Innovation clubs: Mobilizing local creativity for sustainable development and pedagogy

Two months after the 2010 Haiti earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, a reconnaissance team of structural engineering researchers from the University of Notre Dame travelled to Léogâne to assess the damage. As their research revealed the underlying problems plaguing the residential construction industry in Léogâne, they realized that recommending externally-devised engineering solutions alone would not bring about significant change. In order to discover more holistic and implementable solutions, they turned to the affected community. By hosting open innovation challenges throughout Léogâne, the research team identified local innovators who demonstrated leadership, problem-solving skills, and creativity. These local innovators, forty-two men and women of various professions representing each of the six zones of Léogâne, were then trained and certified in the Pwosesis pou Innovasyon (Innovation Process) - a Creole-adapted form of Human-Centered Design. These individuals subsequently engaged their neighbors to form six Innovation Clubs. For seven years, undergraduate and graduate engineering students have worked with these Innovation Clubs to facilitate sustainable development research initiatives. This paper describes the framework used to establish these Innovation Clubs, case studies of cooperative projects, the observed benefits of this collaboration, and recommendations for future implementation