Mark Sultan, the CEO of Bambuhay, shared that they had been making good strides in poverty alleviation as they hired more than 30 additional manpower from IP communities, providing a green and sustainable livelihood, especially for those who had lost their jobs during the pandemic. Mr. Sultan noted that they have tackled issues on environmental protection as well. Through their innovations, mainly on bamboo activated charcoal production, they have campaigned against traditional slash and burn farming, and illegal logging, which continues to greatly contribute to deforestation. The production of sustainable and green bamboo products such as toothbrushes, straws, tumblers, and mugs also manifest their initiative to act against plastic pollution.

Ernest Troyss Pilapil, CEO of CareGO EMR noted that they wanted to tackle the factors behind the low pediatric vaccination rates through the creation of a vaccination-related SMS nudge reminder system. Focusing on SDG 3 – Good health and well-being, their innovation sought to improve pediatric vaccination rates and awareness of vaccination programs around their communities. A 7% increase in the vaccination participation rate has been seen in their project area. They pushed for the sustainability of these gains by introducing an automated tracking app that public health workers can use to monitor children’s vaccination incidence in the area. They are continuing to expand these systems so that they may be used by more LGUs and Rural Health Units as of writing.

Charis Raya, the Strategic Partnerships Director of ICM, Inc. shared ICM’s initiative on reviving household savings groups and building an ecosystem of networks aimed at supporting pandemic recovery. Their initiative zeroes in on SDG 1 – No Poverty, and SDG 2 – Zero Hunger. In their efforts toward the revival of savings groups, they used the grant to improve their previous savings groups systems by providing additional training and new financing methods, such as grants, to help sustain the savings groups. One important aspect of socioeconomic recovery that ICM brought to light was the role of building social capital. Through the creation of networks among the savings groups, the communities were able to share their experiences and learn from each other.

Timothy Salomon, Chief Secretariat from Bukluran, noted that their project addresses multiple SDGs including poverty, zero-hunger, life on land, and peace, security and strong institutions (SDGs 1, 2, 15, and 17). COVID-19 has heavily impacted the livelihood of IPs and has brought threats of encroachment into the ancestral domains of IP communities. To help the communities rise from the challenge, Bulkuran helped to facilitate co-created development plans by communities, powered by the 3D land use maps of IP ancestral domains. Beyond raising awareness on the role of these IP-managed conservation areas, the online portal sought to mainstream ICCAs towards their official recognition by public institutions and other stakeholders.

Creativity and Recovery

Undoubtedly, the “new normal” has placed societies in positions of greater vulnerability and uncertainty. While the pandemic has brought about rapid change in the country’s socioeconomic landscape, it also created an enabling environment for innovations to thrive. Indeed, crises could also pave the way for creative adaptability. And creativity will be crucial to solving emergent problems, or at the very least, to anticipating future risks.

As we navigate this new reality, we can tackle challenges through a more creative lens. In doing so, we could innovate beyond ‘single point’ product-based interventions, and shift towards solutions that integrate interlinking processes and paradigms. Put simply, the role of creativity in sustainable development is to push for anticipatory and adaptive innovations that have the potential to empower the poorest and the most marginalized. While creative thought can be done without much-needed resources, implementing creative action can be resource intensive. Thus, it is our categorical role to push for creativity as one of the cornerstones of collective and equitable development.

But how does one institutionalize creativity? Or is it an oxymoron? On the one hand, these innovations cannot thrive and scale without the necessary institutional support: not just from the government but also from the private sector and development community at large. On the other hand, mainstreaming has the effect of constraining creativity and subjecting innovations to the same rules, norms, terms, and conditions that these innovations revolt against.

We don’t have a clear answer, except perhaps to keep on creating ways to find the right balance, to open more spaces for varying stakeholders—from the government, civil society, academe, and private sector—to come together, co-conceive and co-implement diverse solutions that address various aspects of the same, wicked problems that they’ll have to face anyway.

In short, let’s just continue creating together.