Idea Jam is an integral part of the Social Entrepreneurship Support Initiative, a six-month pilot project spearheaded by Hivos and Coworkinc aiming to support social entrepreneurs through capacity building. Started in February, Hivos and Coworkinc will conduct Idea Jam “pressure cooker” sessions and pop-up consultation hours at Coworkinc on a monthly basis.
Hivos’ decision to collaborate with a coworking space in Indonesia is because it provides the ideal place for different communities to work from, cross paths and develop innovative ideas. Coworkinc, which will become part of Impact Hub Jakarta in the upcoming months, is home to many communities and social enterpreneurs. Its keenness to support the growth of social enterpreneurs in Indonesia aligns with Hivos’ vision to innovate for social change through supporting frontrunners (such as social entrepreneurs) and develop ideas.
Unlike traditional workshop discussions, Idea Jam ignites the entrepreneurial spirit of participants by putting them under pressure to quickly design innovative and impactful business ideas to solve various problems.
Each Idea Jam has a different theme. February’s was agriculture and food, so we invited Tina Napitupulu of Agriprofocus Indonesia to facilitate the session called “Providing Food for Hunger: Agrifood Issues and Solutions”. Three panels were present as well, led by Silvana Paath of Hivos, Taufiqul Mujib of Oxfam Indonesia and Walesa Danto, the founder of limakilo.id. Participants were asked to tackle six agriculture and food-related problems: price volatility, world hunger, food waste, malnutrition, food security and food diversity. They separated into groups, one per issue, to develop and then present an impactful business idea as a solution. Other participants played the role of devil’s advocate and/or offered feedback to improve the proposed idea.
Although the event lasted only two hours, the results were impressive. Three innovative ideas emerged: an “Earn Waste” app/sharing platform for people to share their excess food, a public service information package about healthy food alternatives, and a farming-themed gaming app “Finding WeMo” that tries to control price volatility by putting urban dwellers in direct contact with farmers to discuss planting on a request basis. The panels chose “Earn Waste” app as the best business idea for its clarity and viability.
Hivos follows up each Idea Jam with a one-day free consultation regarding the monthly theme. Participants who attended the Idea Jam are free to register for the service, and if chosen (based on available time slots), will receive personal capacity building from Hivos and our partners.
We believe that this joint effort will connect our knowledge and resources to a wide network of social entrepreneurs and help us reach out specifically to innovative social entrepreneurs with whom we can partner in co-creating solutions to both global and local problems.
