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On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples we look back at the DEPP Innovation Labs project in the Philippines. Enhancing Traditional Food Source Management is one of the 40 innovative solutions supported by Philippines TUKLAS Innovation Labs that help communities better prepare for disasters. The project is implemented by a consortium of four non-governmental organisations: Plan International Philippines, Action Against Hunger, CARE Philippines, and the Citizens' Disaster Response Center. It is part of the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP) Innovation Labs, a programme that is managed collaboratively by the Start Network and the Communications with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network.

As well as the innovations, the labs themselves needed to think about sustaining and/or scaling. Most grant funded programmes stop when the grant stops, but not those who have prepared for financial sustainability from the outset.

“Scaling requires building a complete and consistent system. All the pieces of a sustainable system must be in place for scale to work, this is in addition to the need for a valid pilot with evidence of value. The Scaling Canvas is a tool that can be used to help innovators measure the readiness for scaling looking at six different variables 1) the core innovation 2) adoption 3) team 4) plan 5) ecosystem 6) finances”

Launched in 2017, the DEPP Innovation Labs has supported community-centred innovation in humanitarian environments in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya and Philippines. On 31 July, the first phase of the pioneering program came to a close. So what did the DEPP Labs achieve?

The purpose of a journey map is to gain a holistic and shared understanding of a new or existing path (or process) followed by your target customers/ beneficiaries and your fellow staff who interact with a particular aspect of your work which needs attention.

DEPP Innovation Labs have pioneered scalable, sustainable innovation with, by and for disaster affected communities. Established in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya and the Philippines, all disaster-prone countries, the Labs sought to tackle specific challenges identified by communities at risk.

How can you assign and protect copyright and intellectual property when co-designing humanitarian solutions with multiple actors, including disaster-affected communities and vulnerable groups?

Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, Research Professor of Humanitarian Studies, University of Oslo, speaks to Start Network's innovation labs in Jordan, Philippines, Bangladesh and Kenya about ethics in humanitarian innovation.

The proverb sure does ring a bell for the Maarifa Kona Innovation Lab team in Kenya as each month provides new insights and it also shapes our outlook on this innovation path shuttled by the DEPP Labs programme.