According to Alena Stepanisheva, chair at ITMO’s Volunteering Center, the participants from America made the best four projects, Russian project placed fifth. Among the winners was the Awareness Film Festival, which aims to raise money for the Heal One World fund, which helps needy people to use expensive medical services. One other best project was the Plants with a Purpose organized for people in need who can sell drought-resistant plants in rainless regions of California. The After School Care Program, which was placed third aimed at involving school students from needy families in social activities. The project is supported by wealthy states of the country.
Two projects were placed fifth. The Page It Forward by American participants helps children increase their literacy rate. Another project is the First Time in a Business Class presented by Russian students from Tomsk. The activists want to involve people in entrepreneurial activities through organizing tours in business companies and the business community.
"Social entrepreneurship is a trend these days. According to an American model, such events help to attract newcomers. Many Americans think like entrepreneurs — one only needs to remind them about social responsibility. We follow the other way — there are lots of volunteers but few of them think like businessmen. The American model doesn’t work in Russia due to mental and economic differences. Our way is to turn volunteers into social entrepreneurs," says Yuri Kuporosov, an organizer of the festival.
The program of the festival included trainings. At one of them, guided by Archie Holton, head of teams presented their products as if they made it for investors. The young businessman also had team building classes and round tables where they shared social entrepreneurship’s peculiarities of their countries.
Nikolay Turov, Murod Khaidarov and Petr Galievich from ITMO University presented an app for voting. Thanks to it, when lots of people vote there is no need to fill in various forms — the program counts and divides votes into groups itself. According to the developers, it would be very useful for the event industry, as it easily counts votes and saves the results. The other student from ITMO, Roman Malyushkin, is working on an app for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. It informs a physician about a patient’s state, detects worsenings and boosts memory.
"Many of the projects are wonderful and I would love to collaborate with them. Each team has a chance to launch its own social startups. I’d like to invest in them, but the guys have to know that requirements will be strict," comments Mr. Holton.
The team from the St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI" made a system "DiaCompanion" for monitoring the health state of patients with diabetes. It helps doctor to observe a patient as well as assists a patient in keeping their diet and taking meds. The students from the University of Technology and Design develop beautiful and functional clothes that make it easier for people with special needs to get dressed. The designers took part in several fashion shows.
The Festival also included the exhibition called "We are different but we are all together." The guests enjoyed a photo gallery, virtual reality area, and buffet with dishes from all over the world.
