Thank you for making this 2009 conference a success

This conference was the result of a joint effort of a number of  enthusiastic EU parties, eager  to contribute to the development of knowledge and experience of private sector strategies towards the BoP. We decided to organize this conference during the “Sustainable Innovations at the Base of the Pyramid” conference in Helsinki, September 2008.  We agreed that the conference could be called a success only if we would at least be able to:

• Focus at a specific challenge of developing BoP initiatives

• Have a significant number of participants whom live and work in transition and developing economies

• Create a bridge between practitioners and academics

During the last 12 months we have worked hard to fulfill these objectives. And we are proud to say that we managed to do so! First, after consulting key stakeholders we decided to focus at the challenge of “proving and improving” BoP ventures. How to assess impact and to create value? Second, we obtained funds and approached a global network that enabled us to bring more than 50 participants whom live in transition and developing economies, where they work on BoP initiatives. Their experiences were showed during the workshops, the poster exhibition and during the match making activities. Third, we designed the program in such a way that there was something for everybody. The keynote speakers in the morning shared the latest views and findings on impact assessment and value creation of BoP ventures; from an academic, private sector and development point of view. Each afternoon was split up in five parallel sessions, covering the whole field from an academic track up to a co-creation lab. Participants could pick what fits best to their own interest.

Thank you so much to our sponsors and donors. And a special thank you to ICCO for having faith in us from the start. Without your support we would not have been able to attract such an international audience to the conference.

Call for Papers

There is little dispute today that poverty is one of the most pressing global problems calling for innovative solutions and market-based approaches. The Base of the Pyramid (BoP) approach involves the private sector to alleviate poverty by serving markets in developing countries. These ventures respond to the needs of low income consumers, producers and entrepreneurs. A challenging task that requires technological, managerial and system innovations. Impact assessment and value creation are mayor challenges faced by the multiple actors involved in BoP initiatives. Therefore, the main question this Conference is addressing is:

How to define, measure, and optimize
towards enduring value creation of BoP ventures?

The conference will provide a platform to share conceptual and empirical evidences that address ways to better understand and increase the sustainability impacts of BoP ventures in terms of changes in economic, capacity, environmental and relational well-being. The conference will create a bridge between private and public sector, NGOs and knowledge institutes. You will be able to gather new knowledge and experiences on value creation and impact assessment of BoP Ventures, share your new insights with attendees, and increase the range of your network.  The conference will be held in English.

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