On Sunday, September 19, our foundation delivered a 4 hour workshop on the topic of “Design solutions others want to use” as part of Tuzla Youth Festival 2021 (Festival mladih Tuzla 2021). Our board member, Haris Selmanovic, held the workshop based Design Thinking principles for young people in the Tuzla region.

One of our values is being entrepreneurial and Design Thinking is the perfect way to introduce anyone to entrepreneurship and innovation. Even Haris learned about this methodology through the foundation in our first ever IEEE Innovation Nation, held in 2016. He always looks back to it as a mind-shifting experience. Today, he is able to teach it to his peers, which is also true for a few more of our “older” alumni (Milan Kusmuk did the same in Stolac just last month).

In preparing for the workshop, Haris said he read the book “Design Sprint”, by Jake Knapp, so he could incorporate some new exercises into the workshop. Teaching this topic is challenging, especially when working with limited time. Finally, Haris decided on focusing on problem definition and ideation with the participants. The overarching topic of the workshop was “Solving the issues of youth in Tuzla”. Haris planned it all out. He started off with a story, how all participants were a part of this innovation-driven company that the city government asked for ideas. We would love this scenario to come true one day.

While waiting for the call from the government, we will invest our time into teaching young people how to be innovative and human-centric when designing ideas. For a country that struggles in generating innovative solutions, unlocking our existing potential is the way to go. Aside from this workshop, we have 50 incredible young people taking part in the IEEE Innovation Nation program this year. It has surely grown since Haris was a participant. Today, it’s recognized by the LaTrobe University Melbourne and MIT Legatum Center and one of the best entrepreneurship development programs in the region.

Finally, Haris says the experiment with some new exercises was “insightful”. That sounds like he had some tough lessons to learn. He says he didn’t expect anything less, that’s just how ideas are developed.

“If you are trying to start a business, you will be surprised at how many grants, incubators, institutions are willing to support. Everyone is ready to give funds, resources, space, you just need to come up with an idea, right?. Everything would be perfect and Bosnia and Herzegovina would be one of the most innovative economies in the world if it was "just" that simple. Think about it, no one has ever tried to teach you how to come up with an idea. How to systematically break down the complex world of ideas into simpler problems, and how to validate your solution in as little time as possible, ” says Haris.

We sincerely thank FINra Tuzla School of Finance and Accounting for providing the venue for the workshop and

Foundation delivers workshop "Design solutions others want to use" as part of 2021 Tuzla Youth Festival