The Path Toward Inclusive Economic Development - Palestine’s Deep Demonstration Experience
By Tala El-Yousef, Ruba Aladham, and Ismail Abu Arafeh
About a year ago, UNDP/PAPP (Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People) was selected among seven other UNDP Country Offices to embark on the Deep Demonstrations journey: an immersive experience in an effort to transform how UNDP approaches complex development challenges. In our last blog, we delved into the groundwork and field visits that were conducted to advance our thinking toward inclusive economic development, which marked a steppingstone of exploring an aggregative service company model as an instrument for inclusive economic growth in Palestine. The field visits highlighted opportunities for small scale producers that could be amplified through aggregation and access to new markets. At that point, we had synthesized a few concepts, coupled with insights from the small businesses and clusters in different sectors we visited. This blog takes us to the next step of the Deep Demonstrations, from conceptualization to the design of the studio [1] with our partners Snowcone & Haystack, in an effort to engage with a group of multi-disciplinary experts to drive ideas into action.
During the second week of November, a team of nine national and international experts were summoned to explore the potential of new value-based models to help advance an inclusive and resilient economy, and to identify a strategy and practical actions to help move the work on advancing new models towards large-scale impact. The studio week included a mix of field visits in the West Bank: to the leather cluster in Hebron, the Bethlehem Fair Trade Artisans, the furniture cluster in Nablus, and Canaan Fair Trade in Jenin. After the visits, considerable time was dedicated with the studio members to working across the framing questions and synthesizing solutions toward inclusive economic development. For UNDP/PAPP, the studio team sought to explore new models to evolve a value-based Palestinian economy which builds on the rich cultural heritage and sustainable practices that meet the increasing demand in the global markets on sustainably and ethically sourced products and services.
The challenges to finding the right balance of zooming in and out
Choosing a policy issue to work on during the Deep Demonstrations required deliberate thinking. If we were to only work on unemployment, it would have been too broad of an issue to tackle in one exercise. This in turn helped us in mapping out challenges and building on previous groundwork done by UNDP/PAPP which identified economic development as a priority area, and the gap as being the inclusivity aspect of economic growth. From that point, we started zooming in on micro and small businesses, trying to understand their pain points and crafting ways to aggregate efforts, streamline sustainable production, and work on the soft aspects of productivity such as branding and marketing. The tension of focusing on these specific aspects had to be balanced out by the broader vision of working on inclusive economic development. The constant push and pull resulted in focusing on value-based models that would benefit small producers and result in sustainable production.
The Deep Demonstration engagement has tested our patience as we were eager to design solutions in the first few months, whereby it quickly became apparent that framing the right questions determines the extent of usefulness of the interventions proposed down the line. Working on inclusive economic development and other complex issues takes time, and it could be difficult to not lose track of that given competing priorities in Palestine and at UNDP/PAPP. Additionally, the weaving of the ‘content’ and the ‘process’ to reaching conclusions were in the beginning referred to as two separate items. However, the process we adopted through holding the studios and through the field visits would feed into the content and vice versa. What we have learned is that there isn’t one mold of a process that can be used to generate the content that we are looking for. It is an iterative process that requires constant refining before it starts to make sense. Here again, our patience and the patience of those we were engaging with was critical.
Eventually, the studio approach pinpointed gaps that would render the efficient institutionalization and operationalization of the service company model. It has taken us on a journey from being aware of an issue, such as that of unskilled labor in Palestine and the subsequent leakage of workers to the Israeli market, to realizing how detrimental this issue is on new models that aim to develop the productive sectors or economic development in Palestine. Highlighting this gap during the field work and the reflections, has driven the exploration of new models of employment including retention, expansion, and future employment opportunities to support the service company model. Other areas that have emerged are on enhancing employment inclusivity, addressing high unemployment rates among skilled Palestinian youth and women, and finding ways to retain unskilled labor in productive sectors through a unique offering that addresses the needs of all stakeholders (producers, workers, aggregators, and development actors).
The Lead-up to the Studio Week
The success of the studio week depended on the yearlong groundwork of the Deep Demonstrations core team, especially in asking the right questions and framing the policy issue before jumping to designing solutions. As we started to identify that changes are needed to the ways economic development projects in Palestine are being implemented, we realized that the key aspect that has been neglected is ‘inclusivity.’ Several initiatives target small businesses, but the audience typically includes those who already have opportunities or have the knowledge on how to seek opportunities. The gap identified in the sector was on those who are out of the realm of development projects, whether it is because they work in sectors that are not economically lucrative, or they operate in areas that are geographically secluded. Working on the ‘inclusivity’ aspect of economic growth has led us to focus on adopting a people-centered approach that goes beyond desk research, and homes in on community immersion and people’s individual experiences. The series of field visits conducted by the core team was key in building trust and setting the stage ahead of the studio week.
The selection of the studio members was another precursor to the success of the studio week, as it mirrored working on an issue in a systems transformation lens. We were not looking solely for economists or experts in the different sectors that we visited, rather personalities who are passionate about enhancing inclusive economic development in Palestine, have worked on the different aspects of production, including branding, strategic design, marketing, legal framework, exports, and access to new markets. This was inspired by the experience of Snowcone and Haystack in Uruguay whereby a studio was designed and led to the construction of a pulp mill in central Uruguay. One of the key elements to the success of that intervention was engaging a multi-disciplinary team who were able to effectuate change but did not necessarily have specific technical expertise in pulp mills.
Studio Week Dynamics
The portfolios of the experts were complementary and opened avenues for new generative ideas. After the field visits, the studio members came up with potential interventions that consolidated their unique experiences and insights from the studio week. Framing the right questions was one of the main drivers of the process that led to synthesizing new ideas as it forged new conceptual connections that built on previous experiences of the studio members. The result was a plethora of ideas generated through a process of co-creation with studio members that could be taken forward by UNDP/PAPP and other development actors in Palestine. The ideas are not about being technological or scientific in nature to compete in a global market, rather address a gap and focus on a niche area. The ideas that were generated do not tackle an issue from a myopic sectoral perspective but relate to different leverage points of a system.
For example, one of the suggestions for interventions is the ‘Future Ventures’ which focuses on strengthening partnerships between research and development departments at universities to feed into different industries, given that small businesses cannot afford to experiment and would significantly benefit from the learnings of experimentation labs at universities. Through ‘Future Ventures,’ the studio team envisioned a system of identifying and advancing global macro trends by leveraging the industry and talent in new ways; through establishing a cluster of venture studios by sector, competing on new ideas that can ultimately spin-off to the private sector. The focus of these venture studios could be advancing traditional industries, including the use of materials, waste, new systems, processes, and product uses.
Another idea was on creating a ‘Made in Palestine’ brand that is recognized worldwide. This idea would heavily engage Palestinian diaspora as ambassadors for the brand, would focus relentlessly on maintaining quality assurance, and would rely on a strong partnership between the private and public sectors to promote a Palestinian brand. ‘Made in Palestine’ would connect tradition with geography to create a unique offering and promote Palestinian terroirs. This will in turn increase the Palestinian share in the local market and offer access to new markets, while instilling Palestinian identity and preserving cultural heritage.
Studio week is over. Now what?
The studio week culminated in the presentation of intervention proposals to a stakeholder group, UNDP/PAPP’s programme team and the senior management team. Other than the interventions, a Studio Narrative will be presented, which tells the ‘story’ of the Deep Demonstrations, the refinement of the learning questions, and how we landed on the interventions and proposed ideas during the studio week.
Once the proposals are documented, the relationship with the partners who were part of the studio week will continue to be nurtured along with fostering new partnerships, for example with the public sector and private sector to translate the ideas into action. Building on the momentum generated during the studio week is paramount, especially in strengthening the trust already built with stakeholders and positioning UNDP in this space, through adopting new models of working and leveraging synergies with other development actors. Finally, the proposed ideas that contribute to inclusive economic development not only pertain to what UNDP/PAPP could invest in, but also highlight UNDP/PAPP’s role as a convening agency that could influence how other stakeholders invest in Palestine’s economic growth.
[1] A studio is a design-based approach to help create transformative innovations on large-scale challenges. Because key decision makers sometimes only see the parts rather than the whole of a problem, they may be blindsided by the unintended consequences of their choices. The naturally integrative approach of design helps illuminate the complex web of relationships — between people, organizations, and things — to provide a holistic point of view. A studio is a structured engagement designed to rapidly generate the sketch of systemic redesign by bringing together the right people to focus on a carefully defined problem, using a flexible process in a physical place that is conducive to collaboration. This studio process is built around an interdisciplinary team of experts facilitated by a studio lead who spend several undisrupted and immersive days intensively focusing on a complex challenge.
