"It's about applying design thinking in innovation and designing start-ups that pay more attention to the needs of people and the environment as a whole." - Svafa Grönfeldt, one of the founders of MIT designX in Boston and mentor and representative from the advisory board of Snjallræði.
Snjallræði is a 16-week growth space (e. incubator) that supports powerful teams that are passionate about solutions to contemporary challenges and support the United Nations' global goals. There may be solutions related to healthcare, welfare technology, improved education systems and equality issues, for example.
Snjallræði was founded by Höfða Peace Center in 2018 and has been run five times since the beginning. The growth space is in collaboration with MITdesignX, and is the focus of workshops where experts from MIT come to the country and share their knowledge. Participants get access to education and training from national and foreign experts in the field of social issues and innovation and meetings with experienced mentors.
The goal of the growth space is to promote innovation that tackles contemporary challenges and is thus an important platform for social start-ups. The focus is on promoting sustainability in innovation and building startups that directly support one or more of the United Nations' global goals from the very first steps.
The MIT designX workshops are four, in addition, participants meet mentors three times over the course of the period and participate in various events.
August 29 - 30: Understand
What problems are being solved and who will benefit from the solution?
Emphasis on:
September 13: Group work and meeting with mentors
October 3 – 4: Solve
What is the solution and what are the benefits of it for stakeholders?
Emphasis on:
October 11: Group work and meeting with mentors
October 31 - November 1 : Envision
What do we want to achieve, and what values are the basis for decision-making?
Emphasis on:
November 8: Group work and meeting with mentors
November 21-22: Execution
What is the best way to implement, scale it and finance it?
Emphasis on:
December 13: Final event of Snjallræði
The teams involved in Snjallræði get to participate in four two-day workshops in Iceland hosted by Svafa Grönfeldt and her colleague from MIT designX. The workshops take place every four weeks, but in between, the teams are guided by skilled experts in Iceland to further develop the solutions. The workshops are thematic and address different aspects of the development process, from needs and stakeholders analysis, design of a sustainable business model and budgets to networking and conduct.