I got to attend a workspace on New Business Ventures in the Middle East, most of which focused on social entrepreneurship-based organizations such as INJAZ (Junior Achievement) and others who dealt with fields that include desertification, energy-savers, fair trade, etc. Soraya Salti, another Jordanian who is really making a difference in the community, was there with a student of the INJAZ program who won this year’s entrepreneur program under INJAZ, from Egypt. I took a video and I’ll be uploading it as soon as I can. The workspace is perhaps the most dynamic and interactive of all the sessions and it involves everyone getting involved essentially. After breaking up in to groups and experiencing the various business models presented, we mixed up the groups and were given a task to create a new business venture that made use of all the models, to create a new good or service. Some of the ideas that came about for example were “Green Hotels” that focused on eco-friendly hotels/tourism, and a “Sand 2 Food” program that focused on investing in new desert-based techniques to sell franchise kits for local farmers.
A few members of our group, including myself, are preparing now for a BBC debate. We will be panelists alongside some interesting personalities such as Ehud Barak, Jamal Mubarak, Salem Fayyad and Tony Blair. Joining us will be Israeli students so we’re looking forward to a very interesting debate.
Back later!