Venuepark is a go-to event planning platform, making it easier than ever to find and book venues and event services. After a selection procedure at all the applied sciences universities in The Netherlands, the best 7 teams entered into the final in Amsterdam. The competitors would be assessed on the following criteria: how realistic, scalable and financially solid their business is, how well-balanced their strategy is, the motivation and skills of the team and of course, creativity. The incredibly exciting and immensely promising pitches of all the young entrepreneurs made the level of this final very high. Ultimately, Venuepark was unanimously rated as the best. The second place was won by students from Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the third place by students from University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.

Worldwide final in Copenhagen
By the end of June, the team is going to Copenhagen to compete with national winners from all over the world. This global final is a hugely exciting opportunity for the Inholland team. The start-ups will get additional training, facetime with investors and a chance to win € 50,000 in funding.

Founder Tony: "Of course we want to win in Copenhagen. The prize money would be a huge support for our company as well as the additional training. At this moment, the feeling of being the best of The Netherlands and meeting all these excellent creative entrepreneurs gave us a massive boost."

In her Business Innovation studies, she has chosen the 'macro innovation' graduation track where she is learning how to use business and entrepreneurship as a driving force for tackling social problems. Tess: 'Through my degree programme I became aware of Clean2Antarctica, a non-profit organisation which shows how you can make a big impact even if you start small. In this case, with the first solar-powered expedition to the South Pole and a sailing think tank. After a stringent selection procedure, I was selected to take part in 'Leg 2' of the Quest for Change with other students from numerous different disciplines and every corner of the world.'

Clean2Antarctica is regularly featured on the TV show Hart van Nederland, continues to appear in several (international) newspapers and has been highlighted by National Geographic, among other publications.

Learning means daring
According to Tess, the vision of Clean2Antarctica ties in with the Inholland themes such as the core topic of Working on sustainable solutions, as well as Learning = daring. Tess: 'The same themes also take centre stage in both my personal and professional life, my studies and the Quest for Change. Inholland stands for learning by daring. Learning by trying out new things, being courageous and flexible, learning what the world needs: this is exactly what I would like to achieve with this Quest.'

About Clean2Antarctica
Clean2Antarctica is an alliance of driven people who challenge themselves and each other to come up with inventive ways of building a community which accelerates the transition to the circular economy. They believe that if you want to achieve something, you also need to take a practical step towards your goal yourself, no matter how uncomfortable this may be. Don't get stuck in plans and intentions, just do it! And if you don't know how or what, have the courage to experiment. They are dreaming of a green, liveable and clean world in which we continue to inspire each other and help each other to grow. A circular society in which not just humans, but everything on the planet has its rights.

More info or sponsoring? Mail Tess.

How do you prevent automation leading to conflicts in the workplace? A student team from the international programme Business Innovation (formerly IBIS) at Inholland Diemen won the 24H DAS Innovatie Challenge with their solution to this case study. DAS, a company that offers legal and financial services, organised the 24-hour hackathon to illustrate that young people are better able than anyone to look at the future through an innovative lens.

The participants were all challenged to come up with an innovative concept that contributes to creating a world without legal conflicts and financial worries. In total, some 55 students – including two teams from Business Innovation – and young DAS employees worked on creative solutions.

The winning team – which won a prize cheque worth 2,500 euros – focused on the case study entitled ‘A world without legal conflicts’. Based on a future societal scenario in which robots take over our jobs, the group worked to come up with a solution to prevent labour conflicts.

Career insurance
'Our solution focuses on providing assistance during the transition period from partial automation to full automation', team captain Anuschka Ried explains. 'Companies pay DAS a subscription fee per employee, in exchange for which DAS provides insurance for the employee’s career once they lose their job as a result of automation. At that point, DAS finds a similar position at another company in its network, while the employee continue to receive their salary'.

Getting a feel for lucrative ideas
It was a particularly instructive challenge for the students that participated. Anuschka: 'I learned how to maximise productivity under pressure and how to get a feel for developing lucrative ideas'. 'The most important thing I learned from this challenge is that the knowledge and skills that I gain during my studies are relevant in the real world and can bring about change', her teammate Tim Apthorp adds. 'I find that very motivating'.

Source: Baaz, entrepreneur publication, December 2017