrepreneurs to create hundreds - if not thousands- of companies to implement new business models that are social, ecological and truly competitive changing the rules of the game on the market. This is perhaps having the best impact - and the most lasting result!

Sustainability
- What current trends in the sustainability space can you perceive?
We have to go beyond the Green stuff, that has been around for decades and not even 1% of the economy is green. Then whatever is green energy relies on subsidies - that imposes more taxes, that means consumers must pay - and then whatever is good for the environment and my health is expensive. No way - that is for the rich and not for everyone and thus this green type of economy is never going to take off as a standard for the world. 

And while we cannot stop growing since the poor have so many unmet needs, we cannot grow the way the West has done. So the message is clear we have to design a new economic model that makes certain that the best is available for all cheaper than the bad, and whatever is necessary for life - is for free!

That is my main proposal: and called it the Blue Economy. 
Blue because the sky is blue, the ocean is blue and seen from the Universe the Earth is very blue indeed!

- What is your lecture of the evolution of Sustainable Development in the corporate arena?

Evolution? We have not even started!

What advice can you give to the members of AASN reading this interview?

I refrain from giving advise - all I can suggest is be exposed, always know that things can go much better and will be much better and that the biggest hurdle we face is our experience and our knowledge that does not permit us to go beyond what we know and do.

The Alumni minute: A Natural Step towards Sustainability

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Thanks for the opportunity to contribute the the AASN and to share a bit about my journey with sustainability. My name is Pong Leung and currently work as a senior advisor with The Natural Step in Canada (www.thenaturalstep.org/canada), an office that I help found in 2002 with another AIESEC alumni.  

As a member of AIESEC I held a number of local and national management positions which developed my entrepreneurial and leadership abilities and to meet many people both on a personal and professional basis. In addition to developing a passion for internationalism, I also was exposed to sustainability during my time in AIESEC. The idea of business being a force for positive societal change spoke to me, and, as such, I decided to pursue a career path in this area.

This was back in the late 1990s so the opportunities where not as plentiful as they are now.  The issue was only being to gain traction.  My first steps were to talk with a number of people working the issue in my part of the work which led to my first work experiences in sustainability in various positions dealing with climate change solutions. Knowing that I needed more formal education to complement my business degree I decided to study a M.Sc. on Environmental Management and Policy from the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University in Sweden in 2002 (www.iiiee.lu.se), of which I still have a lot of great memories!  

Upon returning from Sweden, I, along with another AIESEC alumni, launched the Canadian office of The Natural Step (TNS), an international non-governmental organization focused on helping business and communities take meaningful steps towards sustainability. Through TNS I hadhad the opportunity to work with a wide range of client organizations to help blend the concepts of organizational change and sustainability, including business, communities, academic institutions and other NGOs.  

During my time with TNS, I took a few years' break to study in China and also to accept a position to direct a master’s-level program on sustainability and leadership in Sweden at the Blekinge Institute of Technology (www.bth.se/msls). This was a wonderful opportunity to meet brilliant people from around the world and to develop my own personal leadership skills. Our institution was named the one of the top in Europe for sustainability education.  

After my second time in Sweden, I returned to Canada once again to work with TNS. It has been a great journey over the past 10 years starting from our office being a living room to have 20 employees, a national network of associates, and number of award-winning projects.  With the interest in sustainability today, we are looking forward to another great 10 years!

 

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The Alumni Minute: Virtú, an AIESEC Alumni run company fostering Social Businesses in Minas Gerais, Brazil

The second most industrialized Brazilian state, Minas Gerais presents an economical stability that reflects on its growing GDP rate (Gross Domestic Product) and on the attraction of foreign investments. A major part of this scenario results from the large investments in technological innovation that has been deployed in the region. In the other hand, there’s a lack of incentives in the field of Social Innovation. In this context “Virtú” was created by 3 AIESEC alumni, a company with the purpose to develop more and better Social Businesses in Minas Gerais.

Nowadays, are presents in the economical scenario of the “miner” (how people from Minas Gerais are called) a diverse range of mechanisms created to bridge the gap between the Academy and the Market generating technological innovations. One good example is the SIMI (in Portuguese stands for Miner Innovation System), a State’s Government initiative that articulates interactions amongst researchers, private sector and the government aligning technological demands, offers and financial resources towards innovation.

Minas Gerais also has as advantage its high quality Educational and Research Institutes that together with combined entrepreneurship and innovation incentive programs guarantees high qualified professionals to the market. In the other side, there’s no clear proposition to direct these innovations towards poverty reduction and life quality improvement of the BOP populations (Base Of the Pyramid)

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That was the opportunity foreseen by the Virtú founders, to direct this high capacity and incentive to innovation to the development of businesses with high social impact, bringing clear benefits to the local communities. 

To foster Social Innovation focusing on Social Business, as Virtú is doing in the capital, Belo Horizonte, implies in overcoming great challenges. The first and most urgent one is the need to disseminate the concept of Social Business in the region. The “miners” are known by its conservative behavior and demands that new concepts should be tested and it’s effectiveness must be proven before “buying“ the idea.

To break this barrier, Virtú has been delivering educational programs in Social Business Entrepreneurship and bringing to Minas Gerais models already successful around the world and in other states of Brazil, as The HUB Initiative. With the mission to connect talents that are working for a radically better world, The HUB offers co-working spaces to foster collaboration and development of innovative business and projects around the globe. With this approach, Virtú is managing to attract increasingly more entrepreneurs and partners to its network.

Step by step, the Social Business concept has been disseminated and understood. In some private Universities, for example, it’s already possible to find this themes within graduation, extension and post-graduation programs. That’s how an ecosystem to foster Social Innovation is being shaped in Minas Gerais and very soon some Best Cases shall be showcased.

 

More info about Virtú’s work on: www.redevirtu.com.br

More info abour The HUB on: www.the-hub.net

The Alumni Minute: Faktor N Sustainability is not a job - it's a lifestyle

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Sustainability is not a job – it’s a lifestyle

My Name is Oliver Adria and I have founded the websites Faktor N International – Career and Lifestyle meet Sustainability and Faktor N Germany. I have worked at the CSCP (Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production) for  the past 5 years and strongly believe sustainability is about innovation, lifestyles and ideas. Following is a short outline of my AIESEC life and some thoughts on sustainability.

My AIESEC Career: A source of inspiration

I can honestly say that AIESEC has shaped much of how I am today – AIESEC has even gotten me to my current job in sustainability of 5+ years! Starting in 2004, I started as an ICX member in AIESEC Cologne. Soon afterwards I was interested in getting more responsibility and thus became team leader and soon afterwards took over the ICX VP Job. It was during this time that I had reflected a lot about what I want to do. Especially the NaLDS (National Leadership Development Seminar) in Germany has given me the initial push towards envisioning on what I want to do with my life. After my VP year, I looked for new challenges and looked into how I can create a positive impact. I visited many trainings at AIESEC, became a trainer in the area of sustainability and soon I had a more clear idea on what I wanted to do.

Putting the vision to work: Making sustainability a lifestyle

Still being a student, I looked for sustainability networking opportunities at my university. That’s where I noticed that there is no real platform for students and graduates to get informed about sustainability activities in Germany. Having learnt tremendously from AIESEC, I’ve decided to start my own project – and Faktor N (Germany) was born. Faktor N’s goal is to be a news source and also an inspirational site for people interested in working and pursuing a career in sustainability – be it through working at small or large company or perhaps be building up your own organisation. It is to show that sustainability is not dull or about consuming less, but it is about innovation, lifestyle, it’s about a different way of thinking. I want to show entrepreneurs who have decided to make a sustainability problem into a business model. I want to show how sustainable lifestyles are interesting and a source of ideas.

A few months ago, I found that this would also have potential on an international scale – thus I’ve decided to launch Faktor N International and to spread ideas on an even wider scale.

Much of the knowledge and the ideas on sustainability were inspired by my work at the CSCP (the UNEP / WI Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production) in the last 5 years. I have learnt that sustainability is not just about making production processes more efficient (being an electrical engineer, this was my first thought), but it’s about making the whole interconnected system more sustainable, it’s about being aware, it’s about lifestyle and innovation.

How you can contribute!

At Faktor N, we are constantly looking for authors who want to write articles, sustainable and social entrepreneurs who want to write about their story and cooperate with us and innovative ideas to spread the idea of sustainability. If you first want to see what it’s all about, we have a weekly newsletter that will keep you updated! Just go to our homepage at http://www.faktorn.com/

And we are currently developing new activities that will still be launched this year and we are looking for supporters all the time – so I look forward to hearing from you!