The Impact Trophy is a hackathon (cross-corporate innovation competition) organised by Impact Valley where each team has three days to resolve a real social challenge for a non-profit organisation. This challenge took place from 11 to 13 October at Silversquare Triomphe in Brussels. This event was a great opportunity for the Davidson team as it allowed them to work for collective social well-being while also learning new working methods. This approach is perfectly in line with the B Corp movement, the new label obtained by the Davidson group last September.

Ten Belgian employees took up the challenge of supporting “CYNORHODON” (https://www.cynorhodon.be/). This is a non-profit organisation which combines socio-professional reintegration and respect for the environment by offering two training courses, organic market gardening and maintenance of parks and ecological gardens, to people without qualifications and/or long-term unemployed people. The mission was to optimise professional integration techniques as currently only 20% of people find a job on completion of an 18-month training course provided by the organisation.

The team therefore began researching new procedures to resolve this issue. Through a variety of exercises, the Davidson team discovered new methodologies and participated in interactive discussions helping to develop a collective intelligence. Amid much laughter and work meetings, they came up with a definite and feasible solution with a real social and environmental impact: ‘Green leasing’. This solution is implemented by creating & and maintaining organic vegetable gardens, ecological green spaces at the client’s site or by renting plots at the organisation’s site with the possibility of organising workshops in order to pass on knowledge.

At the end of these three days, Davidson came fourth in the ranking. Michel Bronlet, director of CYNORHODON, was very happy with this proposal and said he was very much prepared to begin implementing it quickly. Davidson Belgium is determined to go further to support the project all the way.

The team would like to thank Impact Valley for organising this event as well as Martin Germeau for his valuable advice. Finally, thank you to Fabrice Léonard and Davidson Belgium who made our participation in this challenge possible.

Find more information about the event here: https://impact-trophy.com/

Jennifer DANNE & Delphine Delanghe – Davidson Belgique