Istanbul Innovation Day 2021_My Learning Note #1
It's not about what development is. It's about what it could be.
After the working hours in Kyrgyzstan, I tuned in #IID21 with over 300 participants from the world to listen to inspirational sharing from speakers/panelists. The opening session was on Development and its Futures (plural: "FutureS"). Exactly! While facing this complex and unpredictable world, we have realised that there can no longer be a single future scenario, but multiple futures. That's why we talk about FutureS.
My key takeaway from the openning session is that we should not only look forward to re-imagining futures, but also look at our past to reflect.
UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner, highlighted, "Development is about making a choice about our futures". Looking at our past helps us understand where we are coming from, further understand the choice we make about our futures. I couldn't agree with it more! I'd like to strongly recommend the blog I co-authored with my colleague at Accelerator Lab about the "Untapped Nomad Values in Community Development". By reflecting the past and recognising the Kyrgyz nomad values, we explored the prosperity of our future development works in UNDP Kyrgyz Republic. In the similar pattern, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Turkey, Faruk Kaymakci, noted the importance of embracing the indigenous wisdom in the future development, too!
Once we have reflected on the past, we shall reimagine fearlessly!
Roman Krznaric, the author of The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short Term World, shared a Japanese future design movement. He described, "when they imagine the future, they have much more transformative plans for the future development". He further explained the challenge we face with the development agenda is its short-term cycle with political decision. He devoted a whole book to elaborate it;) The key is to learn that we far more underestimate the power of our imagination in shaping the futures we dare to envision. I like how Achim Steiner describes himself unapologetically optimistic towards the futures. It doesn't matter what kind of future(s) we imagine. It matters how fearlessly, unapologetically, and holistically we reimagine future(s).
The best "technology" human create is story!
Last but not the least, I'm impressed the most by the speech of Marcela Sabino, the Head of Innovation of the Museum of Tomorrow’s Laboratory. Those technologies, no matter great inventions (papermaking, gunpowder, compass, etc.) in the past or emerging high tech (AI, machine learning, IoT, etc), can't be compared to the one human have been creating over 100,000 years - STORIES! Marcela described that it is the most effective way to transform information from one brain to another. Moreover, the future potentials stories unleash are incredible. How can we use well storytelling to reshape the narrative of development? Marcela made an impressive "future poster" to manifest its power.
In the end of her sharing, she reminded the audience to exercise a mindset of experimentation along the journey towards the future, but not be constrained by so-called "long-term" goals.
I would like to end my today's learning note by such a summary-
Between the past we reflect and the future we reimagine, we own the power to shape today's story!
ABOUT #IID21: Today the Istanbul Innovation Day 2021 officially kicks off. This is a three-days online event under three main themes or 'moves': the legacies of our past, the edges of the present and progress towards a plurality of futures. Learn more and reserve your spot now for #IID21: https://innovationdays.co