The participants combined service design’s innovative tools and methods with startup’s creativity to tackle the challenges. Design facilitators, startuppers, NGO representatives, students and people interested in sustainability from both Greece and abroad, joined us on Saturday September 21st and collaborated in multidisciplinary teams to co-create solutions for four main local challenges. The challenges targeted food waste in schools, food production footprint, sustainable behaviour in tourism and agri-tourism experiences.

The Jam was a great opportunity to brainstorm on the challenges communities face on a local level and facilitate a creative process consisting of design sprints with exercises such as problem analysis, synthesis and prototyping. Additionally, Sustainable Development Solutions Network shared its knowledge on sustainability with the participants and inspired them to work on their projects. The day concluded with presentations of the created ideas, live testing, feedback among teams as well as music and beers!

GROUP 1

Initial challenge: How might we rebrand existing experiences in order to generate new and sustainable products & services?

Reframed local challenge: How might we offer a sustainable option to olive oil consumers?

Key research insights: 

• People care about environment and sustainable products
• Olive producers have an increased interest in organic crops and sustainable final product, but they are concerned about the increasing cost as a consequence

Opportunity for ideation:

How can we create a tourist experience where visitors can take part in the authentic and traditional process of olive oil production while coming closer to nature, so that they become ambassadors of sustainable agriculture and products?

Concept: 

Experience the olive oil production in Greece. Participants will be able to produce their own olive oil and see/understand the benefits of a sustainable production method (compare to industrialised methods). Because a more sustainable method results to increased production costs and we assume is not economically viable, this agritourism experience will contribute in the cropper’s income. The aim is to make the consumers more aware of the sustainability issues in the food industry and raise awareness about how the food is coming to people’s table.

Prototype:

Visitor’s journey starts by booking their stay in the place. During their visit they become aware of the places history and cultural identity. They then See and learn the process of making olive oil – current and old methods. Then they take part in a small scale production process. At the end they can get the oil they produced. They pay the experience, not the product.

GROUP 2

Initial challenge: How might we balance economic power and create value for the entire community/city by developing sustainable services / systems?

Reframed local challenge: How might we encourage and enable tourists to have a more sustainable behaviour while visiting Athens and enable a greater distribution of them across the city?

Assumptions and thoughts: reduce food waste, sustainable transportation around the city for tourists, reduce hospitality type of waste 

Key research insights: 

• Cold water and hydration stops are a key factor for the quality of the tourist’s experience and the plan of their journey in the city
• Athens has many fresh water springs/sources with running water around different areas but tourists are not aware of their location and the good quality of the water

Opportunity: Use the element of cold drinking water as a driver for a sustainable and decentralised tourist experience.

Concept: Provide free reusable glass bottles to tourists together with a digital map (Download free mobile app) or printed map that indicates the location of the water springs in the city. Users can identify locations with fresh water in the city that can have a hydration break. In that way tourists spread in different areas – more genuine neighbourhoods - avoiding congestion in the most famous roads around attractions, while the plastic bottle waste is reduced. 

GROUP 3

Initial challenge: How might we raise awareness on sustainability and reduce waste in our communities?

Assumptions and thoughts: waste and garbage is the symptom not the problem, overconsumption by individuals, over-packaging by businesses

Reframed local challenge: How might we encourage young generations to conspicuously consume less in order to reduce waste?

Key research insights: 

• Lack of trust between citizens and public authorities
• Lack of infrastructure for recycling
• Kids influence parents in the decision making for household shopping
• Kids learn through play

Concept: School program that would inform and educate kids on sustainability and waste issues through seminars, workshops and a game. To play the game kids will have to bring their household recycling garbage. The game will be activity based and the recyclable items will be part of it (e.g. basketball shoots with plastic items as a ball). Kids will be rewarded for the amount of recyclable items they bring and their performance on the game. In this way a behaviour of recycling will be cultivated and seeded in kids’ minds making them strong practitioners and ambassadors of sustainability.