At the end of Imp!act Geneva 2018, several participants undertook to replicate the event in their city, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (France), in order to share with others their unforgettable experience. The seven highly motivated volunteers, supported by the city and several organizations, organized an Imp!act which attracted sixteen participants aged 16 to 30 from a wide variety of backgrounds. The event was a real success. Over the course of the experiment, team spirit has grown steadily among the participants. All share the will to act for a better world. Imp!act St-Julien will have allowed the emergence of four social and environmental projects. We thank all the volunteers, participants, experts and juries for their enthusiasm, kindness and commitment.
- Bruno Patrício
imp!act Zürich - Butter bei die Fische geben
Impact ist ein dreieinhalbtägiger Workshop. Dabei treffen Leute zusammen, die soziale, ökologische oder ökonomische Herausforderungen angehen wollen. Durch die Facilitators von euforia werden, innerhalb dieser kurzen Zeit, starke Teams, die am Ende zusammen eine Projektidee pitchen. Dabei werden sie von Experten aus der Wirtschaft und Changemakern die bereits eigene Projekte realisiert haben gecoacht. Besonders interessant ist der Validation-Day an dem alle Teams die Chance haben raus zu gehen und in Unternehmen oder mit Passanten auf der Straße einen Reality-Check zu machen. In meinem Team haben wir Guerillainterviews geführt. Wir sind einfach zu NGOs in Zürich gegangen und haben in Gesprächen von 15-30 Minuten wertvolle Insights gewinnen können. Dabei war ich selber super überrascht, auf wie viel Hilfsbereitschaft wir mit dieser spontanen Herangehensweise gestoßen sind.
Am letzten Tag mussten wir die gewonnenen Eindrücke und Informationen strukturieren und einer Jury präsentieren. Sie bestand aus zwei Senior Consultants und einem Vizedirektor einer Züricher Bank. Es ging also wirklich um die Wurst. Am Ende haben wir wertvolles Feedback bekommen und waren startklar das Projekt tatsächlich zu realisieren. Ich kann das imp!act nur empfehlen. Jeder, der gerne die Ärmel hochkrempeln und Butter bei die Fische geben will sollte hingehen. Sei es bereits mit einer Idee oder nur mit dem Willen was zu verändern. Denn das Impact ist ein richtiger Inkubator für Changemaker.
- Lucas Danisch
Radical Collaboration® - Our double Feature of Radical Intensity
Last week we had not only one but even two Radical Collaboration trainings! One took place in English in Zürich and was co-hosted by our partner Collaboratio Helvetica. The other training took place in the French part of Switzerland in Lugnorre.
We addressed the importance of high trust relationships, strategies to communicate and negotiate better, and how to resolve conflict. The underlying point is not to simply look at how we can get out of a conflict but to understand how we got there in the first place, and to understand our own reactions towards it and how to manage it well. The training were three super intense days filled with (self-) reflection, new tools, but of course tons of fun and laughter.
For those of you who do not know what Radical Collaboration is, it is a methodology for building high-trust relationships at work in order to improve efficiency, productivity, innovation, and agility. Today nobody succeeds alone. You must have the skills to build relationships and to form alliances. This is true in everyday situations between individuals as well as between project teams, departments, companies, and organizations.
Our next events take place in:
Inspiration? Networking? Fun? Imp!act!!!
I very recently attended the imp!act in Bern. I participated because I am starting an internship at euforia and this workshop was a great opportunity to observe and understand how the imp!act and euforia work.
I must admit, that at first I felt a little bit lost. I felt as though my motivation -understanding euforia- was different from those who participated in the imp!act because they had an idea in mind which they wanted to turn into a specific project. However, this feeling went away very quickly. I realized that even without an idea for a project in mind, the imp!act is not only fun but also inspiring.
When I look at the problems of the world, I often feel helpless. The problems seem so huge, and I so small. What could I possibly do? This feeling of hopelessness went away during the imp!act. I realized that change at first starts on a small scale. You do not have to have the one perfect solution. You simply have to start somewhere. Only through giving an idea a try, you will see if the idea works. From there, you can adapt your idea again and again until you make the impact that you want to make.
The imp!act is about brainstorming, being creative together and receiving the tools to implement ideas, and of course about having fun! The facilitators did a great job sharing their knowledge with us and keeping us motivated with energizers, incredible food and
drinks ;)
Also, we were provided with an impressing network of amazing changemakers who shared their experiences with us and advised us on our ideas.
I was deeply impressed by the atmosphere that was created, a space of co-working, inspiration and also networking. The imp!act is really for everyone, for those who have concrete ideas, as well as for those who seek motivation.
You want to share this experience? Participate in the next imp!act taking place in Zürich (in German) from June 20-23 or in Saint Julien en Genevois (in French) from June 27-30.
Our Easter present: Win a ticket for The Unleash Project
It's Easter time! Before going into the long break, you'll have the possibility to win a fancy Easter present! We draw three tickets for The Unleash Weekend – Societal level from 7 - 8 April in Geneva.
The next weekend is the last one of this 2017/2018 cycle and will be on the topic "Societal Level". Among others, there will be people from Amanitas who show us different models of living and working together. We'll also talk about System Thinking and co-create solutions to societal challenges the participants see in their work environment. Inspiring stories, ideas and people guaranteed!
Sounds good? Then participate in the draw by sending an e-mail to unleash@euforia.org with the Subject "Easter Draw" and three reasons, why you are the right person to win the ticket.
The draw will be open until Monday, 2 April. We'll announce the winners on Tuesday, 3 April per E-Mail.
(r)evolution lab goes local: Lausanne and Zurich
In the past two weeks, two (r)evolution labs took place in Lausanne and Zurich. It was the first time that (r)evolution lab happened on a local level in the local languages. A total of fourteen participants got empowered to organize imp!acts in Zurich, Bern, St.Gallen (university course), Geneva and Lausanne (internal company imp!act). After this first project management weekend, both groups will practice their facilitation skills in April in a second training weekend.
We want to thank the facilitators team Anna, Mario and Lorenz (Zurich) as well as Natalia and Silène (Lausanne) for their amazing work and the participants for continuing spreading the changemaker vibes in their cities!
The next imp!act events will take place in Olten (internal FHNW) from 12 - 17 February, Lima/Peru from 22 - 25 February, Poznan/Poland from 28 February - 3 March, Lima/Peru from 13 - 16 March, Lausanne (internal in a company) from 14 - 17 March, St. Gallen (internal HSG) from 9 - 12 April, Bern from 25 - 29 April. The dates for Zurich and Geneva will be announced soon! Get an overview and find more information here.
Upcoming Radical Collaboration Trainings
Join us to improve your personal and professional relationships in a 3-day transformative journey. You will be enriching your life with great tools to improve the way you collaborate with yourself and with others. You can sign up to our next euforia Radical Collaboration trainings:
- in French in Geneva
- in Zurich in German
- in English in Berlin (organized by our Chief Empowerment Officer together with our former euforia colleague Arne)
Find out more about Radical Collaboration here.
This happened at The Unleash Project last weekend
How can we bring more wellbeing, impact and meaningfulness into institutions? This and more questions we explored the past week end at The Unleash Project in Geneva. It was already the third weekend of this cycle and consisted of different workshops and sessions around the Institutional Level.
With Yoko Malbos from euforia we dived into the topic of Teal Organizations, with a special focus on «Evolving Purpose», «Self-Management» and «Wholeness». We shared our experiences about different types of organizations and learned practices and processes of Teal Organizations.
In the afternoon, Reini Hauser introduced us to the World Work Facilitation, a practice that works a lot with what’s not visible in group discourses, especially when conflicts appear: feelings, intuitions, tensions. We experienced this method in a simulation with the topic IN/OUT Switzerland by taking on the different roles of expats, refugees, Swiss and others.
The end of the day we spent with an apéro and the Share & Grow Night with an interesting input from Hans-Jürgen Koch, a former manager in the finance sector with over 30 years of experience. He gave interesting insights about how to navigate big institutions.
On Sunday morning we continued with Osi König from Collaboratio Helvetica with whom we learned more about cross-organizational collaboration. He shared his realization of the personal identity as a requirement to build a collective identity in order to achieve successful collaboration between organizations and a real change in society. Together we explored the questions what hinders us to collaborate with others and what are the conditions for fruitful cross-organizational collaborations.
Human-centred Design or Service Design was the topic of the workshop with Christoph Pian. The method really puts the human in the centre, meaning that the act of designing aims at improving the experience of people. Hence, empathy and good observation, coupled with a set of creativity/problem-solving tools are the key ingredients of a human-centred design process. we discussed and tried out the four steps to use in a real design process: Defining the problem statement, Stakeholder Map, Creation of a Persona and Storyboarding.
After the inspiring workshops we continued with a reverse coaching session in pairs in order to reflect on our personal and professional experiences and challenges. The coaching session is something we do every weekend and it helps to find ways on how to transform the learnings into real life. We finished the weekend with a debriefing and reflection round.
We want to wholeheartedly thank our amazing host team, the volunteers and of course the participants who co-shaped this inspiring weekend with us! The next one will take place on April 7-8 in Geneva with the topic «Societal level: SDGs and Impact Initiatives». Get more information and register here.
