How are we renewing our relationships with each other and the earth?

in how we live together

In Mexico, a group of young people from Ciudad Juarez gathered virtually and discussed the inspiring actions happening in their local area, addressing social isolation experienced by the elderly (Palochi project) and children (Apanical project). They saw quarantine measures as an enormous opportunity to overcome the fear of violence and economic instability in Mexico. Together they asked “why are we not doing something?” and formed a youth action group, Nijohua, to continue developing ideas and social actions together. 

In Spain, ESADE is working on a challenge involving migrants and refugee services and mobility in the city, which is one of the biggest challenges in Europe. Many Studios in Glasgow, is working on Movement of Freedom, a new network of arts organisations in Scotland working together to navigate the UK visa system and to advocate for policy changes that reflect the importance of international partnership working in the creative and cultural sector in Scotland.

PIECES in Japan, works on the issue of child poverty and isolation. Children face isolation at home, school and community and online spaces can also be places of bullying and abuse. PIECES's "Look at the Child's Wishes" work confronts the person's unspoken feelings and values, creating awareness and understanding.

in how we work

The pandemic and the lockdown has blurred the line between the personal and the professional. As one participant in Spain said, “there is no work-life balance anymore, now it is work-life integration”. In South Korea, the participants discussed the culture of “untact”, which is a new word widely used in Korea to describe the lack of physical contact. While some people recognised that workplace conflict has reduced due to physical distancing and home working, others lamented that we are losing opportunities to learn as a society -- the ability to communicate with one another, understand differences and resolve conflict, is key in building a tolerant society. 

In Glasgow, participants discussed how social enterprise organisations are forced to innovate, experimenting with new formats in training and adapting to offer more bespoke services and mental support during these challenging times. In South Africa, a university has formed a dedicated task team to think about the future, while a social impact investor participant shared their story of pivoting to rapid response funding and thinking bigger and about different intersecting areas. In London, practitioners (Breadwinners and Compass Collective) that work with young refugees, reflected on the challenges that young people are facing and the resilience they’ve shown during the lockdown. The participants also asked how to prepare the young people and organisations for the future, to build capacity to adapt and change. 

Collaboration is another key capability identified by participants. In Canada, a few foundations are working well together to help an indigenous community ‘rise from the ashes’ (COVID, floods, economic issues becoming layered) by sharing resources and working across their boards. 

in how we care

Caring is invisible in our society but we are dependent on it. The pandemic has opened our eyes to recognising the importance of how we care for each other.  

Many participants were interested in care at the community level. The REACH network (a global network of agencies specialising in human centred design research and service innovation) consisting of members in UK, Netherlands, Spain, Indonesia, Singapore, India, South Africa, Hong Kong, Australia, Australia and Russia, started the Care Capsules project, which emerged from a conversation about the dominant top-down global and national responses to the Covid-19 crisis and how we could respond to this crisis from a more Human Centred Design perspective, where we help people to find and grow resilience as a community in times of crises. The Care Capsules project sets out to collect and analyse stories and experiences of Covid across the world that could teach us about new ways of providing care or caring in society. Participants from South Korea reflected that as we are moving from crisis response mode (post-covid19) to long-term management mode (with-covid19), focus on care on a neighbourhood and community level will be stronger and necessary. 

In other parts of the world, the participants discussed examples of shifting the narrative of care from viewing the at-risk mothers/families to be the problem (and taking away the child) to more preventative and supportive approaches. In Manitoba, Canada, Restoring the Sacred Bond Initiative matches Birth Helpers with Indigenous mothers who may be at risk of having their infant apprehended into the child welfare system. Also in Manitoba, the provincial government ended the practice of “birth alerts”, a controversial practice that has led to newborns being seized from their mothers who are considered “high-risk” in hospital. Instead the idea is to provide proactive, preventative support and resources to families.

in how we organise and govern

Many people are grappling with complicated political situations in their own country. Resistance and understanding is needed in these challenging times. In Brazil, people are recognising social innovation is inevitably political. They are recognising the shrinking civil society spaces amidst the vacuum in political leadership, health and fiscal crisis and the struggle between the local and the national powers. In these challenging times, the Impact Northeast Network was set up as a platform focusing on voices of social innovators in the poorest part of Brazil. The network is questioning the existing narratives of the Northeast region, which tend to see the region as ‘marginal and poor’ to reimagining it as a place of creativity. In Hong Kong, the participants noted that the unique social and political environment has empowered more civic movements. There is a lack of trust of government and people have been pushed to get out of the comfort zone and explore self-help. In South Africa, a participant noted that the crisis surfaced both the good and the bad. There is an opportunity for overhaul of stale systems and has accelerated the need for innovation. However, there is concern that government taking an authoritarian role has led to room for corruption. 

In Kuwait, the Ministry of Health (MOH) was relatively successful in its efforts to contain the spread of the virus because for the first time all government institutions mobilised behind them. In Taiwan, digital technology was used to improve participation and during the pandemic, the government was able to build trust and communicate effectively with its citizens by adopting “Fast, fair and fun” principles.

The question on how we organise and govern was also relevant in an organisational level. At Pride, how to organise/govern has been something that is contested. Over the years, it has been at the forefront of their minds to make sure that there is diversity in how they govern from the board level right down to different teams and how they tell their stories on social media.

in our learning

Winnipeg Boldness Project is a social lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba, centering indigenous wisdom. “Our theory of change is documenting our ways of knowing being feeling doing.” One of the indigenous learning is about “all my relations” -- striving for “Mino-Bimaadiziwin”, which means ‘living the good life’, in balance and in good relationships with all my relations: mother earth, father sky, grandmother moon, cousins are the trees, the water, the mountains, the animals are our relatives. 

The REACH network participants also noted the need for understanding in different levels: zooming out to frame important questions in global ways (high-level view if urgent issues), zooming in to respond in tangible and diverse actionable ways (like with Care Capsules).

In Turkey, participants reflected on education and learning in a COVID-19 world and various teaching tools and platforms were mentioned, including Mektepp (a platform for teachers to share tools, insights they use in their work), KODA (an exchange network for schools in rural areas), Toyi (genderless toy kit that enables kid to create new toys) and Teyit (verified content creator tackling fake news).

in how we consume and produce

Many people around the world have found hope in the small and local economic activities. In South Korea, the participants talked about how the pandemic has opened opportunities for rural small-scale village businesses. The quarantine measures have also increased local consumption and spending. Within the challenging social and political context in Hong Kong, more grassroots, small-scale actions of everyday life are emphasised, from local food, local production to local recycling and shops. In Italy, a young participant also recognised that there are many local projects trying to match local demand with local offers in the neighbourhood level. In London, a local community artist from Roehampton R.O.C.K.S., turned to dedicate her time and energy to volunteering at a local school to distribute food boxes for families in need. 

in our social imagination

In Japan, Ai Hasegawa’s work was mentioned in the context of reimagining science & technology, medicine and bio-ethics. Ai Hasegawa is an artist working in the field of speculative design and critical design. Her work, “I wanna deliver a shark” approaches the problem of human reproduction in an age of over-population and environmental crisis.

REad on..