The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), in partnership with Making All Voice Count (MAVC) and HIVOS International, conducted a Design Thinking Workshop and Consultation last October 8-9,2015 at the Philippine Gateway Hotel, Surigao del Norte.
Executive Director Czarina Medina-Guce welcomed 40 participants from 20 municipalties and 1 city invited to attend the workshop. Also present during the workshop were: Governor Sol Matugas, Mayor Christine Arcillas, Mayor Lalaine Dominos, and Mayor Carlos Egay.
The workshop utilized the design thinking process to develop technology-based platforms at the provincial level to improve relationships and increase opportunities for feedback loops between citizens and governments, with the OpenBuB portal as the basis for reporting, monitoring, and feedback of local BuB implementers and partners.
The Design Thinking Process requires participants to empathize with the beneficiaries, define the problem, ideate solutions, prototype projects/programs and test the prototypes.
The first day of the workshop was designed for the first two steps. The participants were requested to share experiences of what worked and what did not work in the BuB reporting process. Grounded by their experiences, they were then asked to define the problem through an idea/problem map to identify the root causes of the problem.
Day 2 was focused on seeking innovative solutions and developing prototypes to solve identified problems. The prototypes were then presented to the Local Chief Executives (LCEs) who in turn shared their thoughts and committed to support the prototypes.