[2012]
So Now was invited as a coach to the 2012 European WaterCampus Business Challenge (EWCBC), organized by Wetsus.
Wetsus, the European center of excellence for sustainable water technology, facilitates the strategic collaboration of European businesses and research institutes for the development of innovative water treatment technologies, with the aim of solving global water concerns.
The week-long business challenge assembled young entrepreneurs, coaches, investors, and innovative corporations to encourage collaboration between diverse sustainable leaders. Participants learned how to transform unique technologies and services into international business plans. On the last day, they were able to present their business propositions to a jury of water technology experts and investors.
As a result of the EWCBC, So Now developed a strategic plan for the School of Water (SoW).
The school would give vocational training on water-related subjects to students aged 12 to 18 years old. Instructions and assessments would be project and performance-based. Teachers adopt the role of facilitators and encourage a supportive peer-to-peer learning environment where individuals join to discuss, learn, and solve problems together. As classrooms digitize, students would have the opportunity to collaborate with SoW-peers globally.
By 2020, SoW aims to have 5 branches in Vietnam and in Haiti and would have proven its financial independency and impact on society, both quantitatively and qualitatively. SoW would be prepared to grow their operations to an international scale.
Financial support aught to be derived from commercial companies who partially shape the curriculum, corporate sponsors, donors, crowdfunding and microfinance. Not only would it be a hub for hyper-local market intelligence, research, and development, it would also provide a source of Human Resource Management and a controlled Bottom of the Pyramid-market penetration.
Driven by interdependence, empowerment, and equality, SoW aims to forge a new generation of change-makers that would help to address societal needs. Students would become potential entrepreneurs, staff for NGOs, and empowered, independent thinkers. The success of the program would be measured by its impact on society in terms of employability, well-being, educational level and the number of newly-founded companies.