Social Innovation Camp is about solving social challenges in new ways – by bringing together ideas and digital tools to create web-based innovations in just 48 hours.
Social Innovation Camp Caucasus, due in Tbilisi on April 8-10, will gather 40 participants – designers, entrepreneurs, social needs experts, marketing, legal, advertising gurus from Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia to work on an idea of a potential social start-up that can make a change and compete for a prize.
Idea of organizing Social Innovation Camp Caucasus came from a Camp in Bratislava, Slovakia (September, 2009), proving that 48 hours are enough to make the idea real if there are people who believe in it and also have different skills to contribute to the idea.
“I was at the SI Camp in Bratislava and the biggest benefit for me was to see how the right group of people can achieve an incredible amount in just 48 hours,” coordinator of the project in Armenia Onnik Krikorian told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
“Just with laptops, free tools, and wi-fi, real projects that can contribute to social change can be put together in a very short period of time. Another benefit is that noted specialists in this area from Europe and the US were present, and will be in Tbilisi too, to share their knowledge and experience.
I think the main benefit will be that the event will not only show how social media can be used to tackle social issues, but these ideas will also be working and very real when the camp is finished. Then those projects can be taken back and implemented in individual countries or even on a regional basis if the right partners and individuals are there and willing. To date, I don't think many online social projects from the NGO sector are being put together with the right specialists involved. However, for any online initiative to be a success you need that. You need the ideas, the activists, the marketing people, the technical guys to make it work, and the designers to make sure users feel enticed enough to use it. That's also what SI Camp will do.
There will be an open meeting for anyone interested to attend at Counterpart International next Wednesday at 2pm. I'm also more than happy to meet with other individuals and groups to introduce the idea behind SI Camp to them,” Onnik Krikorian said.
