Solutions Hub

In response to the question of "How do we find solutions?", we have categorized and listed some solutions hubs. This will also act as a beta version of a future Solutions Hub website, although if this scrappy version works, we don't actually need to.

We like solutions that have a seed of structural change embedded in them. See slides on Solutions Beyond our Paradigm for underlying sensibility

Solution Hubs

Evidence Clearing Houses or 'What Works' Hubs

These are hubs curated and led from a scientific approach

Campbell Collaboration

https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/

This an evidence-based clearing house that consolidates of systematic reviews so as to understand what works. It focuses on broader social domains and was inspired by the Cochrane Collaboration that focuses on health and medical care.

You can click on their link to evidence portals to find other sites classified by domains like disability, education, social welfare etc.

What Works Network

Set up by the UK Government to help them improve the creation, sharing and use of evidence for public services. Made up of separate 'What Works Centres' focusing on ageing, children, homelessness etc.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-works-network

Civic Participation or Democratic Innovation Hubs

Participedia

https://participedia.net/

Crowdsourced approaches and case studies on civic participation and democratic innovations. Click on their methods to get a sense of the solutions they care about.

Democracy Collaborative

https://democracycollaborative.org/

They have also set up separate programmes and have links to these other websites:

https://community-wealth.org/ (focuses on building community wealth)

https://thenextsystem.org/ (focuses on systems change because 'systemic problems require systemic solutions')

Solutions Journalism

https://www.solutionsjournalism.org/
Journalists who report about solutions rather than just problems. These stories are searchable in a database called their Story Tracker.

https://nextcity.org/

https://www.yesmagazine.org/

https://reasonstobecheerful.world/

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/

https://www.impactboom.org/

Social or Policy Innovation Labs

https://neweconomics.org/

https://www.nesta.org.uk/

JOIN UP: Connect to Learn, or Collaborate to Implement

These are ideas that some groups are interested to learn more about. Others already have Informal Networks or Communities of Practice in Singapore interested or even ready to implement. If they are listed here, they are keen to engage with potential partners or just people who are curious.

[We'll insert contact information of the people, groups or organizations interested in each concept as we go along]

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION

Relevant Intellectual Movements

Open Movement

https://www.yearofopen.org/

Co-Production, Deliberative Polling

Crowdlaw

https://thegovlab.org/project/project-crowdlaw

Participatory Budgeting

• Participatory Budgeting is a process where a community decides how to spend a part of some public budget.
• See this nice recent example of Scottish participatory budgeting experience: YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7tgJcu6vQk. (See especially 4:50 in video on view on how sometimes political leaders think of sharing power as zero-sum game, but PB approach to sharing power can be generative).
• Some resources: https://cobudget.com/
• Status: Hoping to find a host to pilot. Can be locality based or thematic or population based (eg seniors, people with disabilities)
• Offer: Will provide background research, attempt to secure funding, secure stakeholder support, co-develop the process with host agency, and evaluate.

Children's Assemblies

Children's Parliament (India)

Capital of Children (Billund, Denmark)

COMMUNITY BUILDING & ORGANISING

Sociocracy (for Collective Decision Making and Ownership)

Beyond Social Services has embarked on an organizational transformation journey using sociocracy.

• Watch this film ‘School Circles’. It is made up of 2 parts, the first is about Democratic Schools and the second is on Sociocracy. This used to be free for a while, but I guess you have to pay for it now. I have the film downloaded, so tell me if you want to watch it privately. I got it because I paid for a screening license.

https://schoolcirclesfilm.com/

• We invited the filmmakers to come speak with us

https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/ips/events/details/tnps-2022-learning-journey-three-teaching-and-learning-from-one-another

Carnegie Foundation's Networked Improvement Communities

https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/our-work/networked-improvement/

"a colleagueship of expertise that builds on the hard work and creativity of the collective. NICS are intentionally designed social organizations, each with a distinct problem-solving focus. They maintain narratives that exemplify what they are about and why it is important to affiliate with them. As a scientific learning community, NICs are focused on a well-specified common aim; guided by a deep understanding of the problem, the system that produces it, and a shared working theory to improve it; disciplined by the methods of improvement research to develop, test, and refine interventions; and organized to accelerate interventions into the field and to effectively integrate them into varied educational contexts."

Place-based Approaches - Children's Neighbourhoods

For summary, read here.

https://childrensneighbourhoods.scot/home/

Part of Robert Owen Centre, Scotland.

https://childrensneighbourhoods.scot/resources2/place-based-approaches-literature-review/

Community Development Network

Informal Community Development Network

French Salons and other similar gatherings

https://alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution/salons/

A Good Space has plans to organise 'Possibility Salons'

MONEY | FINANCE

Relevant Intellectual Movements

Interest-free money or monetary diversity

https://monneta.org/en/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Lietaer

Community Currencies

See this page on Community Currency

Interest-Free Loans

Objectives

• To counter targeting by illegal money-lenders of desperate individuals with poor credit profile
• To help desperate individuals with poor credit profile from getting into a debt spiral

The Concept – Interest Free Loans to Low-Income Communities

A Community Fund that provides interest free loans to members of low-income neighbourhoods to meet their urgent credit needs

• not financial assistance or subvention (expected to pay back)
• not microcredit for small businesses
• not charge for interest or require collateral (unlike moneylenders or pawnshops)
• not alternative to regular loans (poor credit profile because of irregular work or low salary)

Possible Impact

• Meet short-term urgent credit needs of marginalised and under-banked populations (not designed to meet all financial needs).
• Displace predatory lenders by reducing the need for low-income to borrow (from licensed or unlicensed) and potentially falling into debt cycles.
• Strengthen community through an opportunity to address a problem based on their own design, and sustained through their own decisions.

The Institute of Policy Studies has secured funding from The Ngee Ann Kongsi and currently designing an interest-free loans project to be implemented with Yishun FSC (Singapore Children's Society) and Beyond Social Services. We are trying to work out whether mobile banking platform LUCY will legally be allowed to disburse loans. See ST coverage and request for a background brief if interested.

Offers:

• Open to new implementing partners.
• interest-free loans seems to be in line with Islamic Finance: A shariah-compliant loan is known as Qardh-ul Hasan, (also Qard Hasan, literally: "benevolent loan" or "beneficence loan"). It is often described as an interest-free loan extended to needy people
• Contact Justin Lee from IPS.

Debt Relief

https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/iwss-rip-medical-debt/

Abundant Community Initiative / Giving Circles

See page Abundant Community Initiative

WORK | EMPLOYMENT | ECONOMY

Relevant Intellectual Movements

Localism

https://www.localfutures.org/

Inclusive Business Incubators / Venture Builder and Social Design

To identify and offer marginalised groups—ex-offenders, groups of single mothers, parent-child with disability dyads etc.—entrepreneurship training, business development and business support so that they can create small businesses or new enterprises that fit their needs, instead of only looking for accommodating employers willing to offer them a job.

This will include a process to design a viable and sustainable business model so that these communities can work and achieve financial independence while coping with their recovery or caregiving responsibilities.

Besides enterprise design and business modelling, the process will also include asset-mapping and social design. The premise is to start from where the community is, understand what their needs, strengths and interests are, and then coming up with ideas for businesses they can run by themselves, or together with others (possibly in worker-owned or even platform cooperatives). Their social needs will be taken into account and integrated into the design process (eg recovery from drugs, caregiving responsibilities etc), so that a solution that addresses all their immediate and relevant needs can give them a chance of succeeding at work and life contemporaneously.

For example, if we create a baking worker co-operative, child-minding may need to be part of the enterprise. If we create a business for ex-offenders in recovery from drug abuse, some kind of flexible arrangement and support mechanism can be integrated into the work itself.

Worker and Platform Cooperative Network

Worker and Platform Cooperative Network

This is an informal network for 1) non-profits, community groups or entrepreneurs interested to start a worker or platform coop; 2) consultants interested in providing technical assistance; 3) funders interested to resource; 4) existing cooperatives and their associations and 5) researchers interested to study and understand them.

LEARNING | EDUCATION

Relevant Intellectual Movements

Open Educational Resources and Open Pedagogy

https://www.capetowndeclaration.org/cpt10/

https://oerpolicy.eu/knowledge_base/global-open-policy-report-2016/

Parent-Led Childcare

https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/parent-led-childcare

https://neweconomics.org/campaigns/parent-led-childcare

Future of Learning Network

Social and Educational Equity Network (SEEN)

CARE & SOCIAL SUPPORT

Community Circles

• Community Circles involves the formation of a small group of people (volunteers, neighbours, friends etc)  around someone who needs some help or wants to make a change in their lives. A pilot programme currently underway,
• Borrowed from /https://www.community-circles.co.uk/
• View Slides that provide background, explain features and situates it within different models of care.
• See this event and media coverage on the pilot: https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/ips/events/details/transforming-the-non-profit-sector-learning-journeys-the-small-group-as-the-unit-of-transformation-starting-and-sustaining-community-circles
• Status: Pilot programme currently underway, focused on Caregiver of People with Disabilities. Initiated by IPS Policy Lab, funded by The Ngee Ann Kongsi, and part of an Alliance for Action. Implemented by Santosh Kumar from SoulProbe, who has formed and facilitated 8 circles hTarget to complete by Sept 2023.
• Offer: Happy to share background research and our facilitation materials so that other agencies take it on to try it out themselves. Santosh may be happy to provide his expertise in the running and set up of circles for your own communities or organisation. Get in touch with him at: santosh@soulprobe.com

• See other parallel circles in SG: https://www.wellbeingcircles.sg/

Local Area Coordination

https://lacnetwork.org/local-area-coordination/

Initially developed in Western Australia in 1988 where families are supported within their communities. Each Local Area Coordinator works with a defined neighbourhood.  They approach, or are introduced to people, who may be isolated, causing concern or are at risk of needing formal services.  Coordinators support people to build their own their vision for a good life, finding pragmatic solutions to any problems, and drawing on family and community resources, before considering commissioned or statutory services. 

Inclusive Neighbourhood Groups

• A small community-led organising group can be equipped to undertake an interconnected series of activities—local area connections, neighbourhood orientation tours, community circles, open house etc—to integrate people with disabilities (and other marginalised groups) into the communal life of their local neighbourhood without calling it out as a disability-related initiative so that inclusion can happen organically. Includes 2 core concepts: Neighbourhood orientation tours and Local Area Coordination
• View Prototyping Proposal and see Slides for features of concept and background justification.
• Status: received DesignSingapore Council grant for prototyping, targeted completion by Sept 2023. Hope to secure funding for pilot thereafter if concept receives positive feedback.
• Offer: We are happy to share the concept, and give updates on what we learn about it as we prototype. Open to prototyping at your community or organisation if you like the concept.

GAMES, SPORTS, FUN, CONVIVIALITY

Games for Change

https://www.gamesforchange.org/

https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262043489/locally-played/

Dance

https://www.nolightsnolycra.com/

STUDY TRIPS - Possible Destinations

New Zealand

Well-being Protocol - Creating a Community Development DAO

https://www.thewellbeingprotocol.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD5jmmGxqS4

[Read the White Paper]

[Community share info with one another, needs, then invite SSAs to come and fund and help community, instead of other way around]

Living Economies - on Community Currencies and Local Exchange Trading Systems

https://livingeconomies.nz/

NPO that educates on community currencies and LETs

Timebanks

http://www.wellingtontimebank.org.nz/

https://www.projectlyttelton.org/timebank

https://www.facebook.com/timebankaotearoa/

Socially Conscious Film-makers

https://happenfilms.com/

Living The Change Documentary Free on YouTube

Enspiral | Loomio

https://www.enspiral.com/

Parent-led Childcare

https://www.playcentre.org.nz/
https://oece.nz/public/information/childcare-choices/playgroups-playcentres-kohanga-reo-and-pacific-island-centres-services-that-involve-parents/

Taiwan

Websites to search for NPOs:

https://www.npo.org.tw/npolist.aspx?nowPage=2&tid=146

Fu Jen Catholic University has a Master's Program in Non-Profit Organization

http://npo.social.fju.edu.tw/layout/onebrown/vvindex.jsp

National Cheng Chi University has a research center "The Third Sector"  https://www.cftsnccu.com/

and you can also check this website for further information https://www.himalaya.org.tw/OnePage.aspx?tid=135&id=187

Socially Engaged Arts

https://www.academia.edu/31499269/Three_Approaches_to_Socially_Engaged_Art_in_Taiwan_Yishu_Journal_of_Contemporary_Chinese_Art_Volume_15_Number_6_November_December_2016_?email_work_card=title

Vtaiwan

https://info.vtaiwan.tw/

GovZero

https://g0v.asia/

Tzu Chi

https://www.tzuchi.org.tw/en/

Hand Angels

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3155104

Scotland

Participatory Budgeting

See this nice recent example of Scottish participatory budgeting experience: YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7tgJcu6vQk. See especially 4:50 in video on view on how sometimes political leaders think of sharing power as zero-sum game, but PB approach to sharing power can be generative.

Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change

https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/robertowencentre/