Big Changes Start with Small Solutions: an ideas workshop for International Women’s Day

Bicycles carrying kilos of fish….rock concerts…. the world’s biggest sandwich…art made out of packaged food, NGO network building……. 2nd hand designer clothing……. online platforms for volunteering solutions……taxis and potatoes…..ethical hairdressing salons…… professional internships….
Youtube playlist? Coffee shop eavesdropping? Twitter madness?
No, all of the above and much more were practical solutions proposed by ACT students to meet the needs of two local non-profit organizations during the event “Big changes start with small solutions”.   
On Wednesday March 6th  (in advance of International Women’s Day), the Inspiration Exchange team, in collaboration with the ACT Careers Service convened a workshop designed to create practical solutions to local NGOs’ needs by harnessing the power of students’ creativity, business-oriented minds and social responsibility ethos. Over 65 people attended the event and by generating initiatives in groups, the whole became greater than the sum of its parts.  Ideas built on thoughts which combined with sparks of inspiration, which through coaching and brainstorming,  bounced off  each other to develop and coalesce into real ways to solve problems.  The event demonstrated that any idea, however ‘out of the box’ or unfeasible it may seem, can become  a realistic way forward when it is shared, considered and worked on cooperatively .
‘Big changes start with small solutions’ consisted of input from three local non-profit organizations run by women: Desmos, Thessaloniki Women’s Shelter and Volunteer4Greece who presented some of the specific needs of their organizations, which the workshop participants then came up with solutions for.
The organizations are all Thessaloniki based NGOs, established in response to the growing need for civil society input to social and economic problems with a growing awareness and willingness of the public to give their time and energy pro bono.
Desmos is a volunteer run group that provides a platform for linking surplus goods with people in need, the Women’s Shelter offers psychological, legal and practical assistance for abused women and Volunteer4 Greece is an online platform for linking volunteers with posts.
The ideas generated will be developed by the organizations and put into practice.  ACT, via the Careers and Business Liaison office, through Civil Society and Communications classes and in collaboration with Business and marketing courses, will sustain this work started at the event, and continue to work with the NGOs towards sustainable progress.
 The Inspiration Exchange is an initiative of the Dukakis Center for Humanitarian and Public Service.  ‘Big Changes’ was a joint Inspiration Exchange and ACT Careers Office event, coordinated by the ACT Service Learning Coordinator-Laura Streith, Civil Society Instructor-Ruth Sutton and the Careers & Business Liaison Officer - Adriane Thrash.