Disclaimer:
Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Title
Please provide a name for your action learning plan.
Synergy in Circularity: Unleashing the Power of Co-creation for Scaling Circular Economy Breakthroughs
Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
BIG BET
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Our challenge is that there is less funding and partnerships for scaling Accelerator labs experiments.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
In the previous year, UNDP and UNICEF spearheaded an initiative dubbed WasteX Lab, emerging as one of the triumphant contenders in the Greenshark Innovation Challenge 2022. Capitalizing on a center of excellence (COE) - a collaborative facility emphasizing circular economy methodologies - WasteX Lab aims to deliver guidance, industry best practices, research, support, and training. Through strategic partnerships with local stakeholders, UNDP and UNICEF engage a carefully curated cohort of enterprises, predominantly comprising youth and women, selected via an innovation challenge to devise and execute solutions addressing the pervasive issues surrounding solid waste management in Zanzibar.
Moreover, this initiative integrates Human-Centered Design, Behavioral Science, and digital technologies to establish a platform fostering peer-to-peer leadership, knowledge exchange, experimentation, and business growth. However, the current funding for this program is projected to be exhausted by June, necessitating the exploration of opportunities to expand the project scope in order to amplify its reach and impact across various regions within Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
UNDP through the accelerator lab had conducted various experiments related to solid waste management in Tanzania mainland on satellite data and crowd mapping to create an overview of the production and collection of waste in Mwanza’s Buhongwa ward, a peripheral neighborhood with many informal settlements. The Lab’s experiment in Mwanza region recommended the following:
1) creating a viable environment for small businesses engaged in recycling by providing guarantees and supporting processes to improve bankability;
2) attract investors in material recovery plant installation and production of compost fertilizer; 3) employ various collective intelligence methods to understand the problem in semi-urban wards e.g. use of unusual sources of data such as satellite data;
3) encourage learning from successful projects elsewhere;
4) run a hackathon to crowdsource ideas that use technology to improve solid waste management systems
5) convene and elevate local solid waste innovators by building a local Innovation forum. We anticipate that experiences generated from the two projects will enhance the design and operationalization of this idea. By embedding innovative methods and practices including using Human Centered Design, Innovation challenge (during selection of businesses) and the COE approach will allow businesses to thrive and create sustainability of these solutions in the local government setting and eventually trigger a bigger impact.
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
Together we're taking on Tanzania's waste problem! By harnessing the power of partnership, we're scaling circular economy innovations that will change the game. Let's show the world that sustainability is the key to our future. Join us on this mission! 🌍🌱 #CircularEconomy #Innovation #Sustainability
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the Parter:
UNICEF, The State University of Zanzibar, The Zanzibar Urban
Municipality, Small and medium industries Development Agency, Karume
Instutute of technology (KIST), UNDP's BPPS, The Commision for science and Technology and the ICT commission of Tanzania
What sector does our partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
UNDP and UNICEF Tanzania won the Green Shark Innovation Challenge. The Green Shark innovation challenge was designed by UNDP and UNICEF to inspire innovative ideas in the youth and green recovery spaces with the greatest potential to strengthen collaboration and, in doing so, increase the impact of our joint work on the ground. In total, 121 innovative proposals from all regions were received, with more than 1,400 staff participating. After two rounds of evaluation based on carefully developed criteria, three winners were selected to receive funding and tailored mentoring and coaching sessions. For, Tanzania, the innovation that won is WasteX Lab, which entails an innovative approach that uses a Centre of Excellence design to support the scaling of pro-poor enterprises in solid waste management in Zanzibar. The $250,000 grant won will help encourage local stakeholders, particularly youth, to engage in a circular economy approach to waste management in partnership with local municipalities within a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement. The increasing waste volumes in Zanzibar offer an opportunity to create employment by engaging in small and medium-scale businesses through innovative waste recycling and collection services. The "WasteX Lab" will map existing solutions in the solid waste innovation ecosystem and will serve as a catalyst and ladder for further innovation and scale in the region. The WasteX Lab project, which was designed by staff members of the environment department and the head of exploration of the Accelerator lab team of UNDP in collaboration with the UNICEF staff team, was the only project from the African continent that won. Other winners were Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL): Cultivating youth ‘exploraction’ in climate and environmental action-Malaysia (East Asia & Pacific Region) Focusing on biowaste as an entry point to creating green entrepreneurial opportunities in North Macedonia (Europe & Central Asia)
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
Can co-creation help to mobilise funding for scalling of Acc lab's experiments?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Grow
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
The methods we're utilizing in our approach will play a critical role in understanding changing behaviors, preferences, and pain points related to waste management. With this understanding, we can focus our efforts in the right places and in the right ways. By unlocking the user's perspective, designers can create solutions that work well and widely in our new reality. As we move forward, it's essential to remain adaptable and open-minded to the ever-changing circumstances around us. By doing so, we can develop sustainable solutions that benefit everyone and the environment. Together, we can make a significant impact on the world and create a cleaner, healthier future for generations to come.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
Government authorities in Zanzibar are currently using outdated data
from long term studies/surveys. Using new sources of data will enhance
policy and programme decisions in Solid Waste Management.
Closing
Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?
We are strategically expanding our reach to attract a wider range of stakeholders. Firstly, we are tapping into the UNDP catalytic fund for innovation, which offers a valuable opportunity for program graduates to receive financing. Additionally, by establishing the COE at a University, we are creating a sustainable platform for the program. Finally, we are actively engaging with key development partners in the ecosystem, including embassies and non-profit organizations, who have expressed interest in potentially supporting and investing in our innovative idea. These efforts are crucial to ensuring the long-term success and sustainability of our program, as well as its ability to create meaningful impact in the waste management sector.
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1No poverty
9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
12Responsible consumption and production
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