Honoring contributions to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, the Austrian Commission for UNESCO annually awards patronage to selected projects and initiatives – and today recognized our “Solution – Leadership for Sustainability” conferences for their “impact on youth, their innovative learning approach and the cultural diversity of their participants”.

While we are happy and grateful for the recognition, we especially thank the many facilitators, partners and participants of previous years who made this happen. More than that we are also very excited to soon launch an enriched program for 2010 – now under official UNESCO patronage…

“The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) seeks to integrate the principles, values, and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental problems of the 21st century.”

Hosted by Erste Group, ERSTE Foundation and Česká Spořitelna in partnership with Ashoka, good.bee and emersense, “Banking for Social Entrepreneurship” brought together more than 120 selected participants in an engaging conference that pioneered several new ideas and triggered many exciting thoughts on ways to connect and leverage banking and social entrepreneurship for lasting positive impact in CEE.

Amongst the many guests and speakers of the conference: Andreas Treich (Erste Bank), Erhard Busek (IDM), Felix Oldenburg (Ashoka), Sava Dalbokov (good.bee), Jeroo Billimoria (Aflatoun), Jonathan Robinson (The Hub), Eva Varga (NESsT), Brian Richardson (Wizzit), Rupert Strachwitz (Maecenata Institut), Peter Püspök (Oikocredit), Nikolaus Spieckermann-Hutter (gcp), Franz Karl Prüller (ERSTE Foundation) and Michael Fembek (Antara Solutions).

A final thought on the role of emersense in the conference: “As learning designer of ‘Banking for Social Entrepreneurship’ we particularly intended to enable a high level of engagement and significant relevance for both social entrepreneurs and bankers throughout this unique event. We tried to make it happen in a blend of learning and exploration, seeking to encourage passion and spur creativity of everyone involved, adding edge and spark to let participants obtain clarity, form new ideas and initiate meaningful actions upon their genuine ambition.”

With 59 applications from more than 200 students, a community of more than 300 members and several activities and workshops over just a few weeks time – the Social Impact Award 2009 was successfully concluded today in a ceremony for the first three winners of the award:

• 1st place for Project-E: A successfully established vocational school with accredited curriculum to provide Ethiopian orphan girls a future-oriented education and break the chains of poverty and patriachal societal pressures.
• 2nd place for Hunza Dynamo: A new concept to strengthen the local economical and social structures of the Hunza Valley in Pakistan through the establishment of new trekking routes and sustained eco-tourism offers.
• 3rd place for Kunterbunt Foundation: A novel idea for “the touchable museum” that will allow blind people to experience the full beauty of art in an exhibition of 3D sculptures from famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa.

Project-E, Hunza Dynamo and Kunterbunt Foundation will each be awarded a 3 month unlimited membership of The Hub Vienna (opening fall 2009). Additionally, subsequent workshops and community activities for all applicants will soon be announced as further support for the many submitted ideas, concepts and prototypes.

Looking back: more impressions and information on the award are now available at www.socialimpactaward.at… Looking ahead: In 2010 emersense will continue the partnership with the Social Impact Award to again reward students with innovative ideas and new approaches to bringing about positive change in society. Stay tuned for more information.