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The award ceremony of the UNDP Social Innovation Challenge which was initially launched to develop innovative solutions for urban challenges and reveal women’s innovation power by UNDP Turkey Accelerator Lab, was held on March 11, 2021. During the online event, 10 innovative solutions that participated in the programme and won an award were announced.
UNDP Turkey Accelerator Lab’s Social Innovation Challenge which was organized with the implementation partnership of İstasyon TEDÜ and Uçan Süpürge and the ecosystem partnership of İmece, Impact Hub Istanbul and Originn, has been continuing since December 2020 in order to develop more efficient, sustainable, inclusive and fair solutions led by women for social problems in the cities.
The programme aims to popularize social innovation awareness and culture, incentivize innovative thinking and cooperation, and support and disseminate good solutions by bringing them under the spotlight.
An online award ceremony was held on March 11, 2021 with the participation of partners and finalists to reward the select solutions after the final interviews, which was the final phase of the programme.
Among 422 applications, social innovation projects of 10 teams led by women and in which women constitute the majority were granted an award.
Among the awarded solutions are the enterprises which provide people with a simulation environment where they can take a decision-making position in policy development in the field of climate change, establish a digital platform that directly matches families who cannot access food and basic needs due to poverty with supporters, ensure that the water thrown away at airports is connected to sanitary facilities and used in toilets or garden irrigation, and aim to help students understand how the relationships between concepts work by concretizing in science and maths lessons.
These projects, each aiming to find innovative solutions to important problems of today, have the mission of contributing to the achievement of different Sustainable Development Goals such as No Poverty, Climate Action, Responsible Consumption and Production, and Quality Education.
Besides the monetary award, support in many forms such as visibility, cooperation endorsement, publicity in UNDP’s global network, guidance to raise additional funds and mentorship will be provided for 10 chosen solutions.
Also, 7 of the award-winning solutions will be tested by the UNDP Turkey Accelerator Lab in the field as pilot implementations.
Awarded solutions at the UNDP Social Innovation Challenge:
AGRO-Library / Kütüp-Anne Platform
A solution that enables libraries to play a role in the sustainable development field with the juxtaposition of a public library building and an arable land.
Waste Textile Platform / Joon, This is Mana
A platform where waste raw materials are listed in the Waste Textile Library and offered for sale. The solution creates an incentive system for the transfer of raw materials that cannot be sold for a long time on the platform to the recycling facilities and for their upcycling.
Deep Poverty Solidarity Network / Deep Poverty Network
A digital platform solution, designed to match families who lack access to food, basic needs, and a regular income with supporters directly for the effective continuation of solidarity.
Legal Design / Legal Design Turkey
The solution that aims to render human-oriented and useful solutions by applying the design principles on legal services and systems, and to establish healthier relationships between local administrations and the society through increasing law literacy of individuals.
Climate Change Decision-Making Simulation / World Climate Simulation İzmir
The solution offers people an information environment where they can understand the whole system and a simulation environment where they can take part in decision-making positions in policy development for solutions to problems in the climate change field.
Things Made of Flax Atelier / Cycle Co-Op
As a response to the risk of drought, through proliferating flax cultivation that does not require additional irrigation and pesticides, supported by R&D, a solution that will yield semi-finished goods and boutique products made of flax, and create part-time jobs with flexible working arrangement for women and youth.
Matters Digital Cooperative / We Care Association
A solution that creates technology related opportunities for women’s unemployment, provides vulnerable groups with new skills and aims social empowerment at the same time through a specially designed platform.
The Changing Language of Education through System Thinking/ Darüşşafaka Secondary School
The solution that aims to help students understand how the relationships between concepts work by concretizing, through employing accessible tools of system thinking that are compatible for all age groups in science and maths lessons.
Water Moneybox
The solution that employs waste decomposers, aiming to use the disposed water, particularly at airports, in toilets, or garden irrigation, and to allow the recycling of plastic bottles at the same time.
The Karia Hub / Community Bodrum
A social enterprise model that aims to bring together the experiences and expertise of young entrepreneurs from different sectors living in Bodrum, to collaborate, share and create a joint creation platform.
More details on the 10 award-winning solutions can be found at the link below.
You can watch the recording of the award ceremony through UNDP Turkey Youtube channel: https://bit.ly/38y0701
For more information about the UNDP Social Innovation Challenge: bit.ly/UNDP2021
UNDP Turkey Accelerator Lab
UNDP Turkey Accelerator Lab, a member of a global network operating in 92 countries under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aims to support efforts towards the Sustainable Development Goals by using innovative methods.
For more information: Bahar Paykoç - bahar.paykoc@undp.org
