From the People to the People and for the People: A Participatory Approach Towards Development

Solution Ecosystems Activator (SEA Inc.) is well aware that the poverty rates in the Philippines are in constant escalation. It has been trying to figure out a coherent developmental approach that is efficacious for helping the poor and as a background to the concept of alternative development that is pro-poor, current models of development were described: Development by Sympathy, Development by Philanthropy, Development by Banking System and Development by Inviting Foreign Investments.

SEA, Inc. sees these paradigms of development as, though they provide assistants for the poor, they are not sustainable enough for the poor to actually help themselves out of poverty. Furthermore, the poor in these paradigms of development, are always the OBJECT of development, in the passive position – at the receiving end.

The role of SEA, Inc. is to assist the poor in shifting from the passive ‘object’
position to the active ‘subject’ position.The “shifting” here is not a physical transposition but rather, it is a cultural transformation.

SEA, Inc. seeks to guide the poor to recognize one’s inherent potential and power as an individual. Since the poor is cultured to remain the receiver of development, it is fundamental for SEA, Inc. to point out to the poor the they have something to give; that they can be the givers of development.

Thus, SEA, Inc. offers an alternative paradigm of development, Development by Empowerment, since it recognizes and upholds the inherent right of the people to their own development. In this respect, SEA, Inc.’s holistic developmental approach is undertaken in a two-fold manner 1. to assist the poor in confronting a shift in their development paradigm. 2. to provide a structure (solution ecosystems*) whereby the paradigm shift can be practiced.

*What is solution ecosystems?

 Solution ecosystems are wide-ranging societal threefolding partnerships civil society, government, and business aimed at mobilizing diverse talents, resources, and innovations to solve systemic challenges that stand in the way of achieving sustainable societies

 Solution Ecosystems Activation and Its Role in Functioning Societal Threefolding Partnerships that Advance Integral Sustainable Development as a Systemic Response to the Complex and Interrelated Challenges of Society. The challenges of national (and global) development are multifaceted, complex, systemic, and interrelated. Therefore, the response must equally be systemic, integral and holistic. This holistic response must focus on the seven dimensions of sustainability simultaneously and in tandem with each other, whether sequentially in time or in parallel with each other. Either way the different dimensions are designed to harmonize and positively reinforce and feed upon each other.

To achieve this, all the key institutions of society will need to be involved. This will mean the active mobilization of cooperation and convergence between and among government, business, and civil society or we call societal threefolding partnerships.

The Development by Empowerment approach is concentrated on providing outside resources to communities. Community empowerment focuses on developing the community’s capacities and abilities to effectively use whatever resources at hand, either present among themselves or from the outside.

The thinking behind this form of development is for communities, having vision of their future and skills to achieve that vision, drive the development process rather than depending on outside agencies.

This is anchored on the PEACE Paradigm of Development by SEA, Inc. – Participatory, Empowerment, Appropriate, Community driven and Enabling access.

SEA, Inc. have started workshops on participatory community planning on its partner communities.

These partner communities will go through series of planning workshops and technical working group meetings and will be revisiting their vision and mission statements as well as their goals and objective setting. They will also be formulating programs and projects for their communities which will be presented in their barangay council as well as in community meetings to let the whole community know of the new innovations that will be happening in their area.

SEA, Inc. aims to finish the planning workshop and the workshop output of programs and project by September 2019 so that this will be the stepping stone to
which the barangay council will be basing their
Annual Investment Plans (AIP).