Case Study: A Model for Grassroots South-South Cooperation.

Challenge: How to facilitate meaningful knowledge exchange and sustainable technology transfer between communities in the Global South, overcoming geographical, linguistic, and political barriers.

Initiative: A grassroots cooperation project initiated in 2016, leveraging social media to connect a Chilean agricultural professional with NGOs and students in Palestine. The central pillar was the co-development and cross-cultural education of aquaponics technology.

Key Actions & Partnerships:

• Digital Bridge-Building: Established initial contact and built trust with the IDCO Center (Gaza) and student innovators at the Islamic University of Gaza.

• Knowledge Co-Creation: Formed a transnational workgroup to create educational content and workshop plans for aquaponics.

• Tangible Implementation: Co-executed educational workshops for primary school students in both Jabalia, Gaza, and Quillota, Chile, sparking significant student interest.

• Local Ecosystem Engagement: Scaled the initiative's reach by partnering with Chilean NGOs (Embrace Childhood Foundation, Vozetos) and securing the formal support of the Quillota Municipal Innovation Office.

Outcomes & Impact:

• Direct Impact: Successfully educated and inspired youth in two countries on sustainable agriculture, with students seeking to build their own systems.

• Network Effect: Integrated separate Palestinian and Chilean organizations into a single, collaborative network.

• Model Validation: Developed a replicable model for using social networks as a primary tool for South-South cooperation, earning formal recognition from local government.

• Pipeline Development: Co-authored a fully-scored project proposal for a governmental environmental fund, establishing a foundation for future funding opportunities.

This grassroots effort, born on Facebook, soon caught the attention of local NGOs and eventually the Quillota Municipal Innovation Office. While our joint proposal for an “Aquaponics in My Neighborhood” project wasn’t funded that year, the real success was already proven. We had built a genuine bridge for South-South cooperation, proving that a simple desire to connect and share knowledge can overcome vast distances and cultural differences. The municipal officials were amazed not just by the technology, but by the story itself: that from a simple click of a "friend request" could grow a tangible project uniting two communities across the world.