#KypseliLives
by “The Baker’s”
During the spring semester, on the course of #StartupLab by #ADandPRLAB at Panteion University, my team, “The Bakers”, and I, decided to take the project of the Kypseli’s Market ,known as “Agora”among four completely different challenges.
Our challenge
So to make things clear, our project was about to bring a new fresh air in the society of Kipseli, to improve the current situation of this area, all under the umbrella of the Market’s great history, as a part of the Socia Entrepreneurship and Urban Togetherness. Thanks to the organisation “Athens Impact Hub” by which our project was held , we met this great experience throught a real-world challenge.
Problems/Opportunities
Market of Kypseli-Agora is a great building with an old history and we had to give it life again through their people.
But we came up with several obstacles such as poor reputation of this neighborhood,difficulty in locomotion and partial integration. After a meeting with all teams and the head of the project, Mr Dimitris Kokkinakis ,we decided to focus to one main problem and one particular feasible solution. After a long reasearch, we felt that the gap between the different racial and age groups and the absence of interaction and connection between them was the reason why we had to take action.
Solution/Idea
Our main thinking was an idea of a theatre festival , “Kypseli Fest”, twice a year. In this way, people of Kypseli would have the oppurtinity to communicate and interatc with each other, having various theatrical choices for every day, for a whole week. An welcoming party would taken place in “Agora” and everyone would bring their own homemade food. Having theatre’s concent, we thought about an idea of the “Ticket on Hold”. By this, everyone could buy a second discount ticket, after the first one, that would be available for those who couldn’t afford a ticket at their own.
Insights/Interviews
Our favorite, i think, was the interaction with the “Kypselians”. In order to unrestand their needs, we discussed a lot, about the way of seeing their city, their neighborhood. And the reasults were amazing.
Speaking for myself, i did have a completely different percept for this area. In first, we had it in our mind like a very dangerous area,a rutty one,surrounded by a sence of xenophobia and incidents of racism. Without research in debth and well communication with locals , our wrong approach would cause us a lot..
Value proposition and our visualization
This theatre festival,ticket on hold and the whole party , we believe that is an innovative idea , a way of interaction and an awarness for the rest of us that have a wrong aspect for Kypseli.But what about our next steps? Through the collaboration with the thatres and the sponsors we found about the cover cost of the fest, we hope our idea to “get flesh and bones” and be sustainable.
What I learned..
This challenge came to an end and we feel winners .We come across with several obstacles but we turned them into strong points, understood better the market, gained pitching and communication skills.I am thankful for having this great experience. Not only for my collaboration with five inspiring people but also for caming in touch with a real-world case and finding a realistic idea for the devepoment of a misunderstood community.
Our team: Asimina Christodoulatou, Frossini Drakouli, Charis Zarbalas, Danai Kontitsi, Jason Verbis
Thanks our mentors too : Betty Tsakarestou, Katerina Vlassopoulou , Spiros Kapetanakis ,Dimitris Kokkinakis
#ADandPRLab #StartupLab #ImpactHubAthens #KypseliLives
