Air that’s difficult to breathe, water that’s dangerous to drink, rubbish and smog all around. Can people in today’s communities – from big cities to small towns – live in harmony with nature again, and in this way improve their quality of life?

To address today's environmental challenges, communities need to play an active role in solution mapping. To make this process as effective and exciting as possible, we’ve developed a special activity called Community Safari©.

A Community Safari is a two-day adventure that brings together the members of a community to collectively identify, discuss and test ideas to solve challenges and coordinate follow-up actions, using nature-based solutions. That is – innovative solutions based on the way natural ecosystems function.

“Nature can teach us a lot,” explains Oksana Udovyk, Head of Experimentation, UNDP Ukraine’s Accelerator Lab. “We will soon realize how valuable this is, because technology improves our lives, but it can affect the environment. Unlike technical innovation, things created by nature are holistic. They operate in a similar way to a circular economy: there’s nothing redundant in an ecosystem, there’s no need for extra energy, or the burning of coal. Everything works on its own.”

Toolkit:

The Safari methodology, materials and tools are clearly described and documented in an open-source Toolkit, giving organizations the opportunity to run a Safari of their own in their communities.

The toolkit is easy to use – print it, cut it out, and go on a Safari! It’s free and available on request. You can get one by filling out the registration form at this link.

The Safari Toolkit includes:

• Info Booklet: a short explainer to help you promote the Safari among your colleagues, partners and sponsors;
• Organizer Guide: general instructions and best practices for organizing a Safari, and for brainstorming ideas;
• Media Package: brand guidelines, logos, poster, social media package, etc;
• Event Roadmap: a to-do-list to help your organization prepare for the event;
• Solutions Card Pack: to be used by participants during brainstorming sessions;
• Digital Map: instructions on how to create your Safari map

The Community Safari concept was developed by UNDP Ukraine’s Accelerator Lab, a global UNDP initiative aimed  at identifying, elaborating and scaling-up innovative and sustainable solutions for local communities.