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Archive of posts tagged co-creation
The author of this blog, Emma Beelaerts, is a 1%CLUB volunteer. Having recently finished her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Utrecht, she dove headfirst into the world of development and International Cooperation 2.0.. Emma focuses on 1%Business and busies herself with the management of and contact with 1%Business members at 1%CLUB.
1%CLUB and the ABN AMRO ‘Young Banker’s Association’ are two names you don’t often see in the same sentence. Thankfully, last Thursday representatives from both organizations came together in the Dialogue House in Amsterdam to participate in the 25th CO-CREATION DAY.
photo: fotomeisel.nl
The aim of the day was to come up with solutions for challengeswhich project managers from around the world encountered Fortunately the YBA representatives were a diverse group of 25 professionals with experience in a variety of fields. Participation was voluntarily, which contributed greatly to the high level of energy and creativity during the CO-CREATION.
The day started with a presentation, led by 1%CLUB’s Marleen Holtkamp and Nadia van Emmerik, explaining to the representatives of the YBA what the concrete ideology of 1%CLUB is and how it manifests itself. The idea of contributing 1% knowledge to different projects scattered around the globe was met with great enthusiasm. It was announced that the projects that were going to be discussed were situated in Bolivia (Casa de la Alegria), Cameroon (Green Cameroon), Ghana (Goodget) and The Philippines (Let’s Care). The 4 projects were focused on various areas of social development and encountered different problems when trying to increase their effectiveness. This is where the YBA members came to the rescue!
Divided into 4 groups, the YBA members embarked on a series of (Skype) sessions with project owners. This led to hours of creative brainstorming and ultimately resulted in business plans, info-graph and concrete ideas on how to improve business, how to penetrate markets and how to approach possible sponsors. The diverse and original plans were presented to the project owners as well as to the whole group of 1%CLUB and YBA representatives at the end of the day.
photo: fotomeisel.nl
For example, Masango Sone from the NGO ‘Green Cameroon’ was presented with an info-graph illustrating the negative effects of deforestation and he received an idea for a possibly lucrative campaign titled ‘Adopt a Tree’. In this way ‘Green Cameroon’ would be able to inform the crowd and sustain forests and keep their NGO running. Masango was impressed by the efforts of the CO-CREATION and stated he found them interesting and helpful! These ideas were but few of the many original and inspiring ideas that were contributed to 1%PROJECTS during this CO-CREATION.
The 25th CO-CREATION was a success thanks to the members of the YBA that participated and were willing to contribute their knowledge and creativity. Also many thanks to the project owners, facilitators and volunteers, by working together the projects in Bolivia, Cameroon, The Philipines and Ghana will be able to implement new tactics. Your 1% made a difference!
Want to see all photos? Check out our Flickr. We will organise three more 1%Co-CREATION LABS in 2013. Interested in participating? Contact Marleen Holtkamp through business [at] 1procentclub.nl
This is a guestblog by Thijs van Bemmel. He is a super enthusiastic volunteer at 1%CLUB and is partly responsible for the success of 1%EVENT 2012!
Last Thursday and Friday 13 and 14 Septemer are two days that will always stick in my memory as two of the most intense and inspiring days of 2012. I have never before been in contact with so many nationalities at the same time, never experienced a cooperation that was so powerful and had never co-produced a livestream before.
It all started three weeks before the 1%EVENT, when I first got in contact with some of the labs. I was assigned the task to prepare the labs that joined the international co-creation for the livestream, so I had to communicate with a dozen enthusiastic young professionals from eight different countries. From the very first email I send I felt the energy bubbling, and that only grew with the facebook connections and multiple skype calls.
Two days before the event the energy almost made me loose it. We still had to test the Internet connections, set up livestream channels, prepare videos and schedule all the interviews. The teams were starting up and with that the stress kicked in, leading to some miscommunication. One time I was chatting with Sudan about the songs that they wanted us to play, at least, that was what I thought. After some hints and a few minutes I was reminded that I was chatting with Lamees from Palestine, who just wanted to ask me on what website she could check out the live-stream.
These preparations forced me to learn all the first names, surnames and nicknames of every contactperson of every lab, since I did not want this kind of miscommunication during the event itself. What I remember of the following two days of the 1%EVENT is one big rush of multiple skype conversations at the same time, the opening and closing on google hangout with all the labs, the wonderful reactions of the online viewers but most of all the energy boost I got from the combination of all this!
I was asked how long it took me to recover after the event, but the real question was how long it took me to rehab. The adrenaline that I felt was addictive and I cannot wait to feel it again. 
Thursday September 13th and Friday September 14th it is going to happen again…. the 1%EVENT! The 1%EVENT is the event that connects smart ideas with people, knowledge and network from around the world. It’s the event where our community meets, connects and shares. In 2009 we organized the 1%EVENT for the first time. In 2010, it was organized in both Amsterdam and Naroibi. In 2011, 1%EVENT took place in 7 cities around the world. In these years we achieved amazing, innovative and creative results, so we are excited to see what the teams come up with this year!
This year young professionals in 9 cities from around the world will work on challenges and questions from our project owners. In every foreign city we have a partner organisation who is helping to make it work! This week our partners will introduce themselves. Monday we had the kick off with Active Spaces from Cameroon and the Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship (TCSE) from Tunesia. Today it’s time for Let’s do it Palestine from Palestine and ExtendedBITS from Somaliland to introduce themselves.
Let’s do it Palestine (Ramallah, Palestine)
Last year the 1%CLUB thought it would be cool to involve an innovation lab in the Middle East. They used the World Wide Web to locate one: Bazinga in Palestine! Unfortunately, Bazinga is no longer operating, but all those great people that were involved last year, will be joining the 1%EVENT this year under the name of Let’s do it Palestina.
About their participation in the 1%EVENT they say the following: “We always considered that one of the best things to be done is working on something that has a positive effect somewhere else in the world. We believe this is a great chance for us – globally aware citizens of earth – to create a network that brings change and this change will happen one person at a time.Being part of the biggest family ever – The Earth – and work on making it better is one of our long term goals.”
Do you want to know more about Let’s do it Palestine?
Let’s do it Palestine on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LetsDoitPalestine
Let’s do it Palestine on the web: http://letsdoitpalestine.blogspot.nl/
ExtendedBITS (Somaliland)
For this 1%EVENT ExtendeBITS is Strengthening the Forces with ADO Holland, which is a Dutch NGO working in Somaliland (northern part of Somalia). The organization is setup by Dutch Somali people living in the Netherlands. The organization works with local NGO’s and CBO’s in the field of development. The organization took part to the realization of more than 30 primary schools, health facilities and others development projects. The organization have a local office in Somaliland in the city of Borama.
ExtendedBITS is a Dutch IT company based in the Netherlands with a local office in the city of Borama, Somaliland. The company provides IT services
for Dutch companies and organizations. The company is specialized in the
field of web building and testing of software.
The organizations have together selected 10 team members to take part to the event. The team members are different expertise and knowledge. Chairman of ADO and co-director of Extendedbits will be present in Amsterdam to give a acte de present and also to coordinate the participation of the ADO/ExtendedBITS team.
Those organizations are taking part in the 1% EVENT to share knowledge and
expertise with others participants. The organizations believe that there
is much knowledge and know-how in every organization. They also believe
that experiences can be shared to make certain work more effective and
efficient.
Do you want to know more about ExtendedBITS?
ExtendedBITS on Twitter: @extendedbits
ExtendedBITS on the web: http://extendedbits.com/
Do you want to know more about the 1%EVENT? Visit our 1%EVENT website at http://onepercentevent.com/
Thursday September 13th and Friday September 14th it is going to happen again…. the 1%EVENT! The 1%EVENT is the event that connects smart ideas with people, knowledge and network from around the world. It’s the event where our community meets, connects and shares. In 2009 we organized the 1%EVENT for the first time. In 2010, it was organized in both Amsterdam and Naroibi. In 2011, 1%EVENT took place in 7 cities around the world. In these years we achieved amazing, innovative and creative results, so we are excited to see what the teams come up with this year!
This year young professionals in 9 cities from around the world will work on challenges and questions from our project owners. In every foreign city we have a partner organisation who is helping to make it work! This week our partners will introduce themselves. Today we kick off with Active Spaces from Cameroon and the Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship (TCSE) from Tunesia.
Active Spaces (Buea, Cameroon)
At ActivSpaces, we support a new generation of technology entrepreneurs who are building some of the innovations that will help shape Africa’s future. Our participation in the 1%Event over the last two years has led to results that cannot be described with words less than amazing, inspiring and stimulating. Count us among those who have certainly come to understand the potency of 1%. We recently piloted a new program, subCMR (StartUp Booster Cameroon), based on lessons we learned about collaboration from our friends at the 1%Club: pooling knowledge and resources. So it’s in our DNA to aspire to involvement in a global co-creation event. It’s the exhilaration of this creativity spree that we’re hopelessly addicted to. Plus, it’s a formula for success; because together “We Make It Work”.
Do you want to know more about Active Spaces?
Active Spaces on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/ActivSpaces
Active Spaces on the web: http://activspaces.com/
Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship (Tunis, Tunesia)
The Tunisian Center for Social Entrepreneurship (TCSE) is a non-profit organization which works to answer the question – How to get more people into the social business revolution in Tunisia? At the TCSE we meet new social entrepreneurs, ask them their challenges, train them and advocate the network of people (government, firms, investors) we know to see if they can help solve their challenges.
United we stand, divided we fall!
While social innovation happens through multidisciplinary and cross-cultural experiences, the TCSE co-builds the project thanks to a group of experts and change makers called the Fellows! So far, and in only 6 months, 35 engaged, skilled and trained Tunisians have join our initiative to spread the social business virus beyond the boundaries. Very driven for working together, do not hesitate to join us in Tunisia and become one of our dearest fellows!
When we have been contacted by 1%Club to be part of the 1%Event for Tunisia, it was like an exciting calling! Indeed, the TCSE truly believes in co-creation: so far, this is maybe the best means to learn, share and experience on social change. Plus, being involved in a worldwide event, both our culture and local social entrepreneurs will benefit from this opportunity! Then, we clearly cannot let this chance slip through our fingers and would like to thank 1%Club for having chosen the TCSE. Are you ready to take up our challenges? Join us on the next 13th and 14th of September in Tunisia and let’s gather for a pure moment of joy!
Do you want to know more about the TCSE?
The TCSE on facebook : https://www.facebook.com/TnCSE
The TCSE on the web: www.tcenterse.org
Do you want to know more about the 1%EVENT? Visit our 1%EVENT website at http://onepercentevent.com/
Where would 1%CLUB be without co-creation session? That’s like cappuccino without milk, or like Lois without Clark. Therefore this April 23rd a group of Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) innovators got together in Amsterdam to co-create the future of M&E 2.0 for development cooperation. Based upon the outline presented in our previous blog representatives of Akvo, Butterfly Works, Ventanaz, Frog Design, Text to Change, and Oxfam Novib all gathered to ‘develop the ideal M&E 2.0 tool that follows all M&E 2.0 principles’. The upcoming pilot in Kenya provides a short-term opportunity to test the outcomes of this co-creation in practice.
As Joost van der Made of Frog Design puts it in the opening session of the co-creation ‘need is the mother of all inventions’. Therefore a more in-depth dialogue about the value of M&E 2.0 is started. What’s the real need? What’s the question behind the question? A brainstorm provides the insight that one specific need does not exist, but that several target groups each have their own needs and expectations from M&E 2.0: project owners, local communities, 1%members, funders, other project owners, scientists, etc. The current challenge is to invent a 2.0 tool that benefits project owners and local communities, and also has potential value for the other target groups.
A number of ideas is brought forward to respond to this challenge. A gallery of short video clips in a catchy format can for instance transfer basic info about projects and project progress to several target groups. An Open MSC process or Open Knowledge platform can build upon existing knowledge and methodology, and increase openness, crowd participation and real time communication. Participants receive incentives for uploading new stories, videos and photos. An Open data tool can connect data of 1%Project owners to other existing data. This enables project owners to learn and to put their project in a bigger picture, with ‘Hans Rosling’-like presentations and countrywide benchmarks. Using an online Dashboard project owners can moreover reflect their ambitions and planning (‘begin with the end in mind’). This will make it easier for funders/investors to compare projects and make a contribution. In addition to this dashboard Storytelling can provide a way for realtime communication using videos, geo tag photos, blogs, sms and an apps on telephones. Project are able to share updates and news quick and easy through a ‘one click update’-system.
But, as the famous T.S. Eliot already stated ‘there falls a shadow between conception and creation’: execution! Out of all the ideas brought forward, the participants consider the following characteristics of a tool most valuable an relevant to be executed in the pilot:
− An open, 2.0 translation of MSC (Most Significant Change),
− that uses different tools for data collection: mobile, texting, video, photo,
− that connects data gathered in a project and ‘open data’,
− based upon a format of questions that combines both quantitative and qualitative data and is easy to use, and
− tested on different types of projects: (1) projects that are still designing their activities, (2) projects that have just started and (3) project that have been implemented already.
To further develop these elements into a tool three critical questions remain for the last part of the co-creation:
1. Which tools (mobile, video, photo) can be used best for data collection and how?
2. How can the input generated through these tools be visualized (e.g. a dashboard, through mapping) and which software is needed to do this?
3. How can we motivate and engage project owners to use this tool?
In three separate groups specific input related to these questions is given. And with that, the co-creation M&E 2.0 comes to an end. Thank you Mark Tiele Westra (Akvo), Ineke Aquarius (Butterfly Works), Jaap van ‘t Kruis (Ventanaz), Joost van der Made (Frog Design), Arjen Swank (Text to Change) and Peter Huisman (Oxfam Novib)!
Now, allow us to take all the input related to these three last questions back to the drawing table first, before we share the provisional answers in our next blog. This also creates the opportunity for you to become part of this co-creation process and to come up with your suggestions. Be our guest, all input is appreciated…
Keep you posted!
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