I. LET’S HAVE A LOOK ON FREEWA PROJECT
During our journey in Zagreb (Croatia); ODD&THEKEDGERS has met organisations from the three sectors: a private organization, a public organization and an associative organization! Let’s start our cross-sectoral meetings in the Croatian capital with the private sector represented by Freewa, a start-up of 4 employees. It’s mission? Promote the protection of freshwater and enable its access to everyone! In this field’s activity of clean water access, as explained by Azra Sulejmanpasic and Andjelko Novak during our interview, Freewa is much more than a company, it is a concept with the crucial value to motivate people to do something for someone else. Let’s discover to what extent in this article dedicated to the Freewa Project!
Freewa Project in the field of the clean water access
As you have certainly perceived, Freewa means “Freewater”, which means concretely Free drinking water to all. To make this statement a reality, on the one hand, Freewa is collecting and sharing information on available water sources; on the other hand, Freewa is selling glass water bottles manufactured from recycled materials. To get straight to the point, concerning the Freewa app, the start-up is working on free water to all:
“Water is no longer owned by the people, it has become a product - it is advertised, aromatized, packaged in various shapes and forms and it comes at a certain price. This is wrong. For, what is the price of a glass of water in the desert, or the price of a breath of fresh air? People have commercialized the natural wealth for the sake of profit.” - Freewa
Concerning the Freewa bottle, the start-up is working on drinking water to all:
“There is a shortage of freshwater. [caused by two converging phenomena: a growing freshwater use (due to increased human demand, overuse, …) and a depletion of usable freshwater resources (due to climate change, pollution, …)]. According to the UN’s research, one billion people on Earth don't have access to medically safe drinking water while only 2,5% of water is drinkable.” - Freewa
Some figures to introduce the Freewa Project
II. FREEWA PROJECT COMMITMENTS FOR SUSTAINABILITY
By enabling clean & safe water access to everyone, the Freewa Project appears directly linked to the SDG 6 - Clean water and sanitation. And beyond the fact that SDGs are intrinsically-linked goals (which means that having impact on one SDG implies impact on the others too), Mrs Sulejmanpasic and Sir Novak have pointed out the following SDGs that resonate particularly for the start-up during our interview:
SDG 3 - Good health and well-being, SDG 6 - Clean water and sanitation, SDG 12 - Responsible consumption and production, SDG 17 - Partnerships for the goals
The Freewa’s concept commitments for sustainability
More than a company, Freewa is a global project within which a concept is provided to the world. The type of concept that should be a flagship project led by many different stakeholders (companies, NGOs, governments, citizens) through common values. Well described in their website and consistent with the values advocated by our interviewees, we have decided to quote and to share some of them with you:
“We at Freewa believe that all humans are born free. Free to walk the Earth, to breath clean air, and to drink free, clean water - all of these representing basic human rights. Furthermore, we believe humans also hold responsibility to defend these rights for the generations yet to come. This will be our contribution to the Earth.” - Freewa website
The basic human rights, defend them for all including for the generations yet to come, reasoning in contributions for the planet & for the people, … here are some crucial values of the sustainable development shared by benefit corporations like Freewa!
Thanks to the simple equation “Less water in plastic = less plastic in water” highlighted through its activities, Freewa is definitively founded on the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with sustainable economic growth as development model with the 3R: Recycle, Reduce, Reuse.
Concretely, Freewa currently owns a Freewa bottle (Click here to discover the Freewa bottle), a Freewa app (Click here to download the Freewa app) and a Freewa mobile water filtration device is in progress!
The Freewa bottle is the only commercial product that permits the start-up to survive, designed to be used by all eco-friendly people who support the efforts to reduce plastic waste in the environment!
The Freewa app, a service free to everyone and for everyone, maps the nearest source of freshwater and enables users to map public taps and natural sources on their own. By crowd-mapping the new freshwater sources and crowd-monitoring the polluted ones, Freewa user becomes part of the Freewa global movement to protect the water.
To understand the Freewa Project clearly through the SDGs framework, let’s discover the GOOD PRACTICE SHEET we have done, supported by 3 TOOLS !
Use example of the Freewa products
From the Freewa Project presentation in Zagreb, to a field potential implementation at Plitvice, ODD&THEKEDGERS has felt how a concept becomes reality with a use example of the Freewa bottle! To understand to what extent, click here to discover our post “ACTION#4” dedicated to the FREEWA PROJECT in our visit of the Plitvice lakes National Park.
III. FREEWA PROJECT AND THE KEDGERS
Could Freewa Project be your next experience ?
Beside the purpose to make Kedgers (Kedge Business School’s students) aware of the Sustainable Development Goals, ODD&THEKEDGERS aims to inform the managers of tomorrow of responsible opportunities abroad in the associative, private and public sectors. That’s why at the end of our interview with Mrs Sulejmanpasic and Sir Novak, we have not hesitated to ask some questions for you in order to know to whom this organization could turn for a professional experience abroad.
Freewa agrees to host people from abroad! In fact, despite the fact they have not been looking much, they would be more than glad to cooperate with students interested to tackle the Freewa Project’s many challenges, such as:
(1) Developing concepts for and handling social networks aiming to seriously increase number of friends and followers and enlarge the database of sources
(2) Developing forms of indirect advertising in digital media / PR projects/texts for EU markets (not only Croatia)
(3) Rethinking/improving B2B sales on EU level
(4) Conceptualizing new and different approaches both in the segment of communication and in the segment of new products developments
Precious words of Mrs Azra Sulejmanpasic and Sir Andjelko Novak for the students that we are at Kedge !
Before leaving, let’s soak up our interviewee's advice !
(1) Check twice if there is a market and a consumer (local, regional, global) for your new product/idea/approach. It is worth investing in research in this respect
(2) See if there is anyone out there really ready to support your new product/idea/approach financially with private investors, institutions, companies, …
(3) Once you have sorted the above two, you have a chance to succeed! Depending on your efforts and chemistry of your team… - A.Sulejmanpasic & A.Novak
References:
For more information, please visit the websites:
THE FREEWA PROJECT (COMMUNICATION ON PROGRESS 2020, UN GLOBAL COMPACT)