work... vacation... workation!

When I first started working for euforia, I was mailed all the dates with our events and so forth that I should reserve in the upcoming months. One of them was a one week long slot and called “workation”. At first I was overtly excited. Can it get any cooler than going on a work vacation with your colleagues? My second feeling was a bit more sceptic. Isn’t this a contradiction in itself - vacation and work? How blurry do we want the line between working and free time to be? I thus arrived with a lot of curiousity, wondering what I was about to experience.

euforia works from different parts of Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal. So I got to meet people I had not met before. We got together as euforia employees, volut’heros, and former members. The fact that we had this time and space for exchange was very enriching to me. I felt that euforia and its reach is actaully much bigger than what I see on a daily basis. I appreciated the different viewpoints that came together, depending on the individual experiences and roles of the people.

I first imagined that we would dive deep into the practical aspects of our work, get together in our circles in which we work, and advance on very specific things. As it turned out though is that we took this time and place for lots of discussions, also for the difficult discussions that on a daily basis we do not have as a team. Frankly speaking, this was at the same time inspiring and tiring for me. However, I felt that whenever we reached a dead point in a session we could then go and relax, or in other words do our vacation time, and get some distance in order to come back to the discussion more refreshed than before.

For the way that euforia operates I believe that the concept of the workation is a beautiful one because it gives the space to deeply go into dialogue, to work on our common purpose, and to (re)connect with each other.

- Clara, 18.10.2018

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Welcome Silene

Hi everyone !

My name is Silene. I grew up in Montpellier, in the South of France, making me a very happy person when the sky is blue and the sun is out. I studied political sciences and originally specialized in human rights protection and disarmament issues, which I keep working on from time to time when not caught up in euforia related activities. I love learning and discovering new things, reading, having drinks and eating with friends, listening to podcasts, travelling by bike, everything related to the sea or the ocean, reaching a breathtaking view after a very long and nice hike in the mountains, and discovering new cool social and environmental projects. All of the above being twice as enjoyable if the sun is shining at the same time.

My first encounter with euforia happened in 2014 when I randomly participated in the very first imp!act organized in France. Since then, I have not been able to get rid of my euforia addiction. I love the way euforia makes societal and environmental engagement so positive and so much fun. One of my main characteristics would be my geographical volatility. I love to travel and I share my time between France, Switzerland and Belgium. And although this requires a lot of hours spent on the train every month, it also enables me to be a very active member of euforia France and a euforia staff member in Geneva! I also get super excited about non-hierarchical, self-management and collective intelligence related topics and the innovative tools that come with them.

I am very happy to be part of such an optimistic and innovative team, to learn new things and to share the magic of imp!act and (r)evolution lab, which brought so much to my life, with as many people as possible.

Welcome Sonia!

Hello everyone, I am Sonia! I am 27 years old and was born in France, near Paris.

I have always loved traveling as my parents are Spanish and since I was a child, we would always go to Spain to spend all our holidays. When I grew up, I decided to study a Master in Controlling and I had the opportunity to travel in Sweden for my Erasmus, in London for an internship as well as in Brussels for my last year internship. When I was in Sweden, I spent most of my time traveling around Sweden and abroad, for example in Norway, Finland, and Estonia. I had the chance to visit Lapland and to do some dogsledding, snowmobile and even jump into frozen water inside a sauna. Unfortunately, I missed the northern lights and I am desperate to go back to be able to see some!  

Then, after my experience in Brussels, I quit everything in order to move to Switzerland and start working for international companies in the private sector in controlling and supply chain. After a while, I became vegetarian as I always loved animals and I was also very sensitive about the environment. I lived most of the time with one or two dogs, a turtle and a rabbit at my parent's home.

In 2017 I could not stand to work for a company that did not share my values and I decided to follow my passion and my dreams. I constantly felt that I could be more useful in our world. This is why I looked for a job at a non-profit organization and when I found euforia, this was the perfect opportunity! Euforia is my dream organization as it has a real impact in the world, it helps finding great solutions to our current challenges and share my values.

Welcome Bruno!

Dear community, 

My name is Bruno and I am 24 years old for a few more days ;)
I was born on June 1st, 1993 in the city of Calvin and grew up in the small town of Nyon. I had the chance to study in several cities in Switzerland and abroad such as in Denmark and Canada. In September 2017, I obtained my Bachelor in Business Administration. I am now taking a Master’s degree with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation at the School of Management of Fribourg. Indeed, innovation and new technologies have always fascinated me. In addition, I have the dream of starting my own venture, through which, I wish to defend my convictions and promote values such as social and environmental responsibility, authenticity and transparency.

I like to spend most of my free time traveling around Switzerland and the world. Speaking of, the above photo was taken in Iceland. I really appreciate discovering new places and meeting new people who inspire me and make me grow. Throughout my experiences and encounters, I have developed a resilient character and feel ready to face any challenge.

Joining the euforia team is an incredible opportunity for me to meet enthusiastic changemakers and passionate people in an innovative environment. I look forward to meeting all those who make up the community and contribute to the success of this euphoric family. 

Welcome Lucas!

Grützi everyone! My name is Lucas, but friends also call me Lupo. I am 27 years old and I was born in Cologne in Germany. I would describe myself as an analytical thinker, as I love structure, numbers and finding the so called “facts”, but I also have a strong connection with my heart and values ;) My energy is driven and turbulent when motivated to reach goals and grounded in times of contemplation and rest. Also, I am an outgoing and open-minded person who is interested in meeting people from heart to heart. 

I love exploring the world and seeing all its different beautiful places. It became clear to me that I wanted to do something so that it stays this beautiful. Thus, I decided to study Energy- and Environmental Technologies in Hamburg in order to work in the field of renewable Energy in the future. 

Well to be honest the engineering studies at a conservative university did not really drive my passion. I escaped to go surfing with friends as often as I could. Also, green energy is just not enough to bring a sustainable change, because it is us who really have to reinvent the way we live on this planet.

After my bachelor thesis I took another journey of 8 months to South America to learn Spanish, but mostly to find my purpose again and to learn how to decelerate life and let things fall into place naturally and it worked quite well. I am usually late now and before working there is always time for chats and food ;) By the way the photo was taken in one of the driest spots on Earth, the Atacama dessert. In the rare event of rain it starts blossoming and showing sheer endless patches of flowers.

My Master’s degree in International Management and Engineering is almost finished. The subjects of Project Management and Marketing gave me the opportunity to get to know more proactive topics and to keep in mind the most important factor for me - the people. Recently my best friend told me about euforia and what it stands for. It strongly resonated with my heart and I put all my intentions towards starting an internship here. Really, I was super euforic and I saw it as my escape route out of engineering. Luckily my wishes were heard and a new exciting chapter with this amazing team of changemakers and visionaries has started. I can’t wait to contribute with you!

Welcome Clara!

My name is Clara and I am 25 years old. I grew up in the beautiful city Regensburg, and spent my last five years in Freiburg, Germany, where I finished my Bachelor degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. My study program was really inspiring and mind opening to me in many regards. After graduating I was thus in search for an institution that strives towards making a societal change. It is through a very good friend of mine that I heard of euforia. She participated in the imp!act a few years ago and she still feels enthusiastic about this experience. After attending myself I understand why. So instead of moving closer again to my family, as I anticipated, I decided to come to Zürich instead in order to be able to work in this productive, innovative and optimistic atmosphere. I am so happy to be part of the euforia team as an intern, to learn new things, meet great people, to be open minded and to make an impact myself.

Strategic partnerships with oikos St.Gallen and Social Impact Awards

We are happy to announce two strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations!

EVOLVE conference 20 - 21 April 2018, University of St.Gallen

The goal of the conference, organized by the oikos Social Entrepreneurship team is to create a platform on which social entrepreneurs, start-ups, corporates and interested students can interact and develop their own network, as well as raise awareness for social entrepreneurship and learn about its essential role for the future of business. Participants receive the opportunity to develop their knowledge in doing business socially by not only meeting successful and inspirational experts but also partaking in workshops, keynotes and panels led by them. They will cover a varying range of themes, such as using Blockchain technology for a social purpose, Impact Investment, Micro-Sharing, the Psychology of doing business socially, customizing your own business plan and many more.
We're happy to give strategic support in the planning of the conference and to see euforians being there as workshop facilitators, e.g. Svetlana on Impact Investing or Severin and Benjamin on how to initiate social projects.

Would you like to learn, interact and make a change? Come to EVOLVE!

Social Impact Award

The Social Impact Award is the first Swiss-wide program of the Impact Hub network and one of the most important programs for the design and development of social enterprises in Europe. It is intended for young people who want to realize their own projects and thus change and improve the world. The program will sensitize young people to entrepreneurship through the workshops, participants will present their ideas for winning a three-month incubation course and a monetary prize.
We'll be giving support to the organizing team in the organization, communication and by offering imp!act workshops as part of the programme. You can sign-up here for the kick-off event on 10th April to meet the people and hear what it's all about.

Find here more information on the Social Impact Award.

Welcome Diogo!

Hi, I'm Diogo and I'm from Mem Martins, Portugal. I was born in Lisbon, but I have always lived in Mem Martins, near the beautiful town of Sintra.

My greatest passions are music and humor. In my free time I play guitar and drums, I like being with my family & friends and doing long walks alone or accompanied. When I have a lot of energy, I practice kickboxing, and in the most creative moments in which I feel the need to express myself, I like to write humorous texts. This allows me to have different perspectives of the same reality and to be fairer with myself and with others.

This photograph was taken in Cape Verde, in one of my missions in which I had the privilege of participating and meeting simple, warmhearted and happy people. This experience taught me to feel grateful for what I have and to be happy to simply exist. There are days that seem hazy, but there is always a sun behind the clouds to shine. And the sun has shone and I have the opportunity to be part of this beautiful family, to be able to make a difference and to be an actor of change in a world that I love so much!