Thursday, November 17
The day is filled with relevant skill sessions, while in the afternoon we go out on the exploration of Vienna’s social enterprises and innovators. Optional Fireside chat at the end of the day will provide the space for relaxed conversations about important topics.
09:00-10:30
Parallel sessions
Session 1: The Cosmic Clinic, Playful Solutions
#team
Conference room 1.2
Everyone agrees that we learn more from mistakes & failures than successes, but it is easier said than done. Creating a healthy attitude towards failure and a team culture where learning through mistakes is embraced is an important skill for any leader, but especially for the ones working on innovative solutions. In this session we will be playing a group game where in order to succeed you might have to fail, and explore questions such as "what is my own relationship to learning through failure?" and "how am I (not) contributing to my team's culture of learning and innovation?". Notes: 1) you will need a smartphone to participate, 2) session capacity is limited to 21 participants - first come first serve!
Session 2: Living Library - Climate
#climate
Conference room 1.3
Living Library works just like a normal library: visitors can browse the catalog for the available titles, choose the book they want to read, and borrow it for a limited period of time. After reading, they return the book to the library and, if they want, borrow another. The only difference is that in the Living Library, books are people, and reading consists of a conversation.
In this living library, the focus is on Climate, and you will get to talk to 4 SIA alumni that tackle this topic through their venture: MIMBIOSIS, Reform Africa, Zajednički frižider, and Cosmotaics. Ask them anything about their entrepreneurial journey, challenges, impact, or any other topics that interest you!
Session 3: Overcoming stress as an entrepreneur – with breathwork, meditation and Yoga | Ema Barba, Bright Living
#wellbeing
Conference room 1.4
As a social entrepreneur, your cause might be a priority in your life and you might want to support it with all your heart. Making sure you are staying balanced and healthy in the process is important – after all, you’re in it for the long run, and strategic self-care can help you thrive.
In this session, you will learn how to increase your resilience to stress, manage emotions, regulate your nervous system, build stronger immunity and have better focus. You will learn do-it-anytime breath exercises, meditation techniques, and gentle stretches that increase your lung capacity and reduce stress. I will share with you techniques that I learned at the base of the Himalayas, that have given me my health back and helped me heal from asthma and anxiety.
Session 4: Live podcast recording: Episode of Inside Impact | with Martin Mehrwald and Kate Li, Mindful Generation
#impact
Conference room 1.5
Join the live podcast recording between Martin Mehrwald, the host of the Inside Impact podcast, and Kate Li, founder of Mindful Generation (Kazakhstan). You will hear more about her entrepreneurial journey, her mistakes and successes along the way, and her personal development through it.
Through the “Mindful Generation” Project, Kate Li has been working with various organizations in India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, South Korea, Tajikistan, Uganda, and United States on projects helping children, youth, women, refugees, immigrants, and people living with HIV. Kate published her first children's book about social justice, specifically about inclusion in English on Amazon. It became top 10 children's books on Amazon in the first month. Since then it found its readers in the USA, UK, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and more.
Session 5: Overview and Impact of SIA in 2022 | Exclusive session for SIA Hosts
Conference room 1.6
The session will support SIA coordinators to get to know each other, have a clearer bigger picture of the year behind us, and get all the necessary updates for the upcoming year. Moreover, SIA coordinations will learn more about the Impact Assessment results and get an overview of the impact we created through the SIA year behind us.
10:30-11:00
Coffee Break
Atrium
11:00-12:30
Parallel sessions
Session 1: Access to Finance | Florian Ott, Erste Group
#finance
Conference room 1.4
The session will support participants to:
- Gain an overview of different forms of financial instruments (debt and equity instruments) and funding options accessible to social organizations (NGOs and Social Enterprises)
- Prepare for discussions with financial partners and investors
- Help to structure a financial, liquidity, and capital plan in order to enable the future development of social projects and increase the impact
Session 2: Pitch roasting | Diego Heatherman, Impact Hub Vienna, and Stefanie Beßler, Social Impact Award
#communications
Conference room 1.5
As a starting entrepreneur, there are always opportunities to pitch your business. Whether at competitions, networking events, or to investors or potential partners, the pitch is your entry door to many conversations.
In this session, YOU are on the stage. Come prepared with your pitch (and even pitch deck) and let our experts give you feedback on how can you improve your pitch.
Session 3: Green marketing and how to apply it | Katharina Kotynkowiecz, sgreening
#communications
Conference room 1.3
What is green marketing, what is it not, what is greenwashing, and how to avoid it? All of these questions will be tackled in this session.
We will learn about the AWARE customer journey, used specifically in green marketing, after which all of the participants will have the chance to work out the AWARE customer journey for their persona/customer.
Session 4: Startup Fundraising 101. Where should you start? | Sasha Lipman, tech2impact
#finances
Conference room 1.2
Are you a founder and looking to define your fundraising strategy and raise your first capital? Join this workshop to learn more about types of capital & investors, what should you keep in mind when approaching them, and how raising investments looks like step by step.
Session 5: Decision-making in teams | Annegret Wulff, MitOst
#team
Conference room 1.6
The session will introduce you to a unique DIY tool for Capacity Building and Organizational Development TOOLS FOR CITIZENS. We will dive deeper into the field of decision-making in teams: how to navigate between formal structures and the informal reality in your organization?
12:30-13:30
Lunch
Atrium
13:30-17:00
Vienna as Social Innovation Hub
We will split into smaller groups and visit Vienna's most interesting and innovative spaces, entrepreneurs, and organizations that aim to improve various social issues.
Every group will visit two of the following places:
Ankerbrotfabrik
The former bread factory now houses numerous cultural associations and institutions, an innovation hub, and social businesses. We will be welcomed by Petra Fasching from the innovation department of Caritas and an exemplary "enterprise" of theirs, Plaudernetz, and visit a social business Magdas Cantine.
Impact Hub Vienna
Impact Hub Vienna is a diverse community of founders, creatives, investors, established companies, and NGOs who have one thing in common–we believe bold, entrepreneurial ideas can change society for the better. They will share how they support social entrepreneurs and we'll learn more about the work of SIA Alumni Andererseits.
Hobby Lobby
Hobby Lobby (Winner of SIA Austria in 2019) enables free leisure activities for children and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Every fifth child (around 350,000 children and young people) in Austria is at risk of poverty and excluded from further education in their free time. We, therefore, offer regular leisure courses where young people can meet like-minded people and expand their social skills.
Social Entrepreneurship Center at WU Vienna
Within the NPO & Social Entrepreneurship Competence Center of WU Vienna, the Social Entrepreneurship Center deals with the research and the critical and practice-oriented evaluation of these future topics. They conduct research, publish specialist and practical publications, do scientific evaluations and project support in the field of social entrepreneurship, develop teaching and incubation programs, etc. They will showcase their innovative work and share with us some of the most recent research results of the social entrepreneurship ecosystems in Europe.
Bikes and Rails Houseprojekt
The Bikes and Rails house project creates self-organized and affordable living and working space for many generations. We enable ecologically, socially and economically sustainable housing, living and working and would like to be part of a forward-looking social change.
Vollpension
Vollpension is German for both a hotel stay including full-board – similar to your granny’s place - and retirement payment. 50% of the Vollpension team are older than 60. Old-age poverty and loneliness are big issues not only in Austria but around the world. With Vollpension the four co-founders created a space where seniors can actively get involved in society with meaningful activity, find self-empowerment and increase their disposable income by 40% on average. It also creates a dialogue between young and old – because eating (homemade cake) brings people together.
17:00-17:30
Coffee Break
Atrium
17:30-18:30
Bring back: lessons learned from the Social Innovation Tour
Grand Hall
After all the things we've seen and learned today, we want to recap some of the most interesting learnings and share them with those that went to other locations.
18:30-19:30
Dinner
Atrium