Social Innovation in Divided Societies
El perdón es la mayor innovación en el futuro de la humanidad. Perdón para que se reconstruya el contrato social. A través del perdón se produce un cambio cognitivo y un cambio emocional, pero el más importante es el cambio más importante que se produce es el cambio de conducta.
Forgiveness is the greatest innovation in the future of humanity. Forgiveness to rebuild the social contract. Through forgiveness, a cognitive and emotional change takes place, but most importantly is the change of behaviour.
Charlas Matutinas -Morning Talks
Our capacity for empathy to create social innovation is to have a sense to identify opportunities in territory: too much public intervention lack this capacity for empathy. Aren't we putting too much trust in the role of government to scale social innovation? How can social innovation be a tool for peace?
Social innovation must be a better cost-benefit proposal with respect to what already exists. It should include participation of society. Latinamerica is more innovative than USA or Europe precisely because of the social difficulties it faces. But there has been little scaling because the government has not taken visions implied in social innovation initiatives to the level of public policy. The public sector does not have the conditions to do social innovation because the risk entailed has legal consequences for its leaders. Peace requires social justice, not just a cease fire. Social innovation has a rol in equality and justice, which are the root of violence.
¿How do we choose words that build bridges?
¿How can you dare think for the other?
¿Dónde se encuentran las iniciativas de la base ara arriba con las de arriba hacia la base? Lo más difícil es el cambio de valores. ¿Qué significa un cambio en el PIB a raíz de un cambio de valores? Debemos encontrar formas de conversar sobre nuestros valores actuales. La innovan cisocial debe actuar como un puente en la forma como sus narrativas incitan no solo a agentes de cambio sino a otros también. Amsterdam no ganó el precio mejor ecosistema innovador por el aspecto técnico, sino por la infraestructura para traer la participación ciudadana desde abajo.
Transform necessity into simple manageable action. At Escuela Nueva, we knew more of the same would not do. We focus on the essence of the relationships in which children learn. The way we learn influences our democratic behavior. Our children learn to have initiative, to interact, to place ideas against each other. How do we compensate for what universities are not doing? Keep teachers together and have them learn together. Their roles is that of a facilitator, rather than a transmitter of knowledge. In order for social innovation to have a chance, it must show empirical evidence in order to impact national policy, through demonstration, evidence and feasibility.
Transforma la necesidad en acción simple. En Escuela Nueva sabíamos que no se trataba demás hacer más de lo mismo. Nos enfocamos en la esencia de las relaciones en la que los niños aprenden. La forma como aprendemos tiene influencia en nuestro comportamiento democrático. Nuestros niños aprenden a tener iniciativa, a interactuar, a poner sus ideas frente a otros. ¿Cómo compensamos lo que las universidades no hacen? Mantenemos a los profesores unidos y aprendiendo juntos. Su rol es de facilitador, no de transmisor de conocimiento. Para que la innovación social tenga una oportunidad, debe mostrar evidencia empírica que influencie política pública a través de la demostración, evidencia y factibilidad.
Risks of polarisation in Colombia include the instability of resources from criminal activity (who access them, how, etc.), economic and political fragmentation of the guerrilla group, presidential elections in 2018 and the exclusion of the guerrilla from civil society.
We have lived a long experiential process to change a consensus-based decision making tool for a more efficient one: Sociocracy. But living the process has taught us to set limits, to undergo our differences democratically without recurring to consensus. I'd like to think of a similarity with the immune system that accepts and rejects from its medium in order to survive. After long, we found 'bailment' as a way to protect members investment while keeping a community spirit.
How to develop critical thinking and other competencies in university students?
The Rise of Corporate Social Innovation
What is happening?
1. Companies are interested in new sources of trust and legitimacy
2. Companies are highly worried about human resources retention
3. Companies are questioning its relevance nowadays
How?
1. Companies are at different stages, some are developing CSR strategies, some other are interested in exploring shared-value or in doing social impact investing, in general terms in finding new ways for partnering and investing.
2. Companies have realised that they do have different rhythms creating social change and therefore are more willing to co-work with others that can balance different approaches from different publics. E.g. An example Boston consultants in Australia /PWC.
Conclusions
1. What is the role of social innovators?
Social innovators within or outside the companies (perhaps working from NGOs, governmental organisations, independent endeavours, etc.) should help and facilitate processes between organisations that even when aiming at the same goal, do not share the same way of doing things, e.g. times of executions, bureaucratic procedures, etc.: Social change is achieved in a different way in the private sector!
2. There are different ways in which the private sector can engage in social innovation. It could be done from inside the company, designing projects and business models that are not only profitable for them but also for others; this is what intrapreneurs do! It can also be done with an external partner, when complementing someone else’s idea or project in favour of others; in the latter case, it's important that someone inside the company is fully endorsing the process until the end.
3. Society in general needs to destigmatize the private sector from the “devil” or bad player role.
4. Companies need social innovation and they need this more than the social world does.
Santiago shared how his company “Brand Solutions”, incubated a project aiming at solving a population problem: Access to light in rural areas. Currently, the project is about to have a spin-off solving not only the identified problem but also other related issues in the community.
Steps taken:
1. They observed that today 48% of the Colombian population does not have access to energy. This affects social and economica activities in the communities.
2. They searched for possible interested parties within the private sector to fund the initiative, a pilot project to start with and then, if successful, replicate.
3. They searched for eco-friendly and low cost tech solutions to tackle the problem.
4. They defined the beneficiaries (a community in the Guajira region, north of Colombia), and the intervention model to deliver the solution.
To get the private sector interest:
1. They identified the funds and resources offered by companies as part of their CSR programmes.
2. They identified the key people within the company to engage with.
3. They showed the social, economical and environmental benefits of providing this solution to this community and hopefully for other communities like that one.
4. They caught the private sector attention and resources to fund the pilot.
5. People were happy and would work better. These results brought the public sector in the game. They were interested in replicating the project because it had benefited isolated communities that are very expensive to reach otherwise. The project had also found very cost-efficient ways for fighting poverty: i) Better conditions for production (work could also be done without sun light) as well as ii) better conditions for children to study and play were provided.
6. Now they are seeking to get a grant from international donors (USAID).
Results so far: 5000 solar solutions. Empowerment of women associations.
