The global community has faced numerous complex challenges reconfiguring the landscape of global development, environment and health. Power relations and decision-making structures in international development partnerships are being questioned. Organisations are challenged to move beyond their usual ways of working. They must redefine their role, adapt, innovate and work together to navigate a changing development landscape. How can we adequately deal with a global pandemic, shifting power structures, consequences of climate change, digital opportunities and their risks, and the reality of shrinking civic space?
This call for collaborative innovation aims to capture what forms of collaborations are needed to better address and navigate today’s challenges in international civil society partnerships. Therefore, we are looking for pioneer collaborative approaches; joint projects or initiatives that dare to innovate and adapt in times of uncertainty, complexity and a rapidly changing field of development cooperation. These inspiring innovations will be put in the spotlight at the Partos Innovation Festival in October.
What are we looking for?
If you or your organisation have recently developed through a collaborative approach a joint project or initiative that dare to innovate and transform the field of development cooperation, you are ready to apply! It could be a joint innovation, a collaborative project, product or service, which tackles current challenges and contributes to an inclusive, just, collaborative and sustainable world. Did you develop a new way of working together with your partner? Do you have an initiative that shows that global challenges can be tackled when working together in new, alternative and disruptive ways? Then you might be one of the most inspiring collaborative innovations. We welcome innovative applications from all over the world and from all types of actors and organisations who are working towards a sustainable, just and inclusive world. Dare to share!
- Your innovation contributes to closer cooperation between organisations working on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
- Your innovation concerns a civil society partnership involving a collaboration of any kind, as long as it provides solutions for challenges in development (for example North-South or South-South partnerships, Dutch INGOs (NGO or donor) working with local (informal) actors or community-based organizations, international digital movements, start-ups & governments).
- Your collaborative innovation demonstrates ‘adaptive and innovative power’ to deal with uncertainties and challenges.
- Your innovation contributes to positive social change and the inclusion of marginalised groups (sustainable, inclusive and just).
- Your innovation or collaborative solution is set up more than 3 months ago but not later than 2 years before submission.
- The collaborative innovation can be in a design, testing, early upscaling or implementation phase or is already finalised (but not finished longer than 6 months ago).
- The submission should contain a clear explanation of how the project contributes to one or more key thematic areas of Partos Learning & Innovation (civic power, inclusion, new ways of organising and working together, data & digital technology).
- You or another representative of your innovation is available to join the online session on October 8th during the Partos Innovation Festival 2021.
- You have access to a good internet connection which ensures your participation during the Innovation Festival.
What’s to win?
If you are selected as one of the 10 most inspiring collaborative innovations, you’ll get the opportunity to:
- Showcase your innovation to a large international audience.
- Participate in a co-creation session in Mid-September together with other global change-makers and future thinkers, in which you’ll tackle a particular challenge on your road to success.
- Present your innovation to the jury and share your collaborative innovations as one of the innovation pioneers at the Partos Innovation Festival.
If you are awarded by the jury as one of the 3 most inspiring collaborative innovations, you’ll get the opportunity to:
- Enter the spotlight and present your collaborative innovation at the Awards ceremony at the Partos Innovation Festival on October 8th in front of a virtual international crowd of development and social justice actors.
- Win a virtual narrative artboard about your innovation, created by an artist, which you can use in your marketing and communications activities. The artboard will also be shared on Partos online channels and reach our wide network.
- Participate in the FutureLab: a series of three exclusive innovation workshops offered by cutting-edge innovation agencies to tackle future challenges and design for more impactful innovations.
- Engage and exchange in international future exploration efforts aimed at re-imaging and shaping the field of development cooperation.
How to apply?
The call for innovation is open for all partnerships within the sphere of development cooperation, contributing to social justice and inclusion. We encourage participants from all backgrounds and identities to apply. The call for innovation was open until the 15th of august.
Don’t forget to read through our criteria and Terms & Conditions. Any questions? The Partos team is available for further inquiries. We are looking forward to receiving your entries soon!