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systems researcher | innovation consultant | serial collaborator</description><title>menka</title><generator>Tumblr (3.0; @menka)</generator><link>http://menkaparekh.com/</link><item><title>Photo</title><description>&lt;img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp96ibejmS1qzdxago1_250.png"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/176404135</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/176404135</guid><pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>I work with Reos Partners the social enterprise and non-profit...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw982aYqT91qzdxago1_r1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;I work with &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.reospartners.com" target="_blank"&gt;Reos Partners&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; the social enterprise and non-profit consultancy helping people respond effectively to complex social challenges. We believe that diverse groups of people acting together can achieve extraordinary results.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/14265885787</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/14265885787</guid><pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:49:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Project LIFE in India has delivered over 30 years of charitable...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvvyfc5ssG1qzdxago1_r1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.999life.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Project LIFE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in India has delivered over 30 years of charitable service in the fields of health, education and the environment. To ensure its innovation culture does not die out I was asked to introduce a monthly creative workshop. This will bring together managers and field workers across the organisation around specific challenges in &lt;strong&gt;ideation and prototyping&lt;/strong&gt; sessions.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13918944339</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13918944339</guid><pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Am on the judging panel for the UNDP Equator Prize 2012....</title><description>&lt;img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvs1su151a1qzdxago1_r4_400.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;Am on the judging panel for the &lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php" target="_blank"&gt;UNDP Equator Prize 2012&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;. $275,000 will be awarded to 25 outstanding local initiatives that are working to advance sustainable  development solutions for people, nature and &lt;strong&gt;resilient communities&lt;/strong&gt;. They will also be participating in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13821710154</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13821710154</guid><pubDate>Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:14:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>"There is an urgent need to do things differently. In response social innovation is a rapidly growing..."</title><description>“There is an urgent need to do things differently. In response social innovation is a rapidly growing practice and an emerging academic discipline.”&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt; - &lt;em&gt;Published some of my insights about “&lt;strong&gt;The Social Innovation Process&lt;/strong&gt;” in the &lt;a href="http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-social-innovation-process-themes-challenges-and-implications-for-practice/" target="_blank"&gt;International Journal of Technology Management&lt;/a&gt; with Dr. Fiona Lettice.  &lt;/em&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13821487624</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13821487624</guid><pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Brave New Collaboration was a learning journey to the USA during...</title><description>&lt;iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dTOZnzhxl4Y?wmode=transparent&amp;autohide=1&amp;egm=0&amp;hd=1&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Brave New Collaboration&lt;/strong&gt; was a learning journey to the USA during the summer of 2008 with sustainable designer Ed Murfitt. We were funded by &lt;a href="http://www.nesta.org.uk/" target="_blank"&gt;NESTA&lt;/a&gt; to take our cameras and interview some of the emerging pioneers of online collaboration.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175147837</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175147837</guid><pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:50:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Seed funded by UNICEF, I project managed a global team  across...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwhhb1VZ7p1qzdxago1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;Seed funded by &lt;strong&gt;UNICEF&lt;/strong&gt;, I project managed a global team  across six cities to co-design, develop and launch a site for  collaboration and sharing knowledge in the field of of &lt;a href="http://psychosocialnetwork.net/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;mental health and psychosocial support&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in emergencies and situations of extreme stress.  It uniquely connects  practitioners, organisations, academics and service users around the  world working in this field.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/14493045917</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/14493045917</guid><pubDate>Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:41:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Secret Seed Society is making healthy green living simple and...</title><description>&lt;iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/5670894" width="400" height="320" frameborder="0"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.secretseedsociety.com" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Secret Seed Society&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is making healthy green living simple and fun for children. It connects a young audience with food by creating a fantasy world full of vegetable beings. I am working with Shena &amp; Amy Cooper to bring this venture to life.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/146294235</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/146294235</guid><pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:14:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Every product has a story. Worn Again is a pioneering upcycling...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp62k8gnLB1qzdxago1_400.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;Every product has a story. &lt;a href="http://www.wornagain.co.uk" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Worn Again&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is a pioneering &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upcycle" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;upcycling&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; company making new design-led products from corporate waste materials.  Check out their new Virgin and Eurostar range of bags and jackets. It is  an exciting new business model, with excellent growth potential. I have  been a non-exec member of the board.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175110647</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175110647</guid><pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:52:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Myoo Create is a community for environmental and social...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp6240THx61qzdxago1_r1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.myoocreate.com" target="_blank"&gt;Myoo Create&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; is a community for environmental and social innovation – where people can come together and apply their talents to challenges that matter to them. The premise is that “nobody is smarter than everybody” and so collaboration is key. I helped design the open innovation principles of the platform - great to see it up and running now.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175104694</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175104694</guid><pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:43:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Collaboration is a powerful skill, made tonnes easier by the...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kr4gbhp8FX1qzdxago1_250.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;Collaboration is a powerful skill, made tonnes easier by the social media web. Together with a few other researchers in this area we are working to understand and share emerging practice for connecting, and co-creating with others. The aim is to get all our peers in the sustainability movement to become &lt;a href="http://collaborationninja.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;collaboration ninjas&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/206330118</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/206330118</guid><pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:25:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>I designed and delivered two ‘insight journeys’ for...</title><description>&lt;iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AbeOW4yLeA" width="400" height="361" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;I designed and delivered two ‘insight journeys’ for the &lt;a href="http://innovation-exchange.org" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Innovation Exchange&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in order to help identify opportunities to solve complex problems such as excluded young people or independent living. The faciliation and filming was led by Amy Cooper.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175992327</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175992327</guid><pubDate>Sat, 30 May 2009 12:25:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>In March 2009 I did a short study into the benefits of fairtrade...</title><description>&lt;iframe width="400" height="323" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yYLNuve1Z48?wmode=transparent&amp;autohide=1&amp;egm=0&amp;hd=1&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;In March 2009 I did a short study into the benefits of fairtrade organic cotton farming with &lt;a href="http://www.zameen.org" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Zameen Organics&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in India. In Maharashtra there is a ‘suicide belt’, where 26 farmers reportedly commit suicide every day because of debts they can’t repay.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/176010197</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/176010197</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:01:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Click through to see a systems map illustrating both the...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp64n0JtLE1qzdxago1_500.png"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;Click through to see a systems map illustrating both the assumptions that keep us driving cars and the new realities that are challenging this highly unsustainable paradigm. I designed and presented this at the launch of &lt;a href="http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/changing_the_way_we_live/transport/?2326/One-Planet-Mobility-report" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;b&gt;WWF’s One Planet Mobility report&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; in Sep 2008. Illustration was by &lt;a href="http://www.upsidedownit.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Lucy Blackwell&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175139814</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175139814</guid><pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:00:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Disruptive social innovation is what happens when the heart of...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvrzcsQ2tM1qzdxago1_400.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Disruptive social innovation&lt;/strong&gt; is what happens when the heart of an entire system is challenged by a brave new idea. In 2008 I facilitated with Nick Jankel a series of 10 monthly knowledge sessions attended by innovators from across all sectors. Using real-case studies we studied a wide range of inspiring examples from the worlds of healthcare and media to transport.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13821010910</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/13821010910</guid><pubDate>Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Hubs are places for meeting, working, learning and innovating,...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp60fsceht1qzdxago1_r1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.the-hub.net" target="_blank"&gt;Hubs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; are places for meeting, working, learning and innovating, dedicated to inspiring and supporting enterprising initiatives for a better world. I was on the leadership team of the organisation for 3 years during a rapid growth phase. Today you can find Hubs around the world, from London to Sao Paulo, supporting thousands of people.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175083561</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175083561</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Working with Barclays Bank for 2 years I was on the strategy...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp62xrMWym1qzdxago1_r2_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;Working with &lt;a href="http://group.barclays.com/Sustainability" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Barclays Bank&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; for 2 years I was on the strategy team behind a number of new products and services that delivered a blended value  - increased financial and social returns on investment. One of them was a micro-debit card for the financially excluded.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175115761</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175115761</guid><pubDate>Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:01:00 +0100</pubDate></item><item><title>Equator Initiative is a UNDP partnership programme. It evolved...</title><description>&lt;img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp6t27yqrf1qzdxago1_r1_400.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.equatorinitiative.org" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Equator Initiative&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is a UNDP partnership programme. It evolved in response to the the fact that the world’s greatest concentrations of biodiversity are found in countries also beset by the world’s most acute poverty. I researched community-led projects in which the environment was being used as an asset by the poor. Here’s a case-study on &lt;a href="http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/india/2.../article_pdf" target="_blank"&gt;Microcredit, poverty and the environment&lt;/a&gt; I published in LEISA with Dr. Michael Hooper.&lt;/p&gt;</description><link>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175403564</link><guid>http://menkaparekh.com/post/175403564</guid><pubDate>Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:25:00 +0100</pubDate></item></channel></rss>

