At ideas4all, we are committed to helping our planet, with ideas to make it a better place, making it become somewhere we can all live in, and keeping it that way. That is why ideas4all China, the completely Chinese version of ideas4all, has sponsored a tree-planting campaign, which began this past April 12.

The initiative was open to all university students who registered and submitted an idea in ideas4all China. The result was over 200 students meeting in Fangshan, a district of Beijing, and planting over 400 trees!

Here are some photos of how it went:

This coming May 6, Madrid will become the meeting point for creative and innovative minds, brought together by an event organized by Actitud Creativa to celebrate Innovation Day.

The place to be will be the Círculo de Bellas Artes, where for 8 hours, 7 expert speakers will present Creativity and Innovation from different perspectives:

- Creative Thinking: we will see how to generate new ideas that are original and useful
- Innovative Leadership: we will learn how to obtain the support of others for our new ideas
- Co-Creation: will show us the new process of Creative Coaching that transforms creativity into a shared process that can solve difficult problems
- Innovation Culture: we will see how innovation can become a habit for individuals and organizations.

There will be practical activities and the opportunity for Networking throughout the day of the Conference, with companies and innovators sharing their knowledge.

We are happy to announce that Ana María Llopis, founder and CEO of ideas4all, will be one of the speakers, with a conference on “State of the Art Open Innovation”, sharing her experience and the practical example of Banc Sabadell.

You can follow the entire event through these Twitter accounts: @Diadeinnovacion and @ActitudCreativa
And using the hashtag: #diainnovacion

Here is all the information: www.eldiadelainnovacion.es

Photo via 7medios.com / tadst.com

Today is World Health Day and to celebrate, we want to contribute our little grain of sand with
some of the good ideas our ideators have shared in the ideas4all Community.

With ideas like these, we can try to make healthcare that little bit better, and help to
overcome the problems and obstacles it faces.

(7435) Save waiting time at hospital emergency services by ideator coriscow

(31059) medical history on patient’s usb memory by ideator davidsh8

(9831) Book-crossing or used book exchange at hospitals by ideator deimos

(40035) pillbox including clock and alarm by ideator alejita0111

(1303) Cheer up hospitals, smiling face masks by ideator Nikita

(6869) Simulator for future surgeons (Nintendo, Sony) by ideator rFlame

(5581) Blood group on ID by ideator ru4mesjl

(1391) Virtual blood bank by ideator rbn

The entire ideas4all team has decided to join forces with Earth Hour, this coming Saturday, March 26 at 20:30, in the fight against climate change.

For one hour, from 20:30 to 21:30, many of us around the world will use this small gesture to light up awareness for sustainable ideas.

This will be one of the greatest calls for action in the struggle against climate change, Earth Hour 2011.

Join us!

Today we celebrate International Water Day, and there are many ideators who worry about how to save and re-use water. Simply type “water” in the ideas4all search engine, and you will find 1,000 results, all of which are ideas… some as good as these:

(36878) Re-use water from the shower to flush the toilet
(1684) Cheap and simple system to avoid wasting water at home
(40948) Wasted water
(82162) Recycle distilled water generated by air conditioning systems
(10603) recycle cold water

We have also paid close attention in our blog to projects that have been developed with water in mind: make access to water easier for those who need it most, ways of obtaining drinking water, saving and re-using water.

Take another look at our blog entries here:

Clean water for all
From rooftop to garden, how to take advantage of rainwater
Filter water through solar light. Brilliant idea!
Save water, even in the shower
A new bathroom system that helps save water. You can now wash your hands at ease.
Bware Water Meter, an homage to simple ideas
Let’s save water!
The thirst-quenching umbrella

Lastly, we’d like to let you know that today, our Twitter account @topideas4all, sister account of @ideas4all, is also focusing on water-related ideas and companies.

At ideas4all, we want to get ahead and wish all fathers “with ideas” a very happy Father’s day, coming up this Saturday, March 19.

Here are some good ideas by fathers:

(1712) An indicator warning it’s time for a nappy change
(1716) Syringes in shapes and colors for kids
(4206) Coca cola kids
(5761) Vegetable Garden at School
(6599) Cribs for babies in airplanes
(90597) Pocoyo theme park

And here’s a question we’re launching through Twitter:

What were you doing the day your son was born? #fuipapa

ideas4all wishes to express its support on this day, and throughout the entire week, for 2011′s International Women’s Day, because there are many important causes for all women around the world.

You can take part with your ideas until Sunday, March 13th, in our featured Problem: Ideas to make the lives of women better.

We have also compiled some good ideas from our website that are meant for women:

(10079) Work from home for pregnant women

(24439) Community of women suffering domestic violence

(90507) Big Sister: Network to sponsor women

(41214) University hospital for problems that are specific to women

(15880) Transforming Associations into Cooperatives

(40959) Restaurant chain for housewives, who would participate as shareholders

(83626) Knitting the future

(279) A seatbelt adapted for women that does not press uncomfortably their breasts

(27647) Let’s make the most of the world’s best men and women.

(3621) A more gentle and user friendly mammography test. Request for a new less aggressive process.Una nueva mamografia amigable y no agresiva

(83721) Building and refurbishing website for women

Today is the International Women’s Day and we want to make ideas4all’s commitment to Women and the problems they face around the World very clear.

In my case, my personal commitment during these last years has been with women in positions of economic power, trying to help increase their participation within the Boards of companies in Spain and around the world, as well as in open innovation and entrepreneurial processes.

Ever since the launch of ideas4all, I have also been very interested in the cases of women working in technology and the Internet, present, for example, in Facebook, with COO (Chief Operating Officer) Sheryl Sandberg, whom I met through the web; in Google with Marisa Meyer, VP Consumer Products, in charge of the crown jewels: the search engine and Google Earth, whom I met in Paris; in Microsoft, with my friend Rosa García in Europe, now also Adviser to Banesto and the Madrid Stock Exchange; SlideShare, whose founder and CEO is a woman, Rashmi Sinha, whom I met in San Francisco; Mary Garret, responsible Marketing at IBM, and creator of the beautiful concept Smarter Planet, whom I met in Barcelona.

One of the best recent videos, with clear messages for women and how to make it to the top, is Sheryl Sandberg’s (World COO for Facebook) available in TED.

It says such fundamental things as how we can improve the situation for women, using three very simple but important messages. The video is available in English, with subtitles in different languages.

Let us not forget that we have to build impartiality within businesses and public institutions, and in every other environment:

1. Sit at tables with men who make decisions and have power, sometimes we are the ones who don’t take that step, because we have a larger degree of false modesty and are less confident when it comes to selling ourselves. And although it is not fair that aggressiveness in women has negative connotations, while it has positive ones in men, we must be more assertive and less aggressive, and learn to say no.
2. Make your couple an ally in your career, let him help you in all he can and join forces with you, it is also up to us to teach them, if need be, equality, while sharing the other face of work and commitment, which is the family.
3. Don’t say good-bye to your career too soon, don’t leave before it is really time. Don’t take a single step backwards, always take one more step forwards, and obtain promotion to the position you deserve.

And so I leave you with these reflections and Congratulate all the women in the world on the eve of our international day, as well as all the men who help women find a solution to the problems we face every day.

Let us enjoy and share our day and our ideas with all of you.

Ana Maria Llopis

One of the events that has taken place this week and that has caught our attention was the presentation of the Report on the Information Society in Spain, an “opportunity to explore our knowledge of changes taking place in Information and Communication Technology within our environment”, in the words of the President of Telefónica, master of ceremonies for this event, which took place at Telefónica Foundation, around the corner from their emblematic building in Madrid’s Gran Vía.

In a year marked by the economic crisis, the Information and Communication Technology sector has chosen innovation as a means to overcome the situation, with an increase, rather than a decrease, in R&D investment for companies in the sector, from 3% to 5%. Innovation, it was said, which is visible in specific services, with companies that are making the most of the greater flexibility and cost cuts, in tune with the Open Data movement.

Another factor that has been pointed out is the ever more present mobile reality, and the appearance of a new category of devices focusing on multimedia entertainment: tablets.

The Information Society depicted is one in expansion, full of ideas, where elder citizens are now also becoming aware of the advantages technology has to offer.

Today, October 25th, Madrid celebrates the Red Cross’ Flag Day, as it has done for over 100 years.

We at ideas4all wish to add our support to this admirable initiative, with the objective of obtaining funds that will help the Red Cross face its upcoming projects.

You can follow everything happening today via Twitter: @diadebanderita
Or through their page in Facebook