Nuestro Trabajo

Desde su establecimiento en la República Dominicana, DP World, un operador portuario global, ha visto su inversión en la comunidad de Boca Chica como una parte importante de su estrategia de sostenibilidad. Hasta ahora, la compañía ha contribuido en las áreas de educación infantil y capacitación vocacional para adultos jóvenes. Aunque lleva a cabo diversas actividades destinadas a limpiar y proteger el medio ambiente contra contaminantes nocivos, se consideró necesario un modelo más coherente y unificado para medir el impacto de estas inversiones, en particular en lo que respecta a la preservación de la vida marina.

A pesar de la fuerte industria del turismo en Boca Chica, la falta de educación en términos de conservación de la vida marina ha llevado a una relación de explotación con el océano. Este comportamiento perjudicial, junto con los efectos del calentamiento global y la acidificación de los océanos, amenaza la supervivencia de los arrecifes de coral que viven en las costas de Boca Chica. De hecho, los comportamientos inducidos por el hombre, como la sobrepesca, la contaminación, la eliminación de desechos plásticos y la sedimentación no natural, amenazan a más del 80% de la población de arrecifes de coral de la República Dominicana (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, 2018).

DP World Caucedo ha tomado lo que muchos habrían considerado una situación desesperada y lo convirtió en su inspiración para la creación de huellazul , su programa insignia de conservación marina, que considera una parte integral de su modelo de sostenibilidad. Sin embargo, para diseñar un programa que realmente pueda contribuir a preservar la integridad ecológica y la biodiversidad de la costa en la que opera, el Grupo SIP involucró directamente a la mayoría de las partes interesadas con un interés sustancial en esta área geográfica particular del Mar Caribe.

To empathize and gain the unique perspective of each stakeholder, we first worked with DP World’s Sustainability Committee to map, analyze and prioritize stakeholders for individual consultations. The valuable insights gained through interviews with stakeholders such as the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the adjacent airport (AERODOM), Port Authorities, the National Association of Hotels (ASONAHORES) and local community members, helped us determine how each stakeholder defines the problem affecting the coral reefs, evaluate their level of information regarding the current situation and identify those who were most affected and those who were most willing to have a meaningful influence in the design of the program.

Presenting the findings from our interviews to DP World management allowed them to perceive how the community, local authorities and national entities view their role in the preservation of marine biodiversity in Boca Chica. These insights allowed DP World to understand how to best direct their efforts, as well as the optimal methods of delivery for their future actions through the huellazul program.

Through the use of two design thinking tools, Brain Dump and How Might We, DP World employees were able to generate ideas for actions that the company could take in order to protect the coral reefs at its shores. These ideas were discussed, classified and transformed with the input from different participants, eventually providing the source material for prototyping the huellazul’s program design.

The design of the huellazul program greatly benefitted from the various design thinking tools utilized throughout this project, making it evident that innovative solutions can be found from working with the people, and the natural life you are designing for. Various actions were taken on the basis of the findings rendered throughout this process.

First, DP World employees determined that a number of their environmental protection and conservation efforts should be reformulated and incorporated into the design of the huellazul program in order to directly impact the conservation of coral reefs.

Second, the insights gained from engaging with DP World’s stakeholders allowed the company employees to understand the value of the social capital they had been building for years. This realization prompted them to also incorporate a social pillar into the design of huellazul, whereby DP World, through community engagement, could use its education and work opportunity projects to contribute to the preservation of marine life.

Third, engaging with stakeholders allowed DP World to appreciate its important role among its neighboring companies and view their common challenges with the environment as an opportunity for collaboration. By creating partnerships with local companies in the area, DP World can establish and lead a platform in which not only environmental problems can be discussed and addressed, but social and economic ones as well, thus contributing to the effectiveness of the system in Boca Chica.

In 2018, SIP Group began cooperating with Abt Associates in the design and implementation of revenue-generating activities for four Dominican health organizations that specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of persons living with HIV. This particular project is undertaken as part of SHOPs Plus (Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector Plus), which is USAID’s flagship initiative in private sector health.

Due to its knowledge of social enterprise models, including business strategy development and marketing, SIP Group was tasked with providing technical assistance to private sector organizations in various locations throughout the Dominican Republic. Additionally, due to its local knowledge of the Dominican health sector, as well as national politics, SIP Group was also asked to validate and assist with the implementation of suggestions made by University of Michigan’s William Davidson Institute, which aim to increase the operational efficiency and revenue generation of these organizations.

SIP Group’s technical assistance in this project aims to move organizations that have traditionally been funded by external donors, including PEPFAR and the Global Fund, to greater financial independence and sustainability by mobilizing increased domestic resources to finance services that increase access to HIV testing for KP/PP and ensure successful linkage of all newly diagnosed clients to immediate initiation of HIV treatment.

En nuestro trabajo, nos hemos dado cuenta de que muchas empresas sociales tienen dificultades para explicar sus modelos de negocio, y que muchos comenzaron a trabajar en sus planes de negocios antes de comprender sus modelos de negocio a fondo. Con esto en mente, el Grupo SIP trabajó con cada organización individual para comprender, diseñar, articular y discutir sus operaciones diarias.

Es solo a través de este ejercicio participativo que el Grupo SIP pudo realmente comprender el valor agregado que estas organizaciones brindan en su comunidad a través de su presencia y servicios. Al utilizar esta sencilla herramienta, pudimos visualizar exactamente el flujo de ingresos de cada organización, las asociaciones clave que debían forjarse y los recursos que son vitales para cada operación.