Peru is a country blessed by its biodiversity of flora and fauna, leading potato production with 4,600 varieties and hosting, in Madre de Dios, the richest habitat for birds and butterflies in the world. In addition, the Peruvian territory has one of the seven wonders of the world: Machu Pichu; and one of the seven natural wonders: the Amazon. However, we do not have a culture of commitment to environmental impact.
Very few companies measure and take care of their carbon footprint. Annually, more than 100,000 hectares of forest are deforested in our Peruvian Amazon due to illegal mining, indiscriminate felling of trees and arson fires that put this entire ecosystem at risk.
That is why CAPECE, in its purpose of transforming business culture and turning them into exponential organizations with a positive global impact, joins the NGO Tejiendo Sonrisas to train a new generation of environmental entrepreneurs, who are capable of impacting the lives of a million Peruvians.
For this, leading specialists from companies such as KUNAN, PRO INNÓVATE, AGRO IDEAS, OCTI, and with the valuable support of the Universidad Nacional Amazónica Madre de Dios (UNAMAD), the Municipality of Cusco and the Municipality of Surco in Lima were brought together.
This program trained 150 local entrepreneurs to create brands with the purpose of generating a positive global impact, with the help of technology and ICTs. For 48 hours, over a weekend, the team made up of experts in innovation, electronic commerce and the environment were the guide to transform the ideas of the entrepreneurs into real functional prototypes with a scalable business model.
This important initiative has been financed by the European Union, which provides a seed capital of S/22,500 for the winning projects in the 3 cities chosen for this first edition, in addition to the accompaniment of the mentors.
Likewise, the training sessions made it possible to share and publicize methodologies and tools to design innovative business models such as ‘design thinking’, ‘lean canvas’, among others, helping to sensitize organizations to commit to protecting their ecosystems and environment.
“We seek to articulate agents of change, including political leaders, businessmen, teachers, researchers, university students and entrepreneurs to create a movement based on collaborative and circular economy, developing in entrepreneurs the ability to pay attention to the problems and needs that their cities, and try to solve them, turning their endeavors into a force for good and making this world a better place to live in”, said Helmut Cáceda, executive president of CAPECE.
“We have co-created this inclusive space for those who believe that education transforms, those who are convinced that science and technology revolutionize the world and those who have made entrepreneurship and innovation a lifestyle. We hope that more universities and municipalities in the provinces will join in order to impact more cities in the country in the following editions,” said Hanz Heinz, President of the NGO Tejiendo Sonrisas.
