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Social Innovation Platform

Social Innovation Platform (SIP)

 

Since 2019, UNDP in Asia and the Pacific has been developing and implementing innovative governance approaches to help countries in Asia-Pacific strengthen governance at the local level. 

 

 

Social Innovation Platform (SIP), developed in collaboration with the Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC), is an innovative approach that leverages real-time data, human centric design thinking, portfolios of solutions to tackle complex development challenges at subnational level and help accelerate SDG localization.

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The strength of SIP lies in its ability to go beyond traditional vertical and one-off development interventions by breaking down silos across sectors, informing governance systems with innovative practices (Deep Listening, Sensemaking, Co-creation) to understand the deeper dynamics of development contexts, and facilitating new civic spaces for inclusive participation and collaboration between people, governments, and the private sector at all levels.

SIP Highlights

SIP supported Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos, Maldives, and Bangladesh in developing integrated portfolios of solutions for a wide range of complex development challenges at subnational level including transforming local food systems, blue economy, sustainable tourism, air pollution, and local planning processes. 

Core functions of SIP

SIP is in line with the UNDP Governance for People and Planet Programme to support integrated solutions for governance systemic transformations. Its core functions are:

  • To help bring together a variety of stakeholders, including governments, communities, civil society and the business sector to;
  • Unravel local community narratives and reveal in-depth needs, challenges and opportunities through Systems Mapping, Deep Listening, Sensemaking and;
  • Collaborate on co-designing and prototyping interconnected solutions to address complex challenges at subnational level;
  • Explore new financing mechanisms to shift from funding traditional standalone projects to financing portfolios of integrated solutions.

 

Learn More about SIP 

 

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SIP Indonesia

In Gorontalo and West Java, SIP helps accelerate sustainable village development by bringing together local stakeholders including communities, development and planning agencies, and SMEs to co-design integrated solutions for blue economy and sustainable tourism development.
SIP complements traditional community consultation mechanism "Musrenbang" by facilitating new forms of collaboration between various stakeholders and putting people at the center of development planning.

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SIP Thailand

In the southern border provinces of Thailand, SIP helps improve local food systems by encouraging new forms of collaborations and supporting innovative activities between local farmers, fishermen, SMEs, municipalities and consumers. SIP gradually helps transform local food systems through sustainable production and consumption at the subnational level.

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SIP Pakistan

In Gilgit-Baltistan, SIP helps propel socio-economic change in the remote Hushe Valley by fostering inclusive and participatory collaborations between communities, governments, and business sector to explore the potential of food economy and agro-tourism.
In Karachi, SIP has developed an AI platform to help local policy makers better understand community needs in informal urban settlements in real time.

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SIP Global

UNDP started implementing SIP in Asia and the Pacific by supporting the platforms in the three "early adopter" countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan).
Rolling out beyond the region, UNDP is supporting SIPs in countries and regions across the globe to help develop people-centric integrated solutions for the SDGs that UNDP Strategic Plan 2022-2025 calls for.

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Contact Us

For more updates on Social Innovation Platform, please contact our programme analyst: Ms Yi Zhang yi.zhang@undp.org.