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At Rio+20: Will the Realities and the Possibilities for BoP Housing Truly Be Addressed?
There is a vital need to embrace concepts that incorporate the needs of all stakeholders (particularly harnessing the voices of the BoP themselves) via housing models that can handle market immaturities whilst building both at the necessary scale and to globally recognized quality standards. Let´s discard with the concepts that only focus on the short- to medium-term and examine how it is genuinely possible to tackle the complexities of the sector.
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- Uncategorized
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VOZ: From Chile, Bringing ‘Triple E’ Fashion and Connecting BoP Artisans With Luxury Markets
I am grateful that this young product designer, who graduated from Stanford, trained in innovation, cultural anthropology and art, has chosen the Araucanía Region of Chile to launch VOZ (Voice), a start-up that seeks to promote fair trade in luxury ethnic fashion, based on collaborative, environmentally-friendly design and production methods.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Entering NB’s Case Competition? Join the WDI Webinar June 21 for Tips and Tools to Build the Perfect Case Study
The hour-long webinar on June 21, which will start with a brief overview of case method teaching and learning, followed by guidelines for the first steps of writing a case study. Specifically, participants will learn how to develop solid, measureable teaching objectives, choose a case topic, determine an organization or company to feature, gather credible background information, and create a case outline.
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- Education, Social Enterprise
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Is Brazil Truly a Latin American Social Housing Leader?
Extreme poverty levels have decreased by over 50 percent since 2003 as a result of several initiatives across Brazil. In the housing sector, the most notable effort was the 2009 launch of Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life) – aimed at constructing new homes while simultaneously creating objectives to cease the presence of insalubrious living conditions that have long characterized the country. The program has subsequently become a template for progress in global BoP housing sector, but a closer look at the facts reveals another story…
- Categories
- Finance, Uncategorized
- Tags
- housing, infrastructure
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Introducing the 2013 NextBillion Case Writing Competition Judges
Winning cases for the NextBillion Case Writing Competition will be published and likely adopted by numerous university professors instructing the next generation of business leaders. So we’re happy to have a team of judges with seriously strong CVs and a depth of experience in the worlds of academia, consulting, development, and business.
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- Education, Social Enterprise
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Weekly Roundup: Bringing Broadband to the BoP and Other Insights From OMJ’s BoP Week
Like housing, expanding broadband requires close collaboration with public and private stakeholders, and a willingness to build trust across them. Building that trust was part of the mission of the Opportunities for the Majority’s Strategic Partners Dialogue, which brought together government officials, financers, NGOs, and, of course, entrepreneurs to discuss how policy innovation can be a catalyst for market-based solutions to poverty in both broadband and housing.
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- Technology, Telecommunications
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NexThought Monday: In Failure, a Marketing Lesson for Social Entrepreneurs: What we can learn from the closing of The Hoop Fund
The Hoop Fund was built on a truly innovative premise: Allow consumers to purchase premium goods from small businesses in the developing world, while simultaneously supporting those businesses with microloans. Unfortunately, the model suffered from critical gaps in marketing strategy, which made it almost impossible to achieve scale.
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- Education
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Catalyzing Retail Investment to Fund the ‘Missing Part’ of the Missing Middle
Recent developments in crowdfunding legislation in the U.S. and general growing interest in retail investment in Europe and the US are signaling a growth in new capital available for impact investing. But how does the impact sector ensure there are enough investment products to cater to the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of unaccredited investors who are increasingly interested in international investment opportunities that will deliver diverse environmental, social, and financial returns?
- Categories
- Social Enterprise