Different Approaches, One Goal: International Week of Social Entrepreneurship at ITMO University

All throughout the past week at ITMO University, seven teams from Russia, the US and Switzerland were developing social projects to then present them to the judges. The students and lecturers forming part of the groups interacted with their colleagues, discussed the difference in social entrepreneurship approaches in their countries, and exchanged experiences in order to come up with the most comprehensive solution for their tasks.

International Week of Social Entrepreneurship at ITMO University is a project based on the long-standing partnership between ITMO, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO). The initiative is a logical continuation of the International Festival of Social Entrepreneurship (IFSE), but with a significantly expanded educational component.

A week of lectures, workshops and site visits

In the course of a week, the teams attended lectures and workshops, gave mini-presentations on social entrepreneurship in their countries, and visited St. Petersburg's socially oriented businesses.

• Touch the World — a museum that lets sighted visitors experience the world as it is felt by people with visual impairments.
• Legko-Legko — a project that helps inclusive ateliers sell their products.
• Ogurtsy (Cucumbers) — an inclusive cafe that hires people with health limitations.

“I think that social entrepreneurship is an important part of public life regardless of the country. I'm happy to be part of our team and help the activists who, for a couple of years already, have been working on a program for helping war veterans. The International Week of Social Entrepreneurship is a great opportunity for each country's students to discover different ways of doing this activity. Social entrepreneurship is detached from national ideas, it teaches you to think not only about yourself, and in this dialog we can be not only Russian, American or Swiss, but first and foremost, people — members of one big human family,” said Archie Lee Holton, a lecturer at UCLA.

Three countries, three models

The differences showed up even in how the teams were composed: the Russian team was made up of student members of ITMO's Volunteer Center, the US team of entrepreneurs and members of a local accelerator, and the Swiss team of professional social workers.

“This was a really interesting experience, as our countries have an entirely different approach to social entrepreneurship. For Americans, this is first and foremost an opportunity to earn money and only then a socially oriented activity. In our case it's exactly the opposite: the social problem comes first, and whether we can earn something off it matters less. Russia is somewhere in the middle. The American team can shed light on how to raise revenues from social entrepreneurship, while ITMO can explain the ins and outs of coordinating a volunteer center,” commented Emmanuel Philippe Claude Fridez, a lecturer at HES-SO.

His colleague Benoit Renevey noted that the Swiss team was especially interested in Russia's volunteering movement, because Swiss social entrepreneurship relies on qualified social workers rather than volunteers.

“American projects tend to aim at making profits, and it is important to distinguish social entrepreneurship from corporate social responsibility. The Swiss participants are the least concerned with the financial aspect because the state provides full support, so profit-making is an additional option rather than a goal. In the Russian context this is third-sector, nonprofit work: like the Swiss, we're driven by positive change in the social sphere, but because state support is harder to obtain we have to think about the money too,” explained Yuri Kuporosov, a manager at ITMO University's Student Initiatives Support Department.

The projects

The UCLA students focused on the social rehabilitation of US war veterans. “Many veterans don't have their own housing, and because they also suffer from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, they don't have a lot of chances to return to normal life on their own. We want to create a center where veterans would have access to a roof over their heads, support, and professional medical and psychological help,” explained Matthew Gonzalez, a UCLA student.

Switzerland was represented by three teams, two of which combined into one final project.

• An intergenerational center connecting teenagers and seniors, so teens learn practical skills such as cooking and work habits while seniors share knowledge and learn about the modern world — presented by Ruben Alexandre Gomes Dias (HES-SO).
• A student volunteer center modeled on ITMO's, where students choose a field — from supporting the severely ill to animal shelters and environmental protection — launching with a large ecological fair featuring creative projects, including work by people with disabilities.

ITMO University fielded three teams with the projects “Festivities to Kids”, “#VSeti” and “Buddy System”.

• #VSeti (In the Network) — teaching elderly people to use smartphones and mobile apps; launched in spring 2019 with the Silver Age nonprofit and later requested by libraries and commercial organizations.
• Festivities to Kids — concerts, creative workshops and performances for children undergoing treatment in hospitals.
• Buddy System — pairing international exchange students at ITMO with Russian student tutors to ease their transition.

Reported by Antonina Nikulina for ITMO.NEWS, translated by Anastasia Krasilnikova.