A Permanent Solution to Temporary Homes

              As a result of ongoing economic instability and political unrest, the amount of displaced people continues to climb. As the refugee count climbs higher and higher, the question of where to get resources for this influx and where are these people supposed to live gets harder and harder to answer. These important questions encourage us to look at the ways in which we can fix these highly important social issues and the impacts they can have on our community.

              Underdeveloped countries are no longer the only places facing the problems posed by too little resources to immediately support the increasing amount of refugees. Countries such as England and other parts of Europe are struggling to keep up with the demand for government housing and shelter in general, causing a large number of displaced people to have nowhere to live, or set up camp. The tents that are provided now are helpful, however they would not even come close to the make-shift homes that IKEA designed. Having a comfortable place to live that provides privacy and allows a family to stay together takes the pressure off both the government and the refugees themselves. The role of social innovators, in this case, has the power to massively impact these situations.

              Although we see social innovators as being small companies or groups, the IKEA Refugee Shelter brings the role of a big company into a big social problem with a realistic solution. The world’s largest furniture company, at first glance, seemingly has no place in political and social issues. Yet, the IKEA Foundation and their commitment to ethical practices has shown otherwise. They have even extended their commitment to help refugees by starting the “Refugee Inclusion Project,” where IKEA is looking to employ and assist refugees with getting their lives back on track[1].  The creation of a product to then bring on the ability to create a stable working environment for many who need it, is what I feel to be social innovation at its finest. Looking at the people’s needs first and not the money ensures a better outcome for all.

              In my one of my past internships at a non-profit, we employed similar tactics. As a huge advocate for breast cancer awareness, the company decided that by having a mobile mammography van under a for profit company could create revenue to then put back into their nonprofit. This allowed them to reach a greater amount of people and have their mission become more impactful. This same idea seems to be echoed within IKEA. Big companies are not usually in favor of the idea of giving some of the revenue towards social change, but it is a concept that should be more widely accepted. By companies extending their reach into assisting the communities they are able to build trust and may even draw in more customers.

              Large companies crossing over into social innovation could have some possibly good outcomes for poor populations and developing nations. Nevertheless, there is still the question of what the negative outcomes of this cross over are? Are these large corporations welcome into the world of social change?

[1] Schwartz, Roxana. Refugees at IKEA – a pioneering integration project. 2016. Web.