Social Innovation Exercise 1) One of the biggest problems we face in Southern California and all around the world is the issue if sustainable living and sustainable communities. Most of the communities surrounding the CA/Tijuana border are faced with infrastructure inadequacies due to a lack of government funding. As residents of San Diego we are almost completely oblivious to the fact that just 25 miles south citizens of the U.S and Mexico face issues with shelter, clean drinking water, pollution, and urban sprawl stressors. One of the most prominent issues currently facing the U.S-Tijuana border region is the high density of its urbanized canyons. Tijuana is filled with people who are struggling everyday for food and water. These citizens must piece together temporary structures that end up being washed away from rain. As a result of unsafe infrastructure and pollution the runoff consisting of tires, trash, and human waste is threatening the environmental vitality of the Tijuana River Valley Estuary. This problem is not only affecting Tijuana but also San Diego, causing everything from beach closures to destroyed wildlife.
The issues described in the U.S/Tijuana region are not uncommon for low-income communities across the world. Countries such as Brazil and many regions throughout Africa are gravely affected by poor infrastructure. One of the biggest problems thus far has been locating proper funding and manpower to solve these inadequacies. Most of the people within these regions do not possess the know how to fix their communities and governments are not focused on helping these small towns and villages. For example, the city of Douala is known as the “armpit of Africa” because it lacks roads and the streets are filled with piles of rubble and vast holes from unfinished construction. One would think that a city of nearly 2 million people would have better government funding but the fact is no one cares enough to help these citizens.
2) Although many organizations have attempted to solve these problems none have been very successful. However, one organization in particular is breaking ground in these poor communities. This organization is called 4 Walls International. Inspired by the work of green building inventor Michael Reynolds, 4 Walls International’s goal is to promote sustainable community development around the globe. 4 Walls is able to accomplish what most governments and organizations cannot because they start at each community’s heart and involves local leaders, non-government organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions that have a presence in the area. By collectively pulling resources from all of these different agencies and organizations 4 Walls is able to make a significant impact.
Currently 4 Walls is working in the U.S/Tijuana border to promote a sustainable community. 4 Walls recently completed a live-work facility for the Las Hormiguitas native plant nursery in Tijuana. This facility will be used to showcase the various sustainable building methods incorporated in the structure. The leaders of the San Diego/ Tijuana community will be invited to experience these innovations first hand and given the opportunity to bring this method of building to their community. 4 Walls is also currently planning cross border volunteer building events as well as developing future plans for consistent funding. Thus far the work by 4 Walls has been astonishing. By building stable housing for the inhabitants of Tijuana there has already been a decrease in pollution primarily from the proper disposal of used tires in the region. 4 Walls has also done an extremely effective job of bringing in outside organizations to donate and help out their cause. A prime example of the institutions that support the work of 4 Walls is the Joan B Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. Since 2000 the IPJ had been in the field working with local partners in conflict-affected countries to bring together governments, the military, human rights advocates, and civil society. The IPJ along with 11 other organizations have been brought together by 4 Walls to build a more sustainable community throughout the Tijuana region. Since 4 Walls is a San Diego based organization it has done phenomenal work in our region, however, it seems that what must be done is to reach further outside our borders to help communities such as Africa and Brazil.
3) My belief is that for poor communities to continue to improve their infrastructure there must be some form education for local residents. Essentially the skills of local residents play a vital role in the upkeep of these communities. We need to give the local population ownership of their service and the ability to maintain it without expensive equipment. Essentially I believe that we need to setup locally run businesses in Waste, Water Vending, and Shelter after companies such as 4 Walls comes in to solve the initial problems. The locally run businesses need to be able to provide a service and then generate income from that service so that they can continue to improve on the infrastructure.

Sources

http://www.4wallsintl.org

http://practicalaction.org/participatory-planning-2

http://reason.com/archives/2006/03/01/why-poor-countries-are-poor/singlepage