Davos, Jan 25 (PTI) Calling for collaboration at every level, social innovator and business leader Gaby Arenas de Meneses has said sustainable solutions at the community level are the need of the hour to achieve the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted 17 SDGs as an ambitious roadmap to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and protect the planet from climate change by 2030, but less than 20 per cent of SDGs are on track more than halfway to the deadline.
Coming together under Catalyst Now, a group of social innovators from across the world including from India set up a Social Innovation House here in Davos during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that ended on Friday to push forward the cause of social innovation.
Gaby, co-chief facilitator of the grouping, said, "One of the things we have found working all these years and collaborating with members around the world, is that the only way we can advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is by all of us collaborating for the same purpose. All of us working with the local communities to raise their own solutions.”
Speaking with PTI here, the Colombian innovator said, "Basically we need to change the system and to change the system we need to understand that systems are made by people. So people need to change to find a solution. You cannot change a community or you cannot solve a problem if you do not work together..."
Catalyst Now is a collaboration of NGOs, social enterprises, intermediaries, funders and other social change innovators aiming to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Meneses underlined the significance behind changing approach with respect to particular community and adopting "bottom to top" solution instead of "top to bottom" solutions.
"For a solution to be sustainable it needs to be created by the community. Because if it is top to down, it is not something that the community will adopt. To see the changes, you have to allow the community to do it," Meneses said.
Giving an example of garbage management, Meneses gave examples of the work they did in Nigeria and Punjab.
"For example we have a village in Nigeria that had an incredible problem with trash, similar example we had in Punjab, India. In some of the communities they work on creating compost and reusing materials beacuse they are working with agriculture.
“In other communities, it was more industrial. If I try to adopt this solution in Punjab which is an agricultural region, they are not going to accept or adopt it because it is not connected with their reality and vice versa.
“That is why it is so important to change the approach and start changing system from bottom to top. Bring in the local talents, local innovators to find solutions," Meneses said.
"India has incredible social innovators. It was one of the first country that I decided to work with 10 years ago. We are looking forward to collaborating with Indian members and see how they are going to bring it to Davos, talking about incredible initiatives they developed in India," Meneses added.
With more than 5500 members and more than 100 cross-sector collaborations across 146 countries, the social innovation house created a space where innovators, government, business and social leaders connect, collaborate, and drive transformational change. From education to climate action, mental health to local development, the work will advance the Sustainable Development Goals while innovating far beyond them.
“Together, these organizations represent a key global force in driving transformation in education, well-being, climate, energy transition, health, equity, living standards and economic justice,” Meneses said.
“Davos 2025 comes at a tipping point for many global challenges, which top-down approaches have fallen short to address. Now, we must include bottom-up perspectives, new ways of financing social change and technology with social innovators as a force for real change at all levels,” said Fredrik Galtung, another co-chief facilitator of Catalyst Now.
During the World Economic Forum, the Social Innovation House hosted dedicated programming on urgent topics such as mental health and wellbeing, refugee and migrant integration, global climate solutions, next-generation funding models, AI for business and the future of food.
“The Social Innovation House created an essential bridge between grassroots wisdom and global leadership. Here, community-driven solutions met the resources they need to scale - where purpose meets power, where vision meets action, and where innovation finds its moment,” said Jeroo Billimoria, Co-founder of Catalyst Now.
According to the Schwab Foundation, social innovation represents a research and development lab driving the next generation of business and is gaining tremendous traction worldwide, with over 10 million social enterprises creating 200 million jobs and generating USD 2 trillion annually.
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