Bali Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Immersion: A Human-Centered Approach to Adaptive Problems

11/21/2019

With its magnificent forested volcanoes, iconic terraced rice fields, teeming coral reefs, and ubiquitous temples, Bali earns its nickname as the “Island of the Gods.” While its ancient Hindu culture continues to thrive, Bali is also a hotbed of impact entrepreneurship. This blend of tradition and innovation offers profound lessons for addressing today’s global challenges. Students will deepen their understanding of social and environmental issues within the context of a developing economy, while gaining perspective on how social entrepreneurship can be an effective, sustainable approach to addressing problems.

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Program Details

This dynamic four-week program provides students with a systemic understanding of social innovation & entrepreneurship (SIE) through a highly immersive and interactive exploration and application of theory and methods. The group travels to several locations around Bali to study the following social/environmental issues through site visits, talks with community and academic leaders, hands-on case studies, action research, and other immersion experiences:

Poverty & Economic Empowerment
Environment & Sustainable Development
Community & Global Health

The group also explores how these issues intersect with each other and examine them through the lenses of the following themes:

Women & Gender
Traditional & Modern
Leadership & Community
Formal, Non-Formal, & Informal Education

Florida State University has partnered with the Bali Institute, which specializes in cultivating global leadership for the common good through experiential learning and cultural immersion in Bali. The Bali Institute has long-standing ties with Balinese leaders, organizations, initiatives, and communities that provide exceptional learning experiences tailored to the program’s learning objectives. The instructor (Director of Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship at FSU) and the president of the Bali Institute spent two years collaborating on the design of this unique program before it was launched in Summer 2018.

What are the learning goals for this course?
Upon successful completion of this six-credit, interdisciplinary course, students will have demonstrated the following learning objectives across these six domains:

Foundational Knowledge

Discuss the basic frameworks used to understand the emerging field of Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the promise (and challenges/limitations) it holds for addressing social and environmental problems.
State best practices in the methodology for innovating and implementing a solution to a social or environmental problem within its sociocultural/environmental context and articulate why those practices are so essential.
Discuss the significance of collective impact and how actors within and across communities and the public, private, and independent/civic sectors are creating social impact and helping to define, shape, and evolve the field of social innovation & entrepreneurship.
Define Human-Centered Design, explain why it emphasizes a “problem first” approach rather than “idea first,” and describe how and in what context it can be an important tool/methodology for developing effective social innovation that helps address complex problems.

Application

Analyze a contemporary social or environmental issue.
Demonstrate the ability to write a persuasive argument on a contemporary social/political issue.
Assess the strengths in a discussion of issues related to Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Illustrate the relationship of concepts or theories of social science to an area of social policy.
As an integral member of a team, conduct relevant secondary research on an issue, develop a set of interview and focus-group questions to better understand an issue from the perspective of community stakeholders, and conduct effective interviews.
In collaboration with team members and community stakeholders, demonstrate the ability to effectively ideate innovative solutions to a defined problem; prioritize those ideas; and prototype, test/validate, and iterate on the solution.
Effectively present a prototyped solution to community stakeholders and incorporate feedback into the design of the solution.

Integration

Adopt an interdisciplinary perspective on social and environmental problems and explain the effectiveness and challenges/ineffectiveness of different approaches to addressing them. Explain what interdisciplinary means with the context of relevant disciplines, including the social sciences, and analyze and explain the interdisciplinary and interrelated nature of the issues studied in Bali.
Explain why it’s imperative that social impact models are holistic and are designed to drive systemic change within social systems.

Human Dimensions & Caring

Demonstrate empathy, curiosity, teamwork, creativity, and intercultural skills when working with community stakeholders, collaborating with Balinese students, and learning from Balinese leaders.
Demonstrate the competencies and attributes that are critical to success as a social innovator and entrepreneur: leadership, optimism, grit, resilience, perseverance, self-awareness, and other aspects of emotional and social intelligence (in addition to those listed above).
Articulate and demonstrate an increased sense of confidence in their own efficacy as they connect theory to practice, apply what they have learned, and help create social value while learning to balance this self-assurance with a sense of humility and a collaborative approach.
Self-report a stronger sense of purpose and commitment to serving society and addressing urgent social and environmental issues.

Learning How to Learn

Demonstrate an enhanced ability to ask meaningful, critical questions and self-report becoming a stronger self-directed learner.

How do you measure student learning and development outcomes?
Student learning and development outcomes are measured in a variety of ways, including analyzing the content of their written and spoken assignments, individual and group reflections, forward-looking assessments, peer-assessment, and self-assessment. Scoring rubrics are provided with assignments so that assessment criteria are clear and explicit.

One of the major projects is the eight-day social innovation sprint in which students collaborate with Balinese Changemaker Fellows to develop social impact models. This provides an excellent example of the different ways in which learning objectives are assessed as they engage in primary and secondary research, cross-cultural communication and collaboration, interdisciplinary and systems thinking, problem-solving and innovation, and presenting. Additionally, the sprint requires a high degree of commitment, integrity, and resilience.

Many students who participate in the Bali Immersion Program take additional courses with Professor Manciagli in subsequent semesters at FSU, which provides opportunities to assess the maturation of their perspectives and the longer-term integration of their learning. One example, is Hannah King, who worked on founding a social enterprise while taking several of my courses. Woven Futures (https://wovenfutures.com), which aims to empower indigenous female Mayan artisans while helping to preserve their culture, won the social enterprise category of the InNOLEvation Challenge. In Summer 2018, Hannah participated in the Bali SIE Immersion Program, where she studied the rich textile traditions of Indonesia, including through organizations such as Threads of Life (http://threadsoflife.com), in efforts to translate successful cooperative models in the country to her enterprise in Guatemala. She spent the remainder of the summer in Guatemala, applying the knowledge and skills she has acquired to strengthen and scale her social enterprise and deepen its social impact model, building on the impact she had already facilitated through partnerships with over 30 artisans in six regions of the country. One of the approaches she was particularly interested in, and has already promoted, is the potential for weaving cooperatives to not only empower indigenous artisans economically, but to provide effective wrap-around auxiliary supports/services in areas such as education, micro-enterprise training, financial literacy, health care, education, women’s issues, and advocacy.

How does the curriculum support participants’ understanding of the social, historical, political, economic, linguistic, cultural, and environmental contexts?
Social innovation & entrepreneurship is an interdisciplinary approach to creating systems-level change that applies the best thinking and practices from across the nonprofit/civic, private, and public sectors. It aims to address a complex problem or “unjust equilibrium” through which the value created is targeted primarily to a segment of society experiencing marginalization or to society as a whole. This approach includes:

Understanding a social/environmental problem through a lens of empathy, including its social, political, economic, cultural, environmental, and personal dimensions.
Identifying an opportunity; ideating, testing, and refining an innovative, impactful, and systemic approach to the problem through a human-centered process that is iterative and collaborative; and ensuring that its social value proposition is realized for the key stakeholders.
Implementing and scaling that approach or social innovation through a sustainable social impact model—via a mission-driven, triple bottom line-focused organization or partnership such as a social enterprise, high-impact nonprofit, socially-responsible business, or cross-sector/collective impact initiative.

This course provides students with an immersive understanding of the emerging field of social innovation & entrepreneurship (SIE) and a highly interactive and hands-on application of SIE theory and methods. Within the unique context of Bali, Indonesia, students connect theory to practice as they gain an understanding of key themes, concepts, actors, approaches, and strategies within the field and enhance their ability to develop, advance, and lead meaningful solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. Course content touches upon multiple disciplines, including sociology, economics, politics, public administration & policy, entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, leadership, anthropology, and community & international development, transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries and helping students understand the complexities of investigating and addressing entrenched social and environmental problems. Through talks with local leaders and academics, engagement with community stakeholders, cultural immersion, site visits, immersive case studies, readings, and group discussions, students study three social/environmental issues within their sociocultural contexts. Working in teams with Balinese Changemaker Fellows, they then go deeper into one of the issues during an eight-day Summit (a social innovation sprint). Through primary and secondary research, the teams investigate their respective issues and the social systems in which they exist; identify existing innovative models that can inform and inspire; outline impactful and scalable social impact models that meet the needs of local stakeholders; prototype and begin to test/validate the models; and finally develop and present plans for their implementation through hybrid impact organizations such as a social enterprise or high-impact nonprofit. The Balinese Fellows continue work on the initiatives through their year-long Fellowship with the support of the Bali Institute and FSU (see below for more detail on the Bali Fellowship Program).

Bali offers a unique location for this program: it provides compelling examples of many of the complex challenges of a developing economy, yet has an accessible, inspiring, and unique ancient culture that offers profound lessons for addressing the global challenges of the 21st century; Bali is a center of innovation, representing an incredible fusion of Balinese creativity (often expressed through the arts but also throughout Balinese life/society) with ideas and people from across the globe; Bali is a hotbed of social innovation & social enterprise, with many diverse and outstanding examples to learn from; Bali challenges students’ assumptions and worldviews in healthy and productive ways, while offering a safe, fun, and transformative experience for deep academic and personal learning and growth.

Student Engagement
This program integrates academic curriculum with engaged learning and cultural immersion. It has a strong community engagement component, which runs throughout the entire four weeks. A team of three Balinese Program Coordinators work with Professor Manciagli to prepare for and facilitate student engagement, which takes place through the hands-on application of the curriculum, such as when students are conducting site visits and community-level research into social problems and collaborating with Balinese Fellows to support the development of local social impact models. Engagement also takes place through cultural immersion experiences led by local cultural and community leaders, founders, and members of host organizations and communities. These include visiting art museums and performances; exploring local markets; learning about the Balinese philosophy of “Tri Hita Karana,” the Balinese “Banjar” system of participatory community governance, and the Balinese “Subak” system of cooperative water management and rice cultivation (a UNESCO World Heritage Centre renown for its economic productivity, ecological sustainability, democratic and egalitarian ethos, and breathtaking beauty); taking a workshop in Balinese dance, gamelan, making offerings, and wood carving at a local community center; visiting a Hindu temple; hiking to waterfalls; snorkeling over an internationally-recognized community-led coral restoration project; attending a private tour, dinner, and dance performance at the Peliatan Palace with the opportunity to ask the Prince questions about Bali’s traditional culture as well as modern-day challenges; and having dinner at a Balinese women’s center to interact and learn about their job-skills and healthy-living programs. Group and individual reflection is an integral part of these experiences, with program leaders helping students draw connections to course themes and deepen intercultural understanding. Students also take turns facilitating peer-led reflection.

How do the curricular and co-curricular programming, including assigned readings, excursions, and guest speakers, include diverse perspectives and practice inclusive pedagogy?
The Bali SIE Immersion program emphasizes diverse perspectives and practices inclusive pedagogy throughout:

Issues
The group travels to several locations around Bali to study the following social/environmental issues through site visits, talks with community and academic leaders, hands-on case studies, action research, and other immersion experiences:

Poverty & Economic Empowerment
Environment & Sustainable Development
Community & Global Health

The group also explores how these issues intersect with each other and examine them through the lenses of the following themes:

Women & Gender
Traditional & Modern
Leadership & Community
Formal, Non-Formal, & Informal Education

Understanding the Foundations of Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Students engage with the four key elements that comprise the field:
Human-Centered Design for Social Innovation: For example, students learn from Kopernik, an organization that uses human-centered design and lean experimentation to find what works to reduce poverty by experimenting with potential solutions that address common challenges facing people living in the last mile.

Collective Impact: Students conduct community action research in Pemuteran, the site of BioRock, an internationally renown coral reef restoration project. They learn about the integrated impacts of poverty, deforestation, and climate change on the local coral reefs and how a community-wide initiative involving the private, public, nonprofit sectors has transformed the economic and environmental systems upon which they depend.

Social Enterprise: Students immerse themselves for several days in a “last-mile” community on the slopes of Mount Agung to learn about an award-winning social enterprise, East Bali Cashews.

Social Transformation: Students witness how East Bali Cashews is employing a holistic model to not only change the economic lives of marginalized families, but transform long-standing gender norms and empower women.
Individuals

Student learn from individuals across a diverse range of economic, social, cultural, gender, religious, ethnic, and political backgrounds. During their primary research, they speak with people where they live and work, including in markets, on the beach after coming in from a day of fishing, in a cashew factory. They are often invited into the homes of the people they meet.

Pedagogy
The curriculum is designed according to the following pedagogical elements:
Peer Learning: Students provide each other with a great deal of feedback. They not only become quite skilled at evaluating each other’s work and more comfortable receiving constructive criticism, but they learn as much from each other as from me and the material.

Interdisciplinary: Through a diverse set of readings and case studies, class discussions that draw on the perspectives of students from different disciplines, and activities and assignments, the course helps students learn how to explore the social, political, economic, cultural, environmental, and individual dimensions of complex problems.

Integrative: Reflections and discussions help students make connections across the courses they are taking. I also collaborate with others to ensure we’re intentional about supporting students in synthesizing learning across the curricular spectrum and applying their learning to new contexts. Learner-Centered and Self-regulated: Students are empowered to make choices throughout the curriculum; they also self-assess their own strengths and gaps and make strategic choices about how to address those gaps. This approach helps students become intentional, independent, and self-directed lifelong learners.

Immersive and Problem-Centered: Students are highly immersed in Balinese culture throughout the program, experience immersive case studies, and collaborate with Balinese Fellows on developing social impact models.

Ultimately, emerging social innovators and entrepreneurs must find a passion, a vision, and the kind of deep understanding of a problem at the ground level that is difficult to teach in the classroom. Our maturing social innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and the way we design curriculum and facilitate student learning, however, can provide a powerful framework for students to discover and experience these critical pieces for themselves as they realize their capacity to create real impact in the world.

What are your policies and procedures related to evaluation, awarding and/or transfer of credit, grade conversions, grade appeals, research ethics, and academic integrity? How do you make them accessible to interested parties?
The following provide examples of relevant policies and procedures, which are covered and made available to students and partners through orientations, FSU Faculty Guide, FSU Student Handbook, FSU International Programs website, FSU website, the course syllabus, and partner agreements:

NON-STUDY CENTER PROGRAM LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES
Ensuring that high academic standards are in place for their program, including meeting contact hour requirements.

STUDENT CONDUCT CODE & FSU IP RULES
All student program participants are subject to the FSU Student Conduct Code. Additionally, they have all signed the FSU International Programs Contractual Agreement, which includes the Agreement to Comply with FSU IP Rules.
Program Leaders must ensure that program participants are aware of the rights of others and avoid activities which unnecessarily disturb individuals or groups, or which interfere with the normal activities of the program housing. These include, but are not limited to: intimidating behavior, physical assault, hazing, and unsuitable or boisterous conduct including, but not limited to, drunk and/or disorderly or noisy behavior.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
Assignments, quizzes, and exams are expected to be products of individual students per the FSU Academic Honor PolicyLinks to an external site.. Students should not discuss any of the questions with each other before or during the actual assignments, activities, quizzes, or exams without instructor approval.

ACADEMIC HONOR POLICY
The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines the University’s expectations for the integrity of students’ academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations of those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the process. Students are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy and for living up to their pledge to “…be honest and truthful and… [to] strive for personal and institutional integrity at Florida State University.” (For more details see the FSU Academic Honor Policy and procedures for addressing alleged violations.)

RULES, POLICIES & PROCEDURES
Florida State degree-seeking, transient, and special students are bound by the rules, policies, and procedures set forth in the FSU General Bulletin and Student Handbook. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with these before you leave. You may locate the FSU General Bulletin online at http://registrar.fsu.edu/ and The Code of Student Conduct at https://dos.fsu.edu/srr/conduct-codes/student-conduct-codes. The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities updates any changes to the Code of Student Conduct.
Human-Centered Design and Social Innovation require the ability to engage with stakeholders in a community through the lenses of empathy, authenticity, and integrity. This is critical in order to develop trust; gain effective insights into needs, resources, priorities, constraints, and potential synergies/conflicts; and be able to collaborate effectively to develop potential solutions.

Did you consult any resources on education abroad that were particularly helpful in designing this course? If so, please describe.
Yes, I worked closely with FSU’s International Programs Office, which has existed for over 60 years and is among the national leaders in study abroad, as well as the Bali Institute, which specializes in cultivating global leadership for the common good through experiential learning and cultural immersion in Bali. I also have considerable experience with study abroad, having: experienced it myself as an undergraduate student, grown up for 18 years overseas across five continents, managed FSU’s Beyond Borders Program and led FSU students to Costa Rica on an immersion program, and taught in Rome with Leadership exCHANGE’s Global Leadership Program.

If you feel that you have valuable information to contribute to this project that is not addressed in the body of this survey, please elaborate here.
Makadaya: Bali Changemakers Fellowship
Despite the growing urgency of social and environmental problems in Bali (and in Indonesia more broadly) and the need for a new generation of adaptive, innovative, and collaborative leaders, there is a lack of training, resources, support systems, and networks for emerging social innovators and entrepreneurs who are committed to addressing these urgent issues and who have the potential to catalyze and scale positive change and impact. In order to address this need and leverage this opportunity, the Bali Institute and SIE@FSU are collaborating to develop such an ecosystem through a Bali Changemakers Fellowship called “Makna Karya Berdaya” or Makadaya for short, which translates to “the purpose of our work has power.” A key goal is to empower individuals and teams to build and lead social enterprises and collective impact initiatives that can produce lasting change.
We believe that social innovators and entrepreneurs (change agents working to create systems-level transformation) can truly thrive when they are part of collaborative, supportive communities interconnected within a diverse, dynamic, and synergistic ecosystem. Over time, we envision such an ecosystem in Bali that inspires, prepares, and supports a community of innovative and entrepreneurial leaders who apply a human-centered and systems mindset and skillset to systemically address the urgent social & environmental challenges in Bali, across Indonesia, and throughout our rapidly-changing world.” We are taking a human-centered approach, investing in people and developing their potential as adaptive change leaders rather than emphasizing specific ideas or ventures. The competencies, attributes, and values we aim to cultivate include empathy, adaptive leadership, creativity, collaboration, emotional/social intelligence, problem-solving, systems thinking, perseverance, and ethics/integrity.
We launched the Fellowship in July 2019 (after last year’s Bali SIE Immersion Program), with our first cohort of Fellows attending a four-day Summit (see attached) and subsequently engaging the human-centered design framework for social innovation as they worked to develop social impact models: understanding the problem (empathy), framing the problem, ideating, prototyping, testing/validating, iterating, and implementing. Professor Manciagli and SIE@FSU provided curriculum design and mentorship from the U.S. while the Bali Institute team provided mentorship and facilitated monthly meetings in Bali. The vision included hosting regular Zoom meetings to facilitate idea-sharing and peer-mentorship between the Balinese Fellows and FSU students (including alumni of the Bali SIE Immersion Program as well as students planning to attend the Immersion Program in future years). We also decided to integrate the second Bali Fellowship Summit (for the next cohort of Fellows) into the Summer 2020 FSU SIE Immersion Program in order to provide not only in-person opportunities for further sharing of ideas, peer-mentoring, and cross-cultural exchange, but to allow the FSU students during their time in Bali to be part of—and contribute to—a long-term capacity-building initiative in their host community that will help create systemic, long-term change rather than a one-off service-learning project (however well-intentioned and designed).

Although the SIE Immersion Program was cancelled this year due to the pandemic, the partnership and Fellowship continue to strengthen and grow. In August 2020, the Bali Institute partnered with a Bali-based organization that empowers female social entrepreneurs to launch, strengthen, and scale their social enterprises and create deeper impact. The founder of the organization, an Indonesian woman with international experience, is now providing full-time leadership to the Fellowship Program as part of the Bali Institute team. The Institute has also identified funds to provide living stipends for the second cohort of Fellows, who will be recruited during the fall and begin in January 2021.

When COVID-19 hit, Bali saw many people struggle due to the sudden lack of tourism, making social innovation & entrepreneurship and this initiative more relevant and urgent than ever. There is an enormous need to build resilient communities that don’t rely so heavily on tourism to function and thrive. Our greatest hope is that Makadaya will contribute to the emergence of a reenergized and thriving Bali, one that is led and sustained by empowered communities of Balinese innovators and leaders. As Indonesia’s first social and village enterprise hub, Makadaya will provide a dynamic social enterprise community for Balinese to dream, design, and implement social enterprises and impact initiatives that help transform their island.

The Fellowship Program (Makadaya):

Facilitates, fosters, and accelerates the growth of Balinese and village-led social innovation to address urgent social and environmental challenges in Bali and neighboring islands in Central and Eastern Indonesia by leveraging local talent and resources and partnering strategically with institutions and leaders from the international community.
Serves as an incubator for social enterprises in the “Empathy/Ideation” stages and serves as an accelerator for social enterprises in the “Growth/Pivot” stages.
Trains and cultivates the next generation of adaptive leaders, with an emphasis on female social entrepreneurs.
Will provide a physical space (a hub) where social innovators and entrepreneurs can build community, share ideas, receive mentoring, access resources, and work on their initiatives.
Provides the initial year-long funding the Fellows need to commit and dedicate their time to develop their innovations.
Builds a network of social innovators and entrepreneurs as well as mentors and partners across Bali and Indonesia that serves as the foundation of a thriving impact ecosystem.

With the recent evolution of the initiative, the vision for the FSU-Bali Institute partnership continues to include the integration of the Bali Fellowship Program with both the Bali SIE Immersion (study abroad) Program. In addition to the unique opportunities presented to FSU students while they’re in Bali during the Immersion Program, the partnership will provide longer-term and even more substantive opportunities for students who wish to continue their engagement and go deeper:

Professor Manciagli’s Program Assistant for the Immersion Program each summer is chosen from alumni of the Bali SIE Immersion Program.
The Bali Institute planned to host two FSU students (both alumni of the Immersion Program) as interns during Summer 2020 to work on the Bali Fellowship Program as well as with some of the Institute’s key partners in Bali. The students were chosen based on the strong alignment between their skills/aspirations in the field of SIE and the specific needs of the Institute and its partners. (Unfortunately, these internships were cancelled—along with the Immersion Program for Summer 2020—due to COVID, but we plan to offer these internship opportunities again in the future.)
Opportunities for FSU students to serve as SIE consultants and mentors for the Bali Fellows throughout the year using email, Zoom, and other online platforms.
Professor Manciagli, along with a team of students working with him through SIE@FSU, are developing an online social innovation & entrepreneurship textbook based on several of his courses that will serve as the foundation for the Bali Fellowship curriculum starting with the second cohort of Fellows in January 2021. (Three of those FSU students were to participate in the Summer 2020 Immersion program.) Each chapter of the online textbook is based on the following courses respectively:

• Foundations of Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship
• Leading as a Changemaker: Finding Your Compass, Creativity, and Community
• Human-Centered Design for Social Innovation
• Leading Social Enterprise & Innovation

This team of FSU students also serves as a Student Advisory Board for the Bali Fellowship.

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