Youth Innovation Challenge 2019- Social Incubator Session
On September 21-22, Red Dot Foundation (Safecity) conducted a 2-day Social Incubator Session for the 10 finalist teams of the Youth Innovation Challenge 2019. This session was conducted at The Magic Bus Centre at Karjat, Maharashtra. The teams departed for Magic Bus Centre during the early morning along with the Safecity team. After checking in and settling in, the introductions began. The teams were introduced to the inspirational journey of Magic Bus following which, the teams introduced themselves.
Post lunch, the teams came together to define the scope of the problems and solutions under the guidance of Tania Fernandes and Supreet K Singh, COO, Red Dot Foundation. Later in the evening, the teams learnt how to design the solution from the user perspective. This activity was conducted to demonstrate how significant teamwork is. Team Cohesiveness was promoted throughout the session. They also learnt what is called ‘The Elevator Pitch’. The Elevator Pitch was taught by Marissa Borges. The idea was to teach the teams how they can utilise even a small amount of time to turn strangers into potential clients. At night, the teams went out with the Safecity team for a Night Walk. The Night Walk allowed them to come close to nature and derive inspiration for it. Day 1 at the Magic Bus Centre ended with everyone marvelling at the wonders of nature while also pledging to safeguard it.
Day 2 began with an experience called ‘Learning From Nature’. This took place under the guidance of Latha Sankarnarayan, Founder, Developmatrix. Latha carried out various activities throughout the day with the teams to promote Climate Resilience. The teams learnt not only from the mentors but also from nature. In one of the activities, the teams were given a situation where the river was overflowing and they had to cross the river while evacuating the area. Another activity involved crossing a flowing stream while also observing factors such as the debris that accumulated in the stream. They learnt about and observed natural bunds and their significance. They went Rock Climbing in order to learn the idea that we should not stop, we should keep going on. They also went Water Rappelling and demonstrated how one should keep pushing and not give up even in the face of the toughest circumstances. The teams also learnt how to develop Business Communication Models.
In the evening, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) declared by the United Nations were discussed. The teams were explained what SDGs are and why they are important. Each team took up 5-6 SDGs that they would take care of while designing an innovative product that aids a sustainable environment. Out of the chosen SDGs, all the teams then selected a particular SDG and pledged to give constant efforts in order to achieve that goal.
Thus, the 2day Youth Innovation Challenge Social Incubator Session taught a variety of topics to the teams with the help of interesting activities in order to help them design products for a sustainable environment.