Entrepreneurship incubator
Raising awerness
Tackling Street Harassment: Our Journey at U Create
U Create is an incubator program for ideas with a social or ecological vision. The goal of the Hub for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is to support entrepreneurial spirit in service of ecological, economic, and social transitions. The program lasted three months, providing participants with the tools and guidance needed to transform their ideas into impactful solutions.
Our Project: SafeWalk
Together with two colleagues from my master’s program, we were selected for our proposal addressing street harassment in Lausanne. Throughout the program, we conducted numerous interviews with women, the Lausanne police, and city officials to deeply understand the problem. We learned that to create systemic change and have a lasting impact, one must fall in love with the problem, not the idea.
My Takeaways
Iterative Process
Refining our idea based on feedback and real-world testing
Being open to change allowed us to adapt our solution to better address the problem.
Interview is Crucial
Direct interactions with affected individuals provided a deeper understanding of the issue.
Developed the ability to test hypotheses on the ground, ensuring our assumptions were validated by real-world
Don't Fall in Love with Your Idea
Focus on the Problem
Being willing to pivot and change direction based on new insights