Ashoka Scandinavia - Community and Impact Report 2017-2018

ASHOKA SCANDINAVIA

2017-2018

COMMUNITY & IMPACT REPORT

ENABLING CHANGEMAKING IN THE NORDIC REGION Ashoka is a global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs – men and women with systems changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social and environmental problems.

Ashoka is committed to act as a catalyst focused on creating urgency and demand for changemaker skills in society. Much like what we did with the field of social entrepreneurship.

During nearly 40 years, Ashoka has not only coined the term social entrepreneur - but also pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship globally. We have identified and helped over 3,800 Ashoka Fellows with their system-changing ideas to solve complex problems. We have also helped the world see why social entrepreneurship is a more powerful way to drive change. Investors invest in them, journalists write about them, universities teach courses and incubators and accelerators support them. In many countries, governments have even created policies to support social entrepreneurs.

Earlier this year, we were thrilled to see that the Swedish government launched a national strategy on how to support social innovations.

In 2017/2018 we are happy to say that our work with cultivating changemaker skills among young people really took off. For the second year in a row, we ran a Changemaker Camp in Sweden for 50 young people that wanted to learn more about how they can develop their ideas and work more systemically. We also started arranging Changemaker Camps in Norway for the first time. We launched Changemakers’ Yard, a digital platform where young people can get the support, concrete tools and methods to develop their ideas – as well as building networks with likeminded peers. Last but not least, we are very happy to welcome two new Ashoka Fellows into the global network, as well as a number of new partners in the Nordic region – who enable us to work with social entrepreneurship as an engine to create positive change.

However, we recognize this is not enough. The rate of change is accelerating and problems are growing faster than the solutions. In such an environment it is not enough for a few to lead and others to follow; Everyone must be a changemaker. Changeskills, i.e. empathy, teamwork, creative problem-solving and leadership have become essential to equip each of us to respond to changes around us. And we have learned that this can only happen only if we start young. Like math and science, changemaker skills need to be practiced early on.

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With this report we invite you to get to know the social entrepreneurs and changemakers we support and collaborate with in the region, the powerful partnerships we have, and we invite you to join us on our journey onward.

Warm greetings from the Ashoka Scandinavia team

ASHOKA: A GLOBAL HOME OF CHANGEMAKERS ASHOKA ENVISIONS AN 'EVERYONE A CHANGEMAKER' WORLD: A WORLD THAT RESPONDS QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY TO SOCIAL CHALLENGES, AND WHERE EACH INDIVIDUAL HAS THE FREEDOM, CONFIDENCE AND SOCIETAL SUPPORT TO ADRESS ANY SOCIAL PROBLEM AND DRIVE CHANGE.

The world has always known change, but the change we see today is transforming the way we live, work, and interact at a rate and scale never seen before.

Technologies have lowered barriers to participation so that everyone can contribute and act collectively more than ever before. As a result, we are living in a truly historic moment where anyone can create positive change. To ensure that everyone knows they can change the world for the better, and does so, along with the leading social entrepreneurs, we also work with young people and educators.

YOUNG CHANGEMAKERS Ashoka aims to foster a world where every young person is empowered to bring about lasting positive change in their communities, organisations, lives and society. We focus on preparing the next generation to navigate this rapidly-changing world by ensuring all young people have the critical skills they need. We create a collaborative environment that fosters empathy, respect, and wellbeing, and inspires children and adolescents to identify problems, invent their own solutions, and take action to implement them.

ASHOKA FELLOWS Ashoka builds networks of pattern-changing social innovators and find high-impact entrepreneurs who creatively solve some of the world’s biggest social challenges. Since 1980, Ashoka has elected over 3,800 leading social entrepreneurs across 90 nations as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and a global network of peers. We find and cultivate social entrepreneurs in every corner of the world, whose systems-changing innovations solve deep-rooted social problems.

CHANGEMAKER EDUCATION We collaborate with schools, educators and organizations in the education field to enable all students to become changemakers – individuals with the skill set and connection to purpose that enable them to generate ideas and take initiative to effectively solve problems and drive positive change. Ashoka's global community of leading schools prioritize empathy, teamwork, leadership and problem-solving as student outcomes.

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FELLOWSHIP Ashoka Fellows are the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. They champion innovative new ideas that transform society’s systems, providing benefits for everyone and improving the lives of millions of people. Ashoka Fellows define the new roadmaps that allow people to thrive in this new environment, while providing solutions and demonstrating the how-tos. They are the ultimate role models in today’s world.

OLE KASSOW CYCLING WITHOUT AGE ASHOKA FELLOW FROM DENMARK ELECTED IN 2017 http://cyclingwithoutage.org/

Cycling Without Age takes elderly nursing home residents, who tend to be socially excluded, back into the streets and allows them to be part of ongoing urban life. As the elderly passengers and younger cyclists co-create new experiences on trishaws, Cycling Without Age showcases the joy of intergenerational exchange to society.

Realizing how isolation and lack of personal relationships affect the elderly’s general sense of life motivation, while identifying the benefits the elderly can bring to younger generations, Ole saw the need to build a bridge between these two groups. Using trishaw bikes, volunteers take elderly people to a destination they agree upon together – ranging from a new café to a location that holds dear memories. Cycling Without Age (CWA) aspires to build a natural platform for storytelling and exchange, creating space for conversations and memories, using city life as a catalyst. While young volunteers learn about their city and the life experiences of the older person, the elderly are empowered to play an active part and share their knowledge and experience.

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Ole started CWA in 2013 to bring community members from different generations together in an adventurous, natural and participatory way.

Exporting some of the most fundamental elements of Danish culture, including a focus on wellbeing and cycling, CWA has developed into a global movement within a few years. The idea has spread to more than 30 countries and now comprises a global network of over 8,000 volunteers.

The concept supplements the currently often ineffective and detached elder care system by connecting key stakeholders, such as municipalities, nursing homes and elderly associations, under the mutual aim of providing better life quality for an increasingly aging population. Altogether, CWA provides a moving platform for experience co-creation and crossgenerational involvement with multiple positive returns to communities, including physical and psychological health benefits for all ages.

OSKAR BLAKSTAD ASSISTED SELF HELP/ EXPLORABLE AS ASHOKA FELLOW FROM NORWAY ELECTED IN 2018 https://assistertselvhjelp.no/

Oskar is leveraging the Norwegian healthcare system to attend to currently under-prioritized patients with mild and moderate symptoms of the most common mental health disorders. By also developing a webbased platform for experts to create and share treatments, Oskar is building a library of interventions, spreading knowledge about mental health and opening up for new types of collaborations within the healthcare system.

With Assisted Self-Help (ASH) tools, Oskar aims to improve the access to affordable treatments among patients who experience mild and moderate symptoms of the most common mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety and sleeping disorders. Oskar is leveraging the Norwegian public mental healthcare system by making web-based ASH treatments available for general practitioners and mental health experts to attend to patients with mild/moderate mental health problems who are currently underprioritized due to lack of resources. Oscar provides a faster response for this large number of patients, thus improving their quality of life.

Simultaneously he addresses the issues of an inefficiently structured and overcrowded healthcare system.

Oskar seeks to create a system where people can quickly get the relevant support they need to treat emerging mental health problems. To achieve this, he is building an author tool based on creative commons principles for mental health experts. With the author tool, specialists can contribute content to web-based interventions in their areas of expertise, allowing them to learn from and build on each other’s practices as well as spreading these interventions to an unlimited number of individuals within specific target groups. Oskar is building connections and ultimately lowering barriers for collaboration across health providers from different areas of expertise, such as psychology, cardiology and general practice. Finally, he is addressing the inefficient structures of the healthcare system and fractured treatment and diagnoses processes by facilitating collaboration between experts, producing knowledge and ultimately saving valuable resources and money in healthcare institutions across the country.

Given the global rise of common mental health disorders, as well as the limited resources of public healthcare institutions and the lack of spaces of collaboration across different areas of expertise, Oskar’s idea could help millions of patients and healthcare workers worldwide.

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ASHOKA SCANDINAVIA FELLOWS DENMARK

JESPER JUUL FAMILY LAB INTERNATIONAL

OLE KASSOW CYCLING WITHOUT AGE

THORKIL SONNE SPECIALISTERNE

NORWAY

EDDI EIDSVÅG PØBELSPROSJEKTET

HANNE FINSTAD FORSKERFABRIKKEN

HEIDI WANG NOEN

KJARTAN EIDE TRIVSELSLEDER

KNUT OVE BØRSETH KJØR FOR LIVET

LONE KOLDBY AKTIVITETSDOSETTEN

MARIT SANNER FORANDRINGSFABRIKKEN

OSKAR BLAKSTAD ASSISTED SELF HELP/EXPLORABLE AS

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SWEDEN

ADMIR LUKACEVIC IDROTT UTAN GRÄNSER

ANDERS WILHELMSON PEEPOOPLE

DENNIS LENNARTSSON SEEQEST

KARL-HENRIK ROBÈRT BLEKINGE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

RUSTAM NABIEV SHIFO

SOFIA APPELGREN MITT LIV

JOHAN WENDT CURLY BRACKET & BARNENS KALAS

GLOBAL FELLOWS FROM THE REGION

JOHANN OLAV KOSS RIGHT TO PLAY

LIISA SMITS IGNITIA

SASCHA HASELMAYER CITYMART

REMEMBERING ORRI VIGFÚSSON The global Ashoka community deeply mourns the loss of Icelandic Fellow Orri Vigfússon, Chairman and Founder of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund.

Elected in 2004, Orri successfully implemented an international effort to conserve and restore wild Atlantic Salmon.

Read more about Orri and his work here.

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ASHOKA FELLOWS CHANGING SYSTEMS Complex problems requires complex solutions, and measuring the impact of these solutions on a system level can be challenging. In this year´s Ashoka Fellow Survey we have categorized some systems and asked how each Fellow´s efforts have impacted these systems during the past five years. The survey includes Ashoka Fellows from Scandinavia as well as Global Fellows from the region*. (Learn more about Ashoka´s understanding of the levels of impact here) FULL CITIZENSHIP & EMPATHETIC ETHICS Completely including people disadvantaged by class, disability, ethnicity, gender, poverty or religion may seem like a small ripple within society. However, their voices and actions can powerfully realign social interconnections to create a more equitable system for all.

Some of the indicators we used to measure the impact created by Ashoka Fellows: • Achieved major milestones towards the full inclusion of disadvantaged groups into society • Connected critical parts of society (i.e. citizens, policymakers, public sector, private sector, investors) • Defined 'increasing empathy towards marginalized and underrepresented groups' as a major focus of their work

90%

of Fellows have worked to achieve full citizenship and empathetic ethics during the past five years CULTURE OF CHANGEMAKING & SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Each person possesses the potential to change his/her community for the better – directly by tackling social problems and indirectly by supporting others’ ideas.

When societies embrace and promote this belief, a new global system will emerge: a world where everyone can lead positive change for the greater good of all.

Some of the indicators we used to measure the impact created by Ashoka Fellows: • Gained media coverage, received awards or recognition • Directly trained individuals to build specific skills to solve problems • Partnered with institutions to create programs that promote social entrepreneurship

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100%

of Fellows have worked to achieve a culture of changemaking and social entrepreneurship during the past five years MARKET DYNAMICS & VALUE CHAINS All business people confront common challenges: accessing goods and services, increasing price efficiencies and receiving information. Poor communities are challenged to access the market as producers or distributors. These variables interact in an intricate web, so when one changes, it alters how the entire market system operates.

Some of the indicators we used to measure the impact created by Ashoka Fellows: • Increased access to goods, services, or trade in the existing market • Created value for a product/service where one previously did not exist • Created a new market that allows people to trade or access a product or service they previously could not • Provided ways for low-income individuals to generate income • Changed or increased the flow of market information

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of Fellows have worked to improve market dynamics and value chains during the past five years

PUBLIC POLICY & INDUSTRY NORMS When societies change public policy and industry norms, they change the interconnections within the social system; they change the rules of the game.

Some of the indicators we used to measure the impact created by Ashoka Fellows: • Drafted key pieces of legislation or executive policy statements • Provided testimony or research • Organized citizen action to influence government officials • Achieved changes in the code of conduct, mission statement, or official policy of a large organization or industry at a national level • Created change in government policy or regulations at a national level

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of Fellows have worked to better public policy & industry norms during the past five years REDUCING THE GAP BETWEEN THE BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SECTOR As businesses are becoming more socially aware and citizen organisations are becoming more business savvy, the distinction between them is disintegrating. Soon a new system which assesses its economic and social impact will evolve: the business social sector.

Some of the indicators we used to measure the impact created by Ashoka Fellows: • Earning revenue through a for-profit element • Having a common vision with the business sector for social impact • Collaborating with the business sector to increase the social impact

90%

of Fellows have worked to reduce the gap between the business and social sector during the past five years

90% of the Ashoka Fellows responded say that Ashoka supported them in connecting with other Fellows, Ashoka Support Network members and others in the network which have been important for their work.

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These connections Ashoka provided for the Fellows resulted in: Mentorship New partnerships (e.g. new board member, advisor, etc.)

Funding Public speaking opportunities Accelerator programs (e.g.

Ashoka Globalizer, Migration initiative) Development of product and planning forward Pro-bono support Introduction to potential partners

*The survey is responded by 11 Fellows across Denmark, Sweden and Norway as well as Global Fellows from the region.

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YOUNG CHANGEMAKERS We support young changemakers to develop the core changemaker skills of empathy, creativity, leadership and teamwork and to enable changemaker experiences such as developing ideas to drive social change. We believe that gaining mastery of changemaker skills will equip young people to live good lives here and now and in the future.

CHANGEMAKERS' YARD On May 2018, together with our partner Raoul Wallenberg Academy, we have launched the digital platform Changemakers' Yard - a meeting place for young social entrepreneurs who want to create positive change in the world. The platform aims to support young people to identify themselves as changemakers through introducing concrete tools and exercises as well as providing inspiration from other social entrepreneurs and young people.

Changemakers' Yard enables young people to: develop and test their ideas to improve society make use of the exercises to improve their selfleadership skills get inspiration from leading social entrepreneurs, including Ashoka Fellows, who address various social and environmental problems. gain access to a peer-to-peer network

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CHANGEMAKER CAMPS Changemaker Camps are structured to provide the necessary tools and inspiration to the young participants for them to develop their ideas to influence a better society, as well as to offer support from the idea stage to action. During the camps, participants learn more about social entrepreneurship and get the opportunity to improve their self-leadership skills. We also invite a number of experts in their fields (communications, PR, design, leadership and social entrepreneurship) to support the young participants through different workshops and activities.

Two years in a row, in 2017 and 2018, together with our partner Raoul Wallenberg Academy, we have gathered in total approximately 70 young participants between the ages of 16-21, including those recently moved to Sweden. In 2018, we scaled the concept from Sweden to Norway and organized the first Changemaker Camps in Oslo.

CHANGEMAKER SCHOOLS

Ashoka Changemaker Schools is a global network launched to identify, connect and support innovative schools around the world. Once selected, the Ashoka Changemaker Schools are connected with each other and with Ashoka’s community of social entrepreneurs and supporters from different sectors with the aim of reshaping the traditional education system.

In 2012, Ashoka launched the Changemaker Schools program globally and has since selected and supported over 260 schools from across the U.S., Africa, Asia and Europe. In Scandinavia, we have elected 8 schools across the region including the first three Norwegian schools joined into our network in 2017. Read more about them below:

UWC Red Cross Nordic's stance is ‘Glocal’, meaning that they are connected to and rooted in the local environment but with a global mind-set and framework. In relation to this, the school seeks to educate diverse range of young people to become global citizens with an open mind-set who are leading change in their local communities.

UNG INVEST AIB Ung Invest AIB (Young Invest) is a complementary educational institute, offering vocational courses and optional academic training for youth who have dropped out of high school or are at risk of dropping out. The school strives to spread the notion that young people should not be judged based on their learning abilities or academic success, but rather on the values they bring to society and their strengths. Young Invest uses educational methods that are based on appreciative inquiry, positive psychology and social constructivism that brings out and promotes each student’s strengths and talents.

NORDAHL GRIEG VGS To ensure a supportive, stimulating and communicative learning environment, Nordahl Grieg VGS has five core values: openness, human dignity, democracy, inclusion and sustainability. To understand and being able to address the social and environmental challenges the world is facing, is considered to be the main learning outcome of the school. Nordahl Grieg VGS is a pioneering school in the use of new technologies and learning methods in education. The school received the award of ‘most innovative school’ in 2015 by the Norwegian Centre for Information and Communication Technology in Education.

UWC RED CROSS NORDIC The school’s educational model places diversity at the core of all the practices and build towards their vision, influencing ‘peace and a sustainable future’ through using experiential learning in academic studies as well as developing students’ personal and social skills through extracurricular activities.

OTHER CHANGEMAKER SCHOOLS IN THE REGION: *Röselidsskolan (SE) *Fryshusets Grundskola (SE) *Young Business Creatives (SE) *True North Efterskole (DK) *Ørestad Gymnasium (DK)

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THE ASHOKA SUPPORT NETWORK The Ashoka Support Network is a global community of successful leaders from a variety of fields who work with us to further the field of social entrepreneurship and connect with the world’s leading social entrepreneurs to accelerate positive social change. They support Ashoka financially as well as strategically, offering their time, networks and expertise.

ANDERS ECKHOFF NORWAY

CECILIA KRAGSTERMAN SWEDEN

HARALD NORVIK NORWAY

LENNART GREBELIUS SWEDEN

TOMAS BJÖRKMAN SWEDEN

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ANDREAS ENGER NORWAY

ARNE MEDLIEN NORWAY

BILL HOOVER DENMARK

ESPEN HALVORSEN NORWAY

FINN EIDE NORWAY

GUSTAV BARD SWEDEN

JAN MAGNUS UGGLA SWEDEN

JAN-OLOF BACKMAN SWEDEN

KATARINA WALTER SWEDEN

ODD CHRISTOPHER HANSEN NORWAY

SUSANNE MUNCH THORE NORWAY

THARALD NUSTAD NORWAY

TOM EVEN MORTENSEN NORWAY

PARTNERS

PRO-BONO PARTNERS

STAFF

MAJA FRANKEL DIRECTOR NORDICS

KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS EMMA LINDGREN DIRECTOR SWEDEN

HOW TO GET INVOLVED?

To work towards our vision of creating a world where everyone has the courage and ability to identify and act on solving problems around them, we collaborate and are supported by individuals, foundations, companies and other organizations that are equally committed to our vision, mission and work. Globally, Ashoka does not accept government funding in order to be an independent organization. Here is how you can get involved:

HELGA ØVSTHUS TØNDER DIRECTOR NORWAY

JOIN ASHOKA SUPPORT NETWORK (FOR INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES) Ashoka Support Network is a global community of 350+ accomplished professionals. Members share our understanding of entrepreneurship as a driving force for economic and social development. Both individuals and companies are invited to join this network.

BE A STRATEGIC PARTNER Ashoka’s strategic partners work with us to increase our and Ashoka Fellows’ social impact. Partners are forward thinking and leading companies working in the areas of communications, finance, strategy and legal, to name a few.

EZGI DAHLBERG VENTURE, FELLOWSHIP & OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

INVEST IN ASHOKA Investors are companies and organizations that work closely with Ashoka to support our current projects or co-create new initiatives with us. Investors also enable us to select and support new Ashoka Fellows.

NOMINATE A FELLOW If you are interested in recommending a social entrepreneur to the Ashoka Fellowship, we welcome any information about a candidate and their work that you can provide. You can do this by recommending a candidate through this link or by emailing us.

CHRISTINA LIDÉN FINANCE & LEGAL MANAGER

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Ashoka.Scandinavia AshokaScand www.ashoka.org

ASHOKA SCANDINAVIA NORRSKEN HOUSE, FACK 46 BIRGER JARLSGATAN 57C 113 56 STOCKHOLM/SWEDEN Â SCANDINAVIA@ASHOKA.ORG