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Home » News » 1st international class reunion of The Grameen Creative Lab in Wiesbaden on 25th of April 2009

1st international class reunion of The Grameen Creative Lab in Wiesbaden on 25th of April 2009

Social business in Wiesbaden: The strength for responsibility through creative moments.

Responsibility, redesign and advancement of our commercial behaviour for more social equality is without a doubt the spirit of the times. In one event - a 'creative moment' as circ calls it - there is the strength to reach goals which would previously not have been conceivable.

For this reason, circ created this kind of creative moment for client Grameen Creative Lab in Wiesbaden. Social business, a new economic paradigm which puts economics at the direct service of social goals, was the focus of the event. Grameen Creative Lab (GCL) is the official partner of the Yunus Centre in Bangladesh. Therefore, the work is geared towards the principles of social business as defined by Prof. Muhammad Yunus, and stands for the development of Grameen social business, especially in Germany/Europe.

In the Wolfram-von-Eschenbach school, a Wiesbaden secondary school, international representatives and those interested in social business met on April 25 for a creative conference initiated and conceived by Grameen Creative Lab. Fitting with the theme of communicating the meaning of social business from the bottom upwards, the idea of 'the participants as schoolchildren' was consistently realised and a school was accordingly chosen as the venue. The around 100 participants included representatives of globally operating companies and NGOs, representatives of various DAX-listed companies, staff from the Global Humanitarian Forum and the Africa Progress Panel lead by Kofi Annan, representatives of the Banca Etica (Florence), social business experts and students from 10 renowned European universities, who were carefully chosen as elements of the concept.

The playful spirit

At the start of the day, songs from the school band provided the introductory vitality and energy. Gift cones for the first day of school and packed lunches were given out to take the participants' thoughts back to their school days. After an experimental introduction with speed dating and networking, a general introduction to the topic of social business followed. In large groups, the basic principles were explained, and Grameen Creative Labs' work described. In the afternoon,

grameen creative lab, class reunion, klassentreffen, event

The Grameen Creative Lab

the participants took part in teamwork in the individual themed workshops. Boards, chalk and school benches reminded the participants of their school days, which were also concerned with learning and understanding topics from the bottom upwards, in order to create an awareness of them and awaken emotions. Prepared in four different exciting formats, the team from Grameen Creative Lab worked with participants from throughout Europe on various aspects of social business under the mains themes of 'Joyful Power of Social Business', 'Social Business Joint Ventures International', 'Grameen Social Business DNA' and 'Social Business World Café'. Here, alongside the principles and foundations of social business, the international development, the founding of joint ventures, and the subject of social business for women were also presented and discussed.

In the continuative evening programme and as part of a communal breakfast the following morning, the participants were also given the opportunity to swap inspiration and develop new ideas. In the process, the participants let themselves be infected by the departing atmosphere of the 1st international class reunion, and enthusiastically accepted the topic of social business. The collaboration with the teachers and pupils of the Wolfram-von-Eschenbach school as part of the 'talent project', which has been running for a year, as well as the consistent sustainability of all products in the event concept met with a high level of acceptance from the participants. Through this, the necessary process of rethinking and the further development of economic action were advanced. "We are excited about the playful spirit and happiness of the participants. We are currently developing a sustainable social business community, which will focus its actions on Europe-wide perceptible social responsibility and equality", commented Saskia Bruysten, director of Grameen Creative Lab, in connection with the event.

Submitted by falk.steputat on 14. May 2009 - 16:34