On February 8th, Impact Hub Geneva hosted its first MashUp event, a fun, friendly and educational event which in a word, can only be described as awesome!
This 3-hour event was a great way to learn about the work many people are doing to make an impact on the world at large and connect with new faces and projects.
Information exchange is of the utmost importance to the Impact Hub community and the joint initiative with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to launch the Accelerate 2030 platform has been excellent in bringing awareness to the ways members and guest speakers are using their creativity, passion and hard work to create lasting changes that will positively impact the lives of those who live in their communities and beyond.
Roll Call!
6 speakers presented their work, all centered around sustainable development goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities:
- Eric Rossiaud of Codha described Codha’s efforts to promote the concept of Ecoquartiers, urban neighborhoods with modern ecological characteristics such as waste reduction & management and energy efficiency, as well as being a company which meets l’économie sociale et solidaire (Social Solidarity Economy) standards;
- Amin Khosravi, co-founder of social enterprise UXcities, introduced his work which is “at the intersection between design, strategy, communication and innovation”, finding new ways to create more positive interactions between humans and their environments;
- Jan Bega, an urbanist and designer of public spaces from Geneva, described his work contributing to the construction of CEVA and the development of green areas, light, street art and more at train stops and other public spaces, thereby increasing the beauty and quality of life for local inhabitants;
- Elisabeth Belpaire, who introduced her mission to improve urban environments for healthy early childhood development;
- Maurizio Arseni, who renovates abandoned farmhouses using sustainable architecture, promoting energy efficiency and developing enticing ways to vacation or live off the grid and;
- Diane Henny, a co-founder of Terrasses Sans Frontières and lauréat 2016 du Prix IDDEA, described her association’s initiative to greenify rooftops across Geneva, including vegetable farming.
What is a MashUp?
As presented on the Impact Hub Geneva Facebook event page, “MashUps are community events where selected Impact Hub members and guest speakers get a chance to share their ideas in a Pecha Kucha format (20 slides x 20 seconds) and can get on-the-spot feedback and questions from the audience.” This format is an engaging and fun way to learn about the sustainable projects being presented by the speakers, allowing enough time to satisfy the audience’s curiosity after each presentation without feeling like the night is at a slow progression.
Once the presentations were complete, everyone was able to share conversation over an apéro including juice, wine, beer and appetizers. The night evolved into a party with a purpose as the music volume cranked and impromptu dancing began. Overall, this was an exciting night, complete with new knowledge gained and connections formed; a beautiful and unique experience bringing together people from all walks of life to exchange about how to contribute to the global greater good.