ksv-platform

Social Innovation Platform in
Stepanavan

  • Sector: Urban Transformation
  • Country: Armenia

Agirre Lehendakaria Center in collaboration with UNDPs Europe and Central Asia's City Experiment Fund (funded by the Slovak Ministry of Finance) and Mayor's for Economic Growth

In 2021, five cities from across the Europe and Central Asian region embarked on an exploration of a new approach to problem solving, which is rooted in systems thinking: Stepanavan (Armenia), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Prizren (Kosovo), Pljevlja (Montenegro) and Skopje (North Macedonia) began designing their own Social Innovation Platforms.
 

Now in different stages of the social innovation process, these Platforms seek to interconnect organizations and actions around shared objectives, methodologies and evaluation systems, in order to bring about systemic impact. Although a platform approach requires increased effort in the design phase and new tools for building a collective vision, it will ultimately contribute to align disconnected initiatives and to enhance their impact, cohesion and visibility.

 

ALCk worked in collaboration with the UNDP's Armenia Country Office and the team in Stepanavan began byidentifying community's narratives via a deep listening process. This helped unravel narratives that surround both the challenges and opportunities at hand, but also, more importantly, the city and its future in general. 
 

With a clearly defined intent, the team moved on to identifying the best places in selected systems to intervene. From July to August 2021, the teams went into experimentation mode and began implementing their portfolios of options. The Platform in Stepanavan is currently working in different co-creation spaces based on thematic areas (alternative finance, youth talent attraction or housing, among others) where to relate prototypes and existing initiatives in the region.

Profiles and Narratives
Yervant
Yeva
Anoush
Vahe
Darlita
Impact Levels
  • Community actions2
  • string(7) "0.00000" string(15) "#5CA897 0.00000"
  • Small and mid scale initiatives2
  • string(7) "7.69231" string(49) "#5CA897 0.00000%,#5CA897 7.69131%,#59747F 7.69231"
  • Large scale initiatives9
  • string(8) "15.38462" string(85) "#5CA897 0.00000%,#5CA897 7.69131%,#59747F 7.69231%,#59747F 15.38362%,#C38482 15.38462"
  • New public services8
  • string(8) "50.00000" string(121) "#5CA897 0.00000%,#5CA897 7.69131%,#59747F 7.69231%,#59747F 15.38362%,#C38482 15.38462%,#C38482 49.99900%,#EC5D65 50.00000"
  • New regulation mechanisms5
  • string(8) "80.76923" string(157) "#5CA897 0.00000%,#5CA897 7.69131%,#59747F 7.69231%,#59747F 15.38362%,#C38482 15.38462%,#C38482 49.99900%,#EC5D65 50.00000%,#EC5D65 80.76824%,#A73E7D 80.76923"
NameYervant
Age16
Key narrative

Development should te focused on the communities of the cities. 

 

NameYeva
Age48
Key narrative

Unemployment is the city’s biggest and most urgent problem

 

NameAnoush
Age35
Key narrative

Stepanavan won’t change if we don’t create something that keeps people here

 

NameVahe
Age20
Key narrative

Finding a job is a challenge largely conditioned by COVID-19

 

NameDarlita
Age28
Key narrative

Ashotaberd district needs to be renovated so as no one is living in a trailer

 

The City Experiment Fund project is part of the Slovak Transformation Fund, financed by the Slovak Ministry of Finance. It is an effort of UNDP and the Ministry of Finance of Slovakia to support cities in applying innovative approaches to tackle complex challenges in the system. Spread across five cities, this project helps build capabilities within UNDP and the supporting municipalities to work on problems with a systems lens. 

 

The Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) is a joint EU & UNDP initiative to support Mayors and their teams in the Eastern Partnership region. The M4EG offers resources, network and learning opportunities to explore new trajectories of growth, and to make towns and cities more attractive for people and investment.