Buen Vivir (Good Living, Together)
The path towards Ethical Innovation
What is the role of ethics in innovation?
It is essential to understand that innovation is ultimately an ethical concern. Creating value from making new ideas real is what makes innovation necessary. We often only associate innovation with economic value, but businesses aren’t the only innovators in our society. Sometimes social enterprises, non-profit organizations, and other humanitarian institutions are even better at innovating.
Ethics is fundamentally concerned with anything that can promote or hinder human wellbeing. So, ethics is relevant to assessing the goals of innovation, to the process by which it is carried out, and to evaluating its outcomes. Whether among societies and cultures or with the natural environment, the ethical question with regards to innovation always asks if it is detrimental or harms other inhabitants in our natural home or the environment itself.
Buen Vivir
“Everyone can conjur up what ‘buen vivir’ means to them. An equilibrium between humanity and environment is something everyone can work towards.” ~María Estela Barco
Buen Vivir is a Latin American concept of wellness that originates from ancient cultures of Bolivia and Ecuador. The term is colloquially translated as ‘Living Well’, ‘Living the Good Life’, ‘Plentiful life’, ‘Knowing how to live’ or ‘Good Living’. Dr. Beat Dietschy, the director of Bread for all, the development service of the Swiss Protestant Churches, prefers a more holistic translation of “Good living together”.
Basically, Buen Vivir is a way of living in harmony with oneself (identity), with society (equity), and with nature (sustainability). Solón (2018), expands on those components with the principles of Co-existing in multipolarity, Dynamic equilibrium, Complementarity, and Decolonization. In addition to this, Beling (2018) identifies four constitutive elements of Buen Vivir:
- The idea of harmony with nature (including its abiotic components).
2. Vindication of the principles and values of marginalized/subordinated peoples.
3. The State as guarantor of the satisfaction of basic needs, social justice and equality.
4. Democracy.
Changing “Business as usual”
How can an investment fund build economic prosperity hand-in-hand with Buen Vivir?
Thousand Currents, an international organization that partners with grassroots groups and movements — led by women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples in the Global South, started their Buen Vivir Fund as early as 2017 and received their first round of investments less than a year later.
Their goal was to re-imagine the economy and investment practices with the concept of Buen Vivir at the center:
- Investment that was deeply aligned with the values, decision-making, and community-driven timelines of the grassroots groups themselves.
- Investment that did not bring fear and stress over repayment, but instead reinforced hope, resilience and joy.
- Investment that mirrored grassroots realities on the ground, rather than forcing their situations to fit within the confines of conventional investment norms.
The result was something truly unique and different. The fund became about “helping” and “upskilling” the investors who are involved, rather than a one-way flow of “help” and “upskilling” to the groups that receive its financial capital:
The rise of Social Enterprises
“There is no route to the future that does not have social enterprise at its centre” ~Gordon Brown (former UK Prime Minister)
Seeing as to how this ethical concept of living can be applied to the rigid structures of economic and business ventures, it is needless to say that ethical innovation is, indeed, plausible.
There is no global consensus that defines what a social enterprise is. However, what is commonly used is the Tripple Bottom Line framework which believes in a commitment to People, Profit, and Planet. In a nutshell, a social enterprise is somewhat between a traditional business and a charity. Without direct knowledge of the Buen Vivir concept, the boom of social enterprises is a signifier for a promising future between businesses and social innovations. Such is the social enterprise, Habi Lifestyle.
Habi Lifestyle
“Habi is all about giving equal opportunities to everyone. We call ourselves equalizers. Because the more you equalize opportunities, the more you give more chances for people to flourish and move out of whatever limitations they are in”
~Janine Chiong (President and CEO and Head of Sales & Marketing for Habi Footwear)
A highlight from my Creative Thinking and Innovation Management course I took in my Sophomore year in College, was meeting one of the co-founders of Habi, Paola Savillo, through a webinar conducted by the QMIT department of Ateneo de Manila University.
The talk was about Social Impact through Innovation. Ms. Paola shared with us the Habi story of how it started as a college thesis in 2011 and grew into the successful social enterprise that it is now.
The Habi story was truly inspiring for me, especially having learned that their thesis group only came about by chance, as they were the “leftover” students without a group. To be honest, I only learned about what a social enterprise is earlier this year because it was the weekly challenge assigned to me in our class.
From learning the concept of Buen Vivir during my Intercession class earlier this year, to my first encounter of social enterprise through the weekly challenge, to learning the modules on innovation and creativity, and finally to having met a founder of — and learned the story of — a successful social enterprise from the ground up, I can say I’ve come full circle in finding a fulfilling and promising endeavor to build a career on.
Here are my picks for my favorite topics and activities from the class modules:
Beling, A. E., Vanhulst, J., Demaria, F., Rabi, V., Carballo, A. E., & Pelenc, J. (2018). Discursive Synergies for a ‘Great Transformation’ Towards Sustainability: Pragmatic Contributions to a Necessary Dialogue Between Human Development, Degrowth, and Buen Vivir. Ecological Economics, 144(March), 304–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.08.025
Solón, P. (2018). Vivir Bien: Old Cosmovisions and New Paradigms. February.
