MBA Inspirational Safari in Brussels 2023 – participants’ impressions

MBA Inspirational Safari in Brussels – unforgettable experience and its participants’ impressions.

This spring, MBA Gdańsk University of Technology students and alumni participated in Inspirational Safari to Brussels. It was aimed at discovering societal and business innovation in practice and emphasizing the values we want to share with our MBA Students. During three days we visited many inspirational places and met open-minded and creative people that had courage to innovate and turn their ideas into actual business and other initiatives.

The first day was dedicated to innovation, revitalization, and social Inclusion. We had the chance to visit InterFace3 – centre providing ICT training and education to women from immigrant families. We visited Turn&Taxis – the excellent example of revitalization project combining business activities with art, food market, labs, incubation, and much more… We also visited places supporting youth in their professional careers – Molengeek and Capital Belgium. Thanks to all those meetings and visits we got to know different business models, we experienced the power of a vision that is believed in, we saw the courage that brings business as well as social benefits.

Urban Farming, Maker Spaces, Open Campus and Incubation – it was the theme of the second day in Brussels. We discovered Central Station converted into Digital Campus and realized how advanced gamification can turn motivated people into IT specialists. We had a pleasure to see extremely innovative and sustainable urban farm that may be the future of zero-waste close loop farming. At the end of the very intense day we visited a place that is example of how crazy vision can be brought into live – a bookstore in which one can not only read and buy literature but also spend amazing time with the family or friends eating lovely food.

The third day of Inspirational Safari in Brussels was also connected to our MBA Values. – sustainability, social impact, and creativity. We visited Pali Pali Brussels – Accelerator for Cultural and Social innovation Its mission is the transition of organizations to a more sustainable and responsible model. We had the opportunity to stop for a while and reflect on the connections between art and business in the white space of MAD Brussels – Incubator for Fashion and Design. It was a chance to discuss the importance of creative thinking for developing business models, but also focus on PM aspects of artistic creativity. The last meeting we participated in was with the Head of Digital Transformation and Intelligent Cities Challenge Dana Eleftheriadou in the European Commission. We were proud to hear Gdańsk is one of only a few cities participating in the Intelligent Cities Challenge initiative.

As the above relation suggests, the Inspirational Safari is very valuable experience which we hope all our MBA Community members will take a part in. We believe that the most important is participants’ impression and opinions that can encourage future MBA Students and Alumni to use the opportunity that MBA Inspirational Safari gives. Here are some reflections of Inspirational Safari in Brussels 2023 participants:

“It was great experience to be in Brussels on the Safari with the group. For me Safari in Brussels was kind of the trip into the future. Indeed in Poland we do not face yet majority of challenges you do, but it will probably come sooner or later”

“The trip was special for me and I am very happy that I could participate in it. In such a short time it was possible to get acquainted with art, business and the world of science. The trip resulted in the desire to establish cooperation and the development of business in Brussels.”

“For me, this trip was great on many levels. The places, companies, people chosen by Alain and their stories were really very inspiring. Listening to these successful (and courageous) people that I normally would never have had the chance to meet was an amazing experience. It was an intense time stimulating reflection and looking at my own possibilities and further development from a different perspective. On the other hand, it was of course a very good opportunity to integrate and establish bonds with all participants.”

“The intensity of the conversations and the dynamics of information exchange make the safari an experience that pulls an experienced manager out of the routine, opens his eyes again to the multitude of opportunities offered by the environment. we have seen and touched ‘a hundred’ concrete examples: how to make something out of nothing. it’s the world development.”

“The Safari enhanced my  understanding and  the importance of collaboration, especially how collaboration invigorates organization, entity, economy. It got me thinking how valuable collaboration is.”

We treat these words as the confirmation that MBA Inspirational Safari is not only the tool to integrate MBA Community, but also to inspire and encourage MBA Students and Alumni to use their creativity, innovativeness for sustainable future and social impact. This is why we already think about our next destination for discovering best practices, looking for inspiration and innovativeness.

We would like to thank Alain Heureux and our guides Elena Dobrorodneva, Dilnoza Shaumarova and Hebe Susana Gonzalez for organizing this amazing trip.