Creating a space for Social Student Work
A project by Noe Kauff, Mariell Beckmann, Benedetta Testi, Paulina Wanach, & Efthimios Charchantis
In todays political climate, students and young people are more passionate about global issues than ever, and are constantly being vocal, to hold governments and corporations accountable for their decisions and actions that define the future of our generation.
While creating a Social Initiative Project in the context of the Dare to Challenge Project in our “Social Issues, Social Innovation and Corporate Responsibility” course at Panteion University, under advisement of Professor Tsakarstou, we decided that we wanted to center our project around young people, specifically students.
The 5-WHYs Project and SDGs
We are a group of Erasmus students from France, Italy, and Germany studying in Athens, and after forming our team, began our challenge with the 5-WHYs project, where we all individually explored what social issues we cared about. We came to the conclusion that our common objectives were community work, social activism, and most importantly, initiative from young people.
The basis for this project was to tackle one of the “17 Sustainable Development GOALS” (SDGs) by the United Nations. Through discussion of our common objectives and goals, we realised that out of an abundance of existing problems as well as structures to tackle these problems, we wanted to create a project that would aim to support pre-existing organisations. This led to us to deciding to focus on the SDG #17: Partnerships for the goals, for our project.
To implement our ideas and goals into an achievable project, we chose to focus on mobilizing students for volunteering and social engagement.
The Frame your Design Challenge
The second step of our challenge was to define the problem we were trying to solve in order to reach our SDG. The initial problem we faced was that although students are motivated to help tackle social issues, there is a shortage of students who are active in volunteer work because they do not have enough time for university, work and volunteering. Therefore, our main challenge was to figure out how we could get more students to participate in volunteer work. We wanted to create a system that would allow students to volunteer without having to compromise their finances. Ideally, students would be paid for their volunteer work, as lack of money is the main reason as to why they do not volunteer. Since non-governmental organizations generally are not able to pay their volunteers though, we shifted the focus to corporate responsibility. In this case, it would be companies paying the students for their volunteer work. After shifting the focus to corporate responsibility, we reframed the initial question after elaborating what needs to be done to “How do we get corporations involved in financially aid student volunteer work?”
The main idea to tackle this problem is by connecting students with companies who will pay them to spend some of their work hours volunteering. This way companies can achieve their own sustainability goals as well as corporate responsibility, while students can be financially compensated for their time.
TED Talk
We developed our idea through a TED Talk, which we used as a tool to present our visions and ideas to our audience. It was a good way to make our matter more relatable for potential customers and collaborators and to build a connection with the audience as well as convey the urgency of our topic. Our TED Talk served as an explanation for the importance and need for more volunteering, the benefits of participating for companies and our development strategies, like email outreach or word-of-mouth marketing.
[excerpt]
We propose that in order to encourage student social work, businesses should pay their student employees to spend a fraction of their working hours volunteering for non-profits or NGOs. This would encompass approximately one working day week (approx. 6 hours).
Our role is creating a platform for students that are working to gain access to companies who offer this system of volunteer work compensation. On the platform we create, there will be an overview who the employers are and which NGOs or non-profits they cooperate with.
So now how do we get companies to participate in this kind of project?
We are aware that small businesses will most likely lack financial capacities to participate. Therefore, our plan is to target large businesses that potentially already have sustainability targets, and possibly even partners that they work with. Nowadays for large companies, ethical and moral value can and does translate into economic value. Companies use social engagement and sustainability for marketing purposes, because in today’s climate, there is a large market of people that will spend more on sustainability-oriented products , because the ideals and values you are upholding justify a higher price. […]
Defining our Audience
In the case of our project our target audiences are both students and companies, and both of these categories have particular characteristics that we selected so that the project could become concrete.
As far as students are concerned, we identified two example profiles, Xenia and Andonis, that encapsulate the characteristics of our target audience, one of which, Xenia, is derived from information gathered as a result of an interview that we will discuss in the following section.
In essence, they are both students who are working to try to be financially independent; they are also people who would be interested in volunteering, but because of the time spent between study and work they do not have the opportunity to devote to it.
Leaving aside the specific examples related to the interests of our profiles, the characteristics of our users are derived from the following observation:
Imagining that a student devotes an average of 30 hours per week to college-related work, such as attending classes or preparing projects, and that they also have to work, about 20 hours considering the average amount of a part-time job, it is difficult to imagine cases in which these individuals might also devote themselves to unpaid work, despite having an interest in doing so. The time not devoted to study and work is easily occupied by activities such as sleeping, eating, going to university, and so on. In such cases, the combination of partial or full economic independence and interest in social welfare activities cannot exist. This is the typical circumstance in which our users find themselves.
As far as companies are concerned, the recognition of a specific target audience came as a result of several findings.
The benefit for companies would be indisputable; being associated in the collective imagination with values aimed at sustainable development would bring an economic return that would justify the expense of paying students employed in social work and other related dynamics. Programs (CSRs) promoted by companies are able to attract socially conscious consumers, retain the same consumers and employees, promote awareness of the issues, and achieve long-term economic returns, not to mention ethical, social and moral value. It is possible, then, that the need for companies to prioritise economic value can be leveraged to enhance and prioritise human value. Regarding the specific target audience to which we propose our project, we considered the size of the companies: Assuming a percentage of 20 percent as time devoted to social paid by the partner companies, it is possible that in some cases this percentage translates into one working day per week; imagining a company with a limited number of employees, say 2 or 3, in this case students, joining the project by these companies could result in the need to hire a new employee to “cover” the days devoted by the others to social. For small businesses, which tend to attract a specific and loyal user base, sometimes determined by factors such as location, it would be difficult at first to justify and recoup the expense.
For larger companies with some capital, it would be easier to join such projects, and partnering with these companies would make the project more easily “recognisable,” incentivising all types of businesses to join.
Interviews, Feedback and Solutions
In terms of interviews, we interviewed Xenia, a Panteion University student who worked for a period of time to support herself financially, who provided us with useful information to identify our target audience and expressed her interest in the project.
We also interviewed an advertising expert, advertising being one of the main ways through which companies make their products known to consumers, but increasingly also their values. The expert provided us with useful information, tips and examples on the link between advertising, CSR and companies.
[Excerpt from our Interview with the Marketing Professional]
How can a project like ours become attractive to businesses? Do you think it is essential to dispose of a large initial capital to become a recognizable long-term project? Do you think ours can be a realistic, feasible and attractive project for companies? Do you have advice on how to possibly implement our ideas?
X: For a project to be attractive it needs to be clear, to potential users, what its strengths are, and this project undoubtedly has them; based on your intentions there are scenarios where it will be necessary to figure out how to make sure, eventually from a legal point of view, that the project works properly (companies need to be sure that their investment actually contributes to sustainability and this imposes control mechanisms given the dynamics this project creates among stakeholders)
Both public and private entities allocate funds to finance projects like this, although I do not believe that having a large economic capital is mandatory for yours; different is the case for social capital, which can actually make a difference especially for the purpose of recognition.
In my opinion, the University itself should espouse the cause and get involved; a pilot project subsidized precisely by Erasmus could be envisaged, identifying a test area for an initial implementation of the project.
It would be useful to come up with a clever name for the project, summarizing its DNA. For example, “ UniversIdeal “ (…it needs to be thought out very well…). It would certainly be newsworthy: “Erasmus spends its students’ time well and initiates a new project of social utility…”
The interview confirmed to us that the opportunity for companies to do good and communicate that to their consumers certainly generates a return in terms of image, brand perception and reputation. Consequently it can also translate into a significant increase in turnover. Today’s consumer is very attentive and sensitive to ecological and social issues, and choosing brands that do good for the world can become an important driver in purchasing choices. It is no coincidence that within companies today there is more and more talk of Brand Purpose, that set of values, of ideals, through which a company shows the community that it is not just a “seller of products and advertising campaigns” but that it is able to make a positive contribution to society.
As part of our project to connect businesses with organisations that promote sustainable values, we also sought the opinion of Thomas Schröder, Head of Wealth Management at Commerzbank in Magdeburg, to get a perspective from the company side. We were pleased to receive positive feedback from Mr. Schröder, who commented that the vision is clear and the concept is interesting. He also noted that the flyer we presented is effective in catching the attention of companies.
However, Mr. Schröder also pointed out that implementing this concept in bigger companies could be challenging, as they may have limited resources or may not be as open to change. He suggested that small companies that are open to change and can implement this concept would be more likely to participate. Additionally, company chains that have the financial resources and freedom to be part of the idea may also be good candidates. It is important to note that implementing this concept in big companies would be more complicated due to their stronger bureaucracy.
Another concern raised by Mr. Schröder was the issue of control, as it may be difficult to ensure that students are actually volunteering the agreed time in an organization. To address this issue, Mr. Schröder suggested implementing the volunteering time in a working contract, or developing a system like an app to ensure accountability.
We also sought the opinion of students via a survey, who emphasised the importance of being able to choose their own cooperation with an organisation. They suggested that giving students the opportunity to volunteer in a given organisation or choose one if it is compatible with the company would increase their motivation and engagement.
Despite these insights, we faced challenges in crossing the line from building the concept theoretically to implementing it in real life. We found it difficult to come in contact with Greek students and companies, and there was no concrete validation that our project would work in practice. Nevertheless, we believe that there is an opportunity for connection between businesses and Gen Z, young people who are passionate about sustainable values. Companies that want to have a good social image and have sustainability in their agenda, or those already implementing corporate volunteering, may be good candidates for this project.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important aspect of modern business, and many companies are actively seeking ways to incorporate sustainable and socially responsible practices into their operations. One way in which companies can achieve this is through corporate volunteering programs, which provide employees with opportunities to engage in community service and contribute to charitable causes.
Corporate volunteering not only has a positive impact on the community, but also on the company and its employees. Employees who participate in corporate volunteering programs often report higher levels of job satisfaction, increased teamwork and collaboration, and improved skills and confidence. Additionally, companies that implement such programs often experience a boost in their public image, which can help attract customers and talent.
In the context of your project, connecting businesses with organisations that promote sustainable values through volunteering can be seen as a form of corporate social responsibility. By participating in such programs, businesses are able to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, while also providing their employees with valuable opportunities to engage in community service.
Moreover, the implementation of a corporate volunteering program can be a key factor in attracting younger talent, especially among Gen Z, who prioritise social responsibility and sustainability when considering potential employers. By highlighting a company’s commitment to social responsibility through corporate volunteering programs, businesses can improve their chances of attracting and retaining top talent.
Overall, the incorporation of corporate volunteering programs as a form of corporate social responsibility is a promising area for businesses looking to make a positive impact on their communities while also improving their public image and attracting top talent. By connecting businesses with organisations that promote sustainable values, your project has the potential to make a meaningful impact on both the community and the participating businesses.
Conclusion and Reflexions
Social Change is permanent, undeniable, irreversible. Our societies are constantly evolving, through our values, technologies, behaviors, consumption, production and interactions. The only thing that individuals can do is to accompany this change and try to shape it according to our vision of a better future. People are social and emotional beings, and as members of our imperfect society, we want and need to fight for what they feel needs to be changed or improved.
We believe that it is possible to allow everyone to fight for what they want for the world, provided that there is cooperation and understanding between all societal actors, because the changes to be made in today’s world require global and coordinated action.
Overall, implementing social innovation, or trying to, can be a challenging but rewarding process that teaches valuable skills and knowledge that can be applied to other areas of life. Thus, the Dare To Challenge Project has taught our group a lot, whether it be experience, capacity for analysis and adaptability with the weekly updates on our trajectory, collaboration and deliberation through the group consultation and choices we had to make, or even innovation and creativity, as we had to try to work as if we were an actual professional organism.
As it stands, our project is only at the beginning of its potential. We have great confidence in our concept, our targeted market and our team. We believe in the innovative and sustainable capabilities of the SSW project. We hope to gain exposure quickly, to be able to develop more efficiently. However, we still have a long way to go before we can really launch the project and present it to seriously interested organisations and individuals. Indeed, we have so far failed to create connections with brands, probably due to our apparent lack of experience and exposure. Anyway, as long as this is the case, our startup can only mainly offer consulting and canvassing services to different actors. From a material point of view, we also have a large potential for improvement. Our website is mainly informational and actors need to contact us directly to progress in the project. Eventually, we intend to create a real platform for direct exchange between these actors, on which agreements and contracts could be signed. For that, we will have to engage legitimate web designers, as the requirements for the creation of such a platform is beyond our competences. We are also developing a proposal for universities to become partners in an extension of this project. We want to create an internship program with them, in order for this project to be available to Erasmus students, and as a means to legitimise our project and connect with local students.
We hope to have convinced you, if not about the perspectives that our project offers, then at least about the urge to fight for change.
Be part of it.
— The SSW Project
You can find more information about us and our project at http://studentsocialwork.tilda.ws
