The WasteLab: semi-finalist of the European Social Innovation Competition!

The ideas, people and projects we get to know through SUSPLACE encourage us to embark on other bold adventures! 

 You can think of The WasteLab as such an offshoot – one that has been ignited by the European Social Innovation Competition. This year’s call is entitled ‘Re:think local’ and seeks to find the most innovative projects that empower young people to participate fully in a changing economy.

 So what’s The WasteLab all about?

We (Lorena and Omer) are aiming to create a microcosm together with Madrid’s youth to hack the local economy by repurposing food and tech waste into goods and services. We want The WasteLab to kick-off by co-building Madrid’s first low energy kitchen-hackerspace and food waste cafe. Giving life to a vacant building, The WasteLab will bring together innovative chefs, social entrepreneurs, local activists and academics whose workshops, pop-up sessions and experiments will showcase the endless possibilities of the waste economy. 

And we intend to make all our tech, learning processes, organizational models, plans, strategies and experiences open-source. 

Where are we now?

We submitted our idea and despite a harsh competition (over 700 entries submitted from 39 different countries), we’ve been selected as one of the 30 semi-finalists. This means we’re going to Cluj, Romania, for an intensive three-day training programme called the Academy. We’ll get to meet experienced social innovators and entrepreneurs who will help us turn our idea into a viable business proposition. 

We need all your support so please get in touch if you’d like to help us shape the vision! You can follow our evolution on Twitter and Facebook.