The secret of FICHA (token)

Last April 17, 2024 was a special day, a very special day, for me. I will tell you why, but first of all, let me start by expressing my gratitude.

I want to thank my colleague and great partner at the University of Deusto (UD), specifically Deusto Campus Cultura, Inhar Gonzalez Gutierrez. Inhar is in charge of cultural projects at the UD and coordinates the extracurricular training programs related to the different artistic disciplines and the initiatives of university cultural dynamization. Today, thanks to him and to an offer he made me a few months ago, begins a very important exhibition for me in one of the cloisters of the UD, my university. What a luxury and what a pleasure it is to work with Inhar, an example of creativity, good work, ideas and action. I hope it will be the first but not the last time.

Inhar discovered already “a while ago” my little works (Made With Loved Wood wlw_madewithlovedwood on instagram), which since last April 17 are exposed in the cloister of the UD. For me it is an honor, a pride and a great compliment.

As some of you know, I have been doing something for me for a couple of years, because I needed it and because “it was time”. “Of course”, I do it during the weekends (I couldn’t turn my life upside down either). One of my goals was to finally start taking care of myself and, by the way, to take care of the environment. That is how wlw_madewithlovedwood began.

If I have to say what this project consists of, I summarize it as a FICHA (token), composed of the basic elements Strength (Fuerza in Spanish), Innovation, Creativity, Ability (Habilidad in Spanish) and Learning (Aprendizaje in Spanish), and driven by Attitude. It is a personal project that materializes in the “RETO6R” (Challenge) that, besides putting into practice the coordinates of Sustainability (Reuse, Reduce and Recycle), leads me to Start (Emprender in Spanish) a beautiful path, Transform myself and do it through some of the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS in Spanish), obviously, Respecting Nature, Rescuing, Collecting (Recoger in Spanish) and Reusing the materials I use, while it brings me a little Relax. Best of all, this is giving me a great personal Rediscovery. But, it is hard, of course it is hard for me.

FICHA(Strenght-Fuerza, Innovation, Creativity, Ability-Habilidad y Learning-Aprendizaje)xA(Attitude)=RETO-Challenge(Reuse, Reduce y Recicle), Start-Emprender, Transform, SDG-ODS6Respect Nature, Rescue, Collect-Recoger, Reuse, Relax, Rediscovery

For a couple of months I’ve been a bit stopped, because my body doesn’t let me do what I would like, but I’m happy to share with all of you this great little project that I hope you like it (let me know if you want to). If you can stop by the UD, great, if not, I leave you a link where you can see the “pieces”.

Book

The exhibition will be on until April 3rd and if at any time you would like us to share it, I am at your disposal.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Dispelling the myth about social entrepreneurhsip

Today’s post was not this one, but I admit that, by chance, while I was looking for information for “the post I was writing”, I came across a video that I liked. It could not be otherwise, I confess. I have a special affection for Ashoka. The video I am sharing with you today seems very clear and direct.

What do I like about this video? Above all, I like the fact that Maite Arango y Alexandra Mitjans, two women from different generations of Ashoka, talk about social entrepreneurship. Among the keywords of their conversation, I share with you the following:

  • Work
  • Challenges
  • Solutions
  • Innovation
  • Initiatives
  • Impacts
  • Contribution
  • Legacy
  • Technology
  • Humanity
  • Ethic
  • Education
  • Awareness
  • Commitment
  • Empathy
  • Sustainability
  • Conviction
  • Collaboration (intergenerational, institutional, organizational, corporate, global, international, etc.)

¿What is your main option? Difficult, right?

Thanks, Ashoka, for your daily work.

I will be back in two weeks. Enjoy June.

imagin: “We are what we do”

Finally. It’s taken me long to come back, I know; it’s been a couple of hard months, with lots of work and little time to think and for myself, but I’m here. I was looking forward to returning to this space, because there are many E.P. and innovative and entrepreneurial projects out there.

Today I’m back with an innovative project which is not new but for some of you it might be.

Let me introduce you to it.

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3sistersinlaw (in English)

Have you ever “fallen in love” with a garment and when you come back for it, it’s gone? Well, that has happened to me many times and I must admit that I usually think that I’m sure it “happens” because something “better” is waiting for me. But when that happens to me with the same brand on more than one occasion, then I say to myself, okay, Arantza, this can’t keep happening, buy it NOW. Well, that happened to me with the brand that I bring you today, which has three entrepreneurial women behind it who are very close to me, more than I thought.

Here they are.

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H4C3R (English version)

I wish you a good summer with a news like the one I share with you today. Not only because behind it is a friend and colleague like Garbiñe Henry, director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit at the University of Deusto (UD) and her team, but also because I know that to reach this “result” there is a lot of effort and many hours of thinking, readjusting and defending.

I’ll tell you quickly, I’m sure that, although today’s post is very interesting, many people are more aware of the hours you have left for your much-needed vacation than of what I’m telling you today. So, let’s get to the point.

This post is contextualized in the new Deusto 2022 Strategic Plan of the University of Deusto, whose motto is

“people and institutions that together transform the world to make it more just, more humane and more sustainable”.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit wants to train people in an integral way (they have been doing it for years), people who transform themselves in order to transform. To this end, the Unit has designed the Deusto Model of Entrepreneurship (H4C3R), which has the following purpose  people who transform themselves to transfor:

To support people throughout their lives, promoting an entrepreneurial and innovative culture inside and outside the University, so that they become agents of economic and social transformation, in cooperation with the rest of the ecosystem; in short, people who transform themselves in order to transform.

4 are the objectives and priority lines of action that have been set and which can be summarised as follows:

  1. To promote the entrepreneurial culture by carrying out awareness-raising, communication and dissemination tasks.
  2. To develop the entrepreneurial and innovative skills that every entrepreneur (transforming agent) needs.
  3. To promote and accompany the implementation of entrepreneurial projects in the spaces that the UD has.
  4. To position the UD in the entrepreneurial ecosystem through networking, cooperation, internationalization or the co-creation of projects.

I invite you to watch the following video in which the 4 H, 3 C and R are explained very well.

Thank you, Garbiñe, for embodying the work of so many years in this model and congratulations to the team.

To all the people who follow me, I wish you a happy summer, very happy, in which you can rest and enjoy yourselves safely. You know, put your masks on and let’s enjoy every moment together.

Hugs and show through your eyes that life is worth living.