Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Team Leader
Roberta Pesce
Board Members
Yu Ling Tjia - Secretary
Rutger Elfring - Fundraising
Charline Wurzer - Treasurer
University Advisor
Stijn van Osselaer
Luca Berchicci
Website
Email address
Mission
Empowering the less fortunate by teaching them to help themselves through the positive power of business.
About SIFE Erasmus
Abstract about the NL green consulting project
The main idea behind our project green consulting is to provide small and medium businesses with our basic expertise of sustainability and environmental friendliness. The SIFE team will assist a target group of a couple small businesses (e.g. a small shopping streets stores- like a grocer) to become more environmentally friendly and ultimately to save costs and slightly increase their profits. The initiative is based on the notion that something very little (for instance using low energy light bulbs) could make a difference in the world and save monthly costs.
The general goals of such a project are to work towards a better, cleaner and greener world and the specific goals are to help small companies with decreasing their carbon footprint and decrease their expenses. The team will try to provide a whole greener image for these companies and for this purpose we will need media attention (e.g. Erasmus magazine).
This green initiative will be supported by partner companies with whom we will be working and they will be guiding our work all the way to ensure quality and results.
Abstract about Pottery project in Ghana
Sirigu is a village in Northern Ghana, the poorest region in the country. Traditionally, the women in this village paint their houses with earthly colors. When these women discovered their style of painting was unique, they came together in 1997 to form an association to start painting on canvas and pottery instead of on walls. Since then, many organizations have worked together with the Sirigu Women Organization of Pottery and Art (SWOPA), and the women have been selling their paintings and pottery to those lucky tourists that pay a visit to the village. For all the success that SWOPA had; however, the women are still not exporting any pottery whatsoever. The wood oven they use does not produce enough heat for the pottery to be strong enough for export, and there is no distribution channel in place through which the pottery can be transported and ultimately sold. As SIFE Erasmus, we aim to provide SWOPA with the ability to start exporting its pottery, which will be the final step in making this project sustainable in the long run. This means that we will work together with the women of Sirigu to find a kiln that is hot enough and runs at least partly on solar energy. Additionally, we will work together with them and other partners to try to set up a supply chain for the pottery so that it can be sold successfully outside of Sirigu, be it elsewhere in Ghana or in Europe.