For the fourth year in a row, the Göran Bredinger Scholarship is being awarded to a young social entrepreneur who is contributing in an innovative way to solving a societal challenge. This year’s award ceremony will take place in conjunction with the Social Innovation Summit and will go to Hanne Pålsson and her innovative personal safety alarm Vevios.
The Göran Bredinger Scholarship, worth 50,000 kronor, is being awarded this year to Hanne Pålsson for her new and innovative personal safety alarm, Vevios. A large number of people applied for the scholarship, which is being awarded for the fourth consecutive year.
“The goal of Vevios is to provide all vulnerable groups in society with a safe and secure daily life. For this reason, product development and prototyping are time-consuming and costly processes. Winning the Göran Bredinger Scholarship helps me realize my dream of providing safety and security to those in society who need it,” says Hanne Pålsson.
– The Göran Bredinger Grant will fund the prototype development of Vevios so that we can further test and evaluate the product with end users. The Göran Bredinger Grant will be a fantastic step forward for me in further developing Vevios.
While Hanne Pålsson was working at a nursing home some time ago, she came up with the idea of developing a new, innovative personal safety alarm—in the form of a bracelet. She had seen how many older adults felt very insecure about the personal safety alarms currently on the market, which essentially work the same way they did in the 1970s.
With a simple press of a button on a specially designed wristband, Vevio’s personal safety alarm dials seven different numbers, and a green light indicates when someone picks up the phone on the other end and a conversation can begin.
The idea is that the personal safety alarm should also be available to other people who find themselves in vulnerable situations and need greater security in their daily lives, such as women in need of protection or witnesses in witness protection programs. Work is currently underway to develop and refine the product, and the hope is that in a couple of years, the bracelet will be available for purchase for around 1,000 Swedish kronor.
“Finding a product that can offer seniors and others in vulnerable situations a reliable communication system when the unexpected happens is brilliant! Hanne Pålsson is an incredibly ambitious and dedicated entrepreneur. It will be exciting to follow and support her innovation,” says Göran Bredinger.
– Given the societal challenges Sweden faces today, I believe that collaboration between dedicated social entrepreneurs and other stakeholders—such as the business community—is even more important in 2017 than it was when we awarded the very first grant in 2014. Through this grant, we encourage dedicated entrepreneurs to go the extra mile. In this way, we can foster meaningful collaborations and drive change and improvement.
Hanne Pålsson’s Vevios has garnered attention from various quarters, both nationally and internationally, over the past year, including from SVT and Sydsvenskan. This year, the Göran Bredinger Scholarship will be awarded in conjunction with the Social Innovation Summit, which takes place in Malmö on November 14–15. The scholarship is awarded in collaboration with Forum for Social Innovation Sweden at Malmö University and consists of 50,000 kronor, which will be awarded to a young social entrepreneur who meets specific criteria.
The jury’s rationale for this year’s grant recipient:
“This year’s grant recipient’s innovation addresses the need for greater safety in daily life for Sweden’s aging population. One of the challenges facing society is improving safety for our growing elderly population. Hanne Pålsson aims to help ensure that more seniors can quickly receive assistance in vulnerable situations, while also increasing flexibility and mobility.”
Hanne Pålsson’s mobile personal safety alarm uses new technology to provide safer communication for the elderly and chronically ill—as well as for people living under threat.
"The grant recipient is a dedicated and motivated social entrepreneur whose goal is to launch the product on the market in 2019 following successful product development. The personal safety alarm has already received positive feedback from both seniors and their families."
The scholarship is awarded over a ten-year period
Previous recipients include Joel Holmberg for *Resledaren*, Kristoffer Persson for *Studentvikarie*, and Sara Magnusson for *Experimentfabriken*.
The scholarship was established in 2014 by Göran Bredinger and will be awarded over the next ten years (2014–2024).
The jury consists of:
Anders Norman, CEO of Almi Skåne
Eva Engquist, Chair of Form/Design Center
Göran Bredinger, Founder of the Scholarship, CEO of Dieden Group AB
Hanna Sigsjö, Executive Director Forum for Social Innovation Sweden
Pär Viktorsson Harrby, Co-Founder and Development Consultant – Karlsson & Wiktorsson
Tina Rudin Kaikkonen, Business Manager, Maverick by Sigma South
Åsa Skogström Feldt, Leading the Inter Ikea Social Entrepreneurship Initiative