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An Uncommon Gathering, For a Common Agenda: Affordable Housing at the BoP
In December, Ashoka in partnership with the Hilti Foundation brought, several other organizations tackling affordable housing in various geographies and with varying approaches in Barcelona for a Summit of Global Housing Entrepreneurs. The goal: to identify a common agenda to advance affordable housing for BoP populations globally.
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- housing
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World’s Largest Social Enterprise Directory, iuMAP, Gets a Makeover
In July, Ayllu released iuMAP in media partnership with NextBillion. Since then, it has grown by 50% and is easier to search the majority of the world’s social enterprises (450 enterprises in 65+ developing countries). This week Ayllu is unveiling a new and improved iuMAP, with improved filtering, sector pages and new features to come this spring.
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Friday Roundup ? 1/5/11: Bye Bye 2010, Hello 2011! New Start Also for Endeva
Turning from 2010 to 2011, many of us - including NextBillion’s writers and editors - have taken the opportunity to reflect on the past. But the turn of the year not only gives a good reason to look at what happened, it also prompts us to think about what is to come. An organization that looks ahead and starts anew this year is Endeva.
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The (BoP) Project: Finding Sustainable Water Solutions
The Grundfos LIFELINK system is certainly no robot, but it is about as high-tech as rural water solutions can get. A single-point water supply system with a submersible pump that is powered entirely by solar panels, the water is pumped to an elevated storage tank, then led by gravity to a tap unit in a small, secure concrete housing structure.
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- Agriculture, Environment
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Building Markets for Financial Inclusion … Beyond Micro-credit!
The micro-credit crises under way in Andhra Pradesh will probably affect micro-credit operations globally. Time to take a broader look at financial inclusion ? on how to bring credit, transactions, savings and insurance to those currently excluded formal banking ? through a review of the Global Financial Inclusion report by McKinsey.
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Launching Engineering for Change, A Design Tool Whose Time Has Come
Few tools exist that bridge the knowledge gap between the realities on-the-ground and development professionals. Enter Engineering for Change (E4C). Equal parts catalog, database, research and collaboration tool - with the accessibility of the Internet worldwide - E4C is what the design and development sector has needed for decades.
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Energy for the BoP Made ’Simple’
Simpa Networks manufactures a solar household system that, unlike some others, is off-the-shelf, and easy to install and maintain. Inspired by mobile phone prepayment systems, the big innovation is Simpa’s unique "Progressive Purchase" pricing model, a micropayment system specifically designed to fit the unpredictable incomes of the poor.
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- Energy
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Wrapping Up the Best Ideas of 2010 Series: Redefining How We Collaborate
While the field of business strategies for the Base of the Pyramid is built on the idea of community relevance and empowerment, there has been no standardized method for the development and implementation of approaches that strategically consider positionality and culture. One solution: community-based participatory research, or CBPR.
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