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Local Governance

Blogs

A vibrant, triangular canopy covers a pedestrian bridge with people walking beneath.

Credit: Mrugesh Shah Unsplash

Blog

"Who shapes the urban governance space, defines its future."

Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, emphasises that rapid urbanisation in the region is a pivotal opportunity—if matched with strong governance and fiscal autonomy to build inclusive, resilient cities.

Blog

Kulhudhuffushi City, pioneering people-centred governance

This blog highlights a two-day in-person training workshop held in Kulhudhuffushi City, alongside the launch of a five-day deep listening exercise led by the KFCC-LGA-MCLP-UNDP joint task force, which engaged over 100 stakeholders.

Education for all: Students of SDN state elementary school in Sukaluyu village in Cianjur regency, West Java attend a class on Aug. 8, 2023. The students must take turns in class due to a limited number of classrooms.

Article

Unleashing the Power of AI for Inclusive Rural Development in Indonesia

Education for all: Students of SDN state elementary school in Sukaluyu village in Cianjur regency, West Java attend a class on Aug. 8, 2023. The students must take turns in class due to a limited number of classrooms. (Antara/Raisan Al Farisi)

one woman trekking with firewood on her back and a kid behind her in Hushe Valley, Pakistan

Blog

4 Things We’ve Learned from Piloting Social Innovation Platform in Hushe Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan

As we develop SIP in the Hushe Valley, we asked ourselves at UNDP: Can SIP complement–and perhaps even replace–traditional siloed interventions with an approach that is more inclusive to the communities we serve and more transformative in its impact?

A female teacher with around 20 students standing around her in Azam Basti of Karachi

Blog

Quality Education Needs Better Urban Planning: the Story of Azam Basti

UNDP in Pakistan applied SIP to inform the project on improving access to justice & human rights for the resilient development of informal urban communities in Karachi. Read the insights captured from local school teachers and students on how urban planning is critical to quality education.

Unlocking the Power of Local Food Markets in Southern Thailand

In this blog, Mrs. Patimoh Sadiyamu, the newly appointed and first-ever Muslim woman vice Governor of Narathiwat province has given her reflection on the development local food systems in the southern border provinces of Thailand.

From a Good Idea to Great Learning with Experimentation

There is a saying, “Innovation amateurs talk good ideas; innovation experts talk testable hypothesis.” by Michael Schrage. Read how Social Innovation Platform helps bring together local young in southern Thailand to co-create and prototype solutions to transforming local food systems.

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City Pains: two informal settlements of Karachi highlight the sufferings of unplanned living

For the first time the SDGs recognize the risk of leaving migrants and refugees behind as forced mobility and economic inequalities compel people to move away from their place of origin.
Read how SIP helps to include migrants and refugees in the urban planning.

A Destined Indonesian Farmer Shares his Next Path on Green Tourism

Read how Ikin Sugiro, a farmer from Cirawu village of Indonesia, views the importance of 'listening to communities' and 'co-creating solutions' for sustainable tourism development in West Java.

Informing the "New Normal": What We Have Learned from Listening to Southern Thai Communities

Digital listening in southern Thailand in combination with traditional ethnographic work helped assess the impact of the crisis and found changing power dynamics — the pandemic further weakened already vulnerable communities and local businesses, yet also provided unexpected business opportunities to some.

From Projects to Systems: Early Findings from Our Work on Social Innovation Platforms in Asia

This article reflects on how social innovation practices for tackling complex development challenges are landing in the form of Social Innovation Platforms in Thailand, Pakistan and Indonesia.

A New Approach to Build Forward, from the Village Level in Indonesia

While the global community has been advocating the need to adopt integrated non-linear approaches to implement the SDGs, real-life examples of hands-on experiences that turn jargon such as “portfolios” and “platforms” into governance actions at local levels, are still sparse.

Post Covid-19 Local Food Systems and Related Systemic Responses to the New World

The emergence of Covid-19 has underscored the need for social innovation to help those who are most vulnerable. In Southern Thailand, the Social Innovation Platform has helped to assess the impact of the pandemic on the local food industry and communities.

UNDP, Ministry of Village Work Together to Ensure Inclusive Action

Through the Social Innovation Platform (SIP) approach, UNDP in Indonesia supports Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigrations (Kemendesa PDTT) to capture community narratives, facilitate co-creation processes and develop portfolios of locally sourced development solutions.

COVID-19: Why We Need to Listen to Communities More Than Ever

The Social Innovation Platform approach allows us to better listen to the communities, understand people's perceptions and behavioral changes in real time, predict emerging changes in the COVID-19 pandemic, and contribute to co-designing public policies.

Building a Social Innovation Platform in Thailand

Innovation can be anything from the new ideas, solutions, tools, methods, approaches or the processes of doing things differently, which can eventually lead to a positive systemic change in our society.

Visualization of the gastronomy portfolio in SIP Pakistan

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A Gastronomy Portfolio for Gilgit-Baltistan

Using Social Innovation Platform, the Innovation-AccLab of UNDP in Pakistan has co-created a gastronomy portfolio in Gilgit Baltistan. The portfolio is targeting local food systems to increase economic opportunities in the community.

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Webinar cover - Introduction to Social Innovation Platform Approach

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Webinar–Introduction to Social Innovation Platform

In this webinar, Innovation-AccLab Pakistan introduces the Social Innovation Platform(SIP)—a systems approach that informs linear development design for integrated solutions. This approach brings together a variety of stakeholders, methods, and interventions to address development challenges and produce more meaningful and systemic change at subnational level.

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Video

Portfolio Approach for Inclusive Action towards SDGs Acceleration in Indonesian Villages

UNDP Indonesia is piloting a portfolio approach through Social Innovation Platform (SIP) in the provinces of West Java and Gorontalo. Here’s how the SIP works to place rural communities at the center of development planning to promote inclusive action for SDG localization.

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