Young people all over the world are willing to use their innovative capacities to find solutions for complex social issues. NN and Junior Achievement organise the Social Innovation Relay (SIR) to stimulate students to develop an innovative concept that helps solve a social problem. During the competition, the participants learn useful skills relating to entrepreneurship and innovation.
In this series, our colleague Marit van der Veldt interviews the three winners of the 2021 global final of the SIR. Team Pet-Link, consisting of Alexandros, Konstantinos, Vasilis, and Lydia came up with an online platform in Greece to match stray dogs with potential owners. The platform would also function as a blood bank for dogs. The team has already received press attention, and we were happy they could make time for us.
Can you tell us something about yourselves and your project?
Pet-link: We are all in school together and we were in an entrepreneurship class together here in Greece. The first idea for Pet-Link came from Alexandros and Konstantinos, and then we started developing the project. Stray dogs are a big problem in Greece, so we started building on that issue. We think the solution is Pet-Link, a platform where we find the perfect owners for stray dogs, and with a database that also functions as a blood bank for dogs. With this algorithm, Pet-Link can assure the best possible life for dogs that used to live on the street.
‘There were some hurdles we had to overcome during the process of creating Pet-Link, but we have improved our communication skills and we always had good debates; which allowed us to listen to what the other person has to say. It is a good experience to learn from.’
What matters most to you?
Konstantinos: Of course, I will say it is family and friends first, but we are also in the phase of life where we are about to go to university and go through all these big changes. So, at this point, one of the things that matters most to me is the future.
Alexandros: To add to this, and related more to the business mentality, they say we are the generation that has the ability to change the world. So, I think there are many things that our generation must change that matter to the future, such as the ways we produce and the ways we communicate with each other, and the ways we understand the world. This matters to me.
Vasilis: We are at an age where we are very worried about our futures, for example how we can make the future slightly better or how to be sure that we will succeed in life. But I think that all of us have one thing in common and that is that we care about finding solutions to (social) problems.
Lydia: I think we are definitely in that stage where we care about our own futures, but we also really care for the future of this world. It is a great combination to be making a change through creating our business. The Social Innovation Relay was the perfect spot for that.
How did you experience the finals, and seeing all the other countries present and compete?
We were a bit scared and anxious to see all the other teams presenting. But it was a great experience to see all the other cultures and other countries present their ideas. It is also inspiring, because the other teams touched on subjects that we had never even thought of. You think ‘Oh what a great idea this team had’ and then you learn from it as an entrepreneur, it's very motivating. We obviously would have loved to meet all the teams in real life, but even online the experience was great.
Our purpose is to help people care for what matters most to them. We believe it is important to invest in an inclusive economy through our community investment programme, so that everyone can participate. We are proud to have a partnership with Junior Achievement Europe. This supports our aim to contribute to the well-being of the people and the planet so that people can thrive for many generations to come.
July 27, 2021
An interview with SIR 2021 winning team Scribo
Team Scribo from Slovakia, consisting of Jakub, Miroslava, Gréta and Oszkár, have started an innovative company to create low-waste whiteboard markers that are made from beeswax.
July 13, 2021
An interview with SIR 2021 winning team Esperanza
Team Esperanza, consisting of Jean Ee, Janessa and Kareena, came up with Resiztable, a one-stop-shop for sustainable wardrobe management.
