Coworking Operator to Support Refugees with Lesvos Innovation Hub

Paul Keursten, co-founder at OPEN Collaborative Working, and Vasili Sofiadellis of South African organisation Visions2Ventures, have embarked upon a joint initiative to offer support for refugees fleeing from persecution in Syria and other countries.

Paul, who operates coworking spaces in South Africa, plans to set up a skills and innovation hub along with Vasili on the Greek island of Lesvos.

Lesvos has become a major landing point for refugees and has already received over 200,000 to date, sometimes over 4,000 per day, many of whom travel onwards to Western Europe.

“The refugee crisis doesn’t sit well with me,” Paul explained, in an interview with Officing Today. “They are people, yet they are seen as problems.”

This, says Paul, is what inspired him to help. The catalyst came when he was approached by Vasili, whose parents live in Lesvos and who recently visited Lesvos with the StartUpBoat team.

Together they formulated the idea of setting up a skills and innovation hub at Mytilini harbour on the island.

“Many of the refugees are entrepreneurs, they speak good English and they have valuable business skills. They are responsible and they have initiative. Above all they are resilient. They are trying to find solutions.

“They have lost so much. But they have so much to give.”

“Driven to create a future”

The plan is to create a hub where refugees can work together with local and international entrepreneurs, investors and organisations to create real solutions for refugees, including training, skills, jobs and career opportunities.

In addition, Paul aims to change the perspective of the crisis.

“Refugees are first and foremost humans with dreams, talents and potential, driven to create a future,” he says.

“The refugee crisis has sparked innovators and entrepreneurs to contribute. We have seen hackathons, initiatives like the StartupBoat, pledges and contributions of leading IT companies like Facebook and Google. These initiatives are great sparks but need to be turned into sustainable and lasting solutions.

“A Hub will give these initiatives a nexus and a place to turn the current energy into a lasting one.”

A potential site at Lesvos harbour has been found and the committee is already pushing ahead with agreements and redevelopment plans, which they estimate to take around four months.

In addition to a physical hub, Paul plans to develop various support mechanisms such as an online portal, to help match skills with job opportunities.

Crowdfunding

The plan is still in its early stages, and Paul admits he “doesn’t have all the answers” – but more importantly, Vasili has already secured the backing of the Mayor of Lesvos who “has a vision to turn pain into hope”.

Currently, Paul and Vasili are working to secure support and investment from external parties, as well as financial funding. Part of this, he says, is expected to come from crowdfunding.

Although the plan only began to take shape last month (October), they have already received tremendous support – particularly during this year’s Europe Coworking Conference, during which Paul presented his plans. This, as noted by Olly Deed for the BCA, subsequently set Twitter alight with messages of support from the coworking and flexible workspace community.

“Coworking is a great community to tap into,” Paul added. “They have space, a community and sometimes even job opportunities to offer. They also have people in their communities that would be willing to support the hub initiative, either financially or by coming to Lesvos for a week or so to help. It fits the ethos of coworking.”

If you wish to offer support to the Lesvos initiative, please contact Paul Keursten on [email protected] or Vasili Sofiadellis at [email protected]. We are following progress closely and will provide more details as soon as they become available.

Main image: “Mytilene” by Koutrolm