THINK TANK
WRITER: Lotta Knuutinen Communications Manager, Aalto University School of Economics
Responsible Innovations to Reduce Poverty
Innovations that reduce poverty are beneficial on a societal level, and a profitable business. In responsible innovations, the business idea is a product or service created to solve a social or environmental problem. “Innovations that reduce poverty tackle two of the most highly topical problems of the 21st century: poverty and the sustainable use of natural resources. Innovations create added value for people living in emerging markets,” says Professor Prabhu Kandachar from the Delft University of Technology. Kandachar spoke at the opening seminar of the BoP project at the Aalto University School of Economics in Januar y.
Two thirds of the world’s population live in emerging markets. They earn less than five euros a day. The Base of the Pyramid (BoP) project of the Aalto University School of Economics aims at finding innovative business models for emerging markets.
“We are testing new business models through concrete pilot projects in cooperation with Finnish parties and partner countries,” says Professor Minna Halme, who is in charge of the BoP project. One of the pilot projects is The Plexus that promotes innovative entrepreneurship. The Plexus project includes developing the teaching of innovative entrepreneurship and teaching experiential learning methods to the teachers of Kabul University and Tribhuva University. “The aim is to teach innovative entrepreneurship to graduating students so that they have the opportunity to make a living and become employed after graduation,” Professor and one of the founders of Innovation Democracy Liisa Välikangas explains. “Many students are left unemployed after graduation which leads to frustration and possible radicalisation. Entrepreneurial skills combined with innovative business thinking help the well-educated ‘future hopes’ of a country to support the country’s positive development,” Välikangas says.
www.hse.fi/bop
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