The COPOLAD III programme, in collaboration with the Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC), has promoted a network of social innovation laboratories in Latin America to promote public policies on drugs that are more connected to social dynamics and community needs. For two years, these labs have developed tools such as community listening, systems mapping, collective interpretation and co-creation, strengthening institutional capacities to manage complex challenges in an adaptive way.

Etorkizuna Eraikizen esparruan, 2020an Gipuzkoa Deep Demo jarri zen martxan, lurraldeko gizarte, ekonomia eta ingurumen trantsizioa bultzatzeko esperimentazio-prozesu aurreratua. Nazioarteko solaskideen laguntzarekin, hala nola Klima-KIC eta ELGAren Gobernantza Aurreratuaren Behatokia (OPSI), proiektuak politikak eta praktikak eraldatu nahi ditu ikuspegi jasangarri baterantz, lankidetzazko gobernantza, analisi sistemikoa eta aldaketa soziala integratuz. 2021ean, Etorkizuna Eraikiz ekimenen karteraren azterketa zehatza egin zen, deskarbonizazioaren, gizarte-kohesioaren eta klima-aldaketaren ardatzak lehenetsiz. Ondorioz, funtsezko bi misio ezarri ziren: elikadura jasangarria eta mugikortasun berria, prototipoen diseinua eta soluzio berritzaileen ezarpena bideratuko dutenak tokiko eta nazioarteko eragileekin lankidetzan.

Agirre Lehendakaria Center has collaborated over the last six months with UNDP Syria in the design of a piloting portfolio focused on youth inclusion. This process has included the development of a system mapping to identify key actors, available resources and relationships between them, as well as entry points based on the challenges and opportunities perceived by local communities. ALC has also supported a deep listening process to capture perceptions and social dynamics through interviews and different listening channels, as well as supporting the cross-checking of results through collective interpretation. Finally, ALC has designed co-creation sessions to connect existing initiatives and generate new ideas, with a particular focus on regenerative agriculture, and has defined prototypes and concrete steps for implementation with relevant stakeholders.

Promoted by Plena Inclusión as part of the network of deinstitutionalisation experimentation projects promoted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Agenda 2030. The aim of the project has been to facilitate the transition to community life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in six areas of Spain (La Orotava, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Teruel, Don Benito, La Marina del Prat Vermell and Yepes). In this context, ALC has implemented a developmental evaluation approach that integrates tools such as community mapping, active listening and co-creation, together with adaptive management in real time, to design and consolidate the figure of the community connector as a key axis of the project.

The ‘Como en Casa’ project promoted by Matia Fundazioa within the framework of the network of deinstitutionalisation experimentation projects promoted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Agenda 2030 includes a layer of developmental evaluation. The strategic objective of this type of evaluation is to ‘accompany the development of new innovation policies’, in this case in relation to long-term care and support, for which it is necessary to test and experiment within a framework of open innovation, ‘multiplying the possibilities of learning and generating solutions that can then be generalised’. The ALC team is leading the community listening process in a total of 10 centres, located in Gipuzkoa (Bermingham, Fraisoro, Lamorous, Petra Lekuona and Rezola) and Asturias (Sierra del Cuera, Arriondas, Lastres, Mejora Residencial and Infiesto).

The ‘Como en Casa’ project promoted by Matia Fundazioa within the framework of the network of deinstitutionalisation experimentation projects promoted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Agenda 2030 includes a layer of developmental evaluation. The strategic objective of this type of evaluation is to ‘accompany the development of new innovation policies’, in this case in relation to long-term care and support, for which it is necessary to test and experiment within a framework of open innovation, ‘multiplying the possibilities of learning and generating solutions that can then be generalised’. The ALC team is leading the community listening process in Asturias in a total of 5 centres: Sierra del Cuera, Arriondas, Lastres, Mejora Residencial and Infiesto.

Innovation processes in complex challenges, such as the design of a foster care system, require developmental evaluation approaches that allow for adjustments in real time and learn from the barriers and perceptions of the agents. ALC has supported the AFE (specialised family foster care) programme through workshops, training and methodological tools, facilitating adaptive management and promoting continuous learning. This approach has strengthened Agintzari's internal capacities, connected initiatives in a systemic strategy and adjusted the programme to territorial contexts to improve its implementation.

Development of a comprehensive service for cancer patients, integrating physical exercise, nutrition and psychological support to improve quality of life and survival

In collaboration with the UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau, Agirre Lehendakaria Center has accompanied the Terasmitra Indonesia team in 2024 in the development of the KM7 knowledge management platform, a key initiative of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP). ALC has applied methodologies such as developmental evaluation, systems mapping and deep listening to strengthen KM7 capacity, promoting the effective use of local knowledge in climate change adaptation. Through missions in four regions of Indonesia, it has identified challenges, transferred knowledge and designed an experimentation portfolio, ensuring lasting impact on communities. The process and its learnings have been documented digitally and in blogs available on the ALC website.

ALC has begun to work with the Provincial Council of Alava and the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council on the revitalisation of the Basque language. This process aims to contribute to building the bases of the infrastructure that the institutions want to create in order to respond to the revitalisation of the Basque language (a complex challenge and cultural change); thus working on the necessary elements: to better understand the perceptions of Alava's society regarding the Basque language; based on this understanding, to detect the possibilities that can act as a lever in favour of the Basque language, to know the barriers and identify the bases and form the elements that allow the creation of a shared understanding between the different agents and public institutions.

Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC), created in 2013 as part of the Euskampus Foundation and in collaboration with Columbia University and the UPV/EHU, is a centre for social innovation that combines research and action to address the complex challenges of contemporary society. It uses interdisciplinary methodologies such as systemic mapping, active listening, collective interpretation and co-creation to promote social transformation and sustainable human development. The centre focuses on analysing and sharing lessons learned from the Basque transformation. It stands out for its capacity to integrate culture, narratives and values in its processes, using the ‘K Factor’ as a central axis to design interventions adapted to local realities.

Agirre Lehendakaria Center collaborates with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Cyprus in a process focused on Green and Fair Growth. ALC supports the deep listening of community narratives to identify needs, challenges and opportunities, as well as the design of a mapping of key initiatives and actors, with the aim of finding connections, avoiding duplications and revealing gaps in the existing network. In this framework, ALC also contributes to the facilitation of dialogue spaces that are part of a Citizen's Climate Assembly and to the innovation challenge launched by UNDP to design strategic interventions. These actions will culminate in an experimentation portfolio co-created with citizens and key actors, which will ensure responses aligned with local demands and resources.

Workshop in Cyprus. Agirre Lehendakaria Center collaborates with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Cyprus in a process focused on Green and Fair Growth. ALC supports the deep listening of community narratives to identify needs, challenges and opportunities, as well as the design of a mapping of key initiatives and actors, with the aim of finding connections, avoiding duplications and revealing gaps in the existing network. In this framework, ALC also contributes to the facilitation of dialogue spaces that are part of a Citizen's Climate Assembly and to the innovation challenge launched by UNDP to design strategic interventions. These actions will culminate in an experimentation portfolio co-created with citizens and key actors, which will ensure responses aligned with local demands and resources.

Getxo Zurekin is a project promoted by the Doble Sonrisa Foundation in collaboration with the New Health Foundation (NHF), the Agirre Lehendakaria Center and the Deusto Business School Health. The project is an initiative of Doble Sonrisa, which has decided to bring the Denok Zurekin methodology from the NHF to the town of Getxo and, to do so, has received the support of the Town Council and the Public Authorities. With the aim of conveying to the community the importance of caring for the end of life, Getxo Zurekin is conceived as a programme of awareness-raising, training and social research. The project aims to promote a new social movement in Getxo that generates a compassionate environment for people who are at the end of their lives, through the involvement and participation of the community. Without replacing existing palliative care and health and social services, the aim is to contribute to the well-being and improvement of the quality of life of people in situations of dependency and at the end of their lives, taking advantage of the strengths and community networks that already exist.

This study, led by Agirre Lehendakaria Center (ALC) with the support of the Basque Government, seeks to generate an integrated and participatory vision of the evolution of the Basque STI ecosystem, incorporating the analysis of narratives and perceptions of the key agents that have intervened in its development. It aims to analyse the evolution of the social impact of these policies over the last 50 years, as well as to project future scenarios. Therefore, as part of the research, we will conduct interviews with key people in the STI ecosystem to gather qualitative information on its development and future prospects.

Map, listen, sensemaking, simulation, action, transformation

Young Social Innovators (YSI) is a non-profit organisation that empowers young people to use their talents, insights, passion and creativity to come up with innovative solutions to social challenges. For the past 21 years, our fun and engaging programmes have supported students to create team-based action-projects on issues they care about, putting their innovative ideas into action to bring about positive social change for the benefit of people, communities and the environment.

Casa B es un proyecto que se realiza en el barrio Belén, ubicado en el centro de Bogotá, en la carrera 2 #6d-30. Darío Sendoya Zuluaga, antropólogo del desarrollo y sociólogo, es el fundador de este sueño que se denomina como “un espacio de creación cultural y social”, en el que, por medio de talleres dirigidos a un grupo de niños, empezaron a crear una base cultural en el barrio, recalcando la importancia del arte como medio de expresión. Esto busca fortalecer el orgullo de barrio entre los habitantes para que, en un futuro, se pueda crear una empresa por medio de la cooperativa de barrio.