Engaging Communities, Collecting Data and Solving Problems

The reservoir of grassroots and traditional knowledge has been largely underutilized for too long. By leveraging insights gained from grassroots innovation and diverse expertise, networks have the ability to catalyze bottom-up solutions to drive positive change and empower communities by building a shared knowledge base that can be adapted and scaled across regions. 

This meetup will showcase the different approaches to mapping and organization of knowledge for local communities especially in countries of the Global South.  

How do different organizations collaborate with local communities and stakeholders to ensure that their initiatives are culturally sensitive, locally relevant, and effectively address the needs and challenges on the ground?

Can communities in the Global South work together to mobilize a wider range of information, ideas, and insights to adapt and mitigate the effects of an intensifying climate emergency?

The Internet of Production Alliance is an NGO working towards enabling Distributed Manufacturing, developing standards and digital tools. Currently working on the African European Maker Ecosystem; a consortium project funded by European Union Horizon research and innovation program.

OKW collects data and offers tools for Rapid Disaster Response, building data specifications for alternative Supply-chain for Massive Small Manufacturing. Its current work for the Make African European Maker Ecosystem offers a scope on building data for knowledge exchange and collective improvement of Open-Source Hardware Technology.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Accelerator Labs is the world’s largest and fastest learning network on wicked sustainable development challenges. Co-built as a joint venture with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany and the Qatar Fund for Development, along with Partners at Core for UNDP, the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security as action partner, and the Japan Cabinet, the Network covers 115 countries, and taps into local innovations to create actionable intelligence and reimagine sustainable development for the 21st century.

As part of its Research & Development agenda, the UNDP Accelerator Labs recently released UNTAPPED: Collective Intelligence for Climate Action a research that demonstrates how communities in the Global South are working together -- often with the aid of technology -- to mobilize a wider range of information, ideas, and insights, allowing them to better adapt and mitigate the effects of an intensifying climate emergency.