International Networks:
Japan
The PD Japan Network, a volunteers organization, was founded organically and spontaneously after the first visit in 2011 of Dr. Arvind Singhal, invited as a foreign distinguished scholar by the government. It was the year when the Great East Japan earthquake, yielding a massive tsunami disaster, and the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, hit Japan and the whole nation was upended. During such dark times, Dr. Singhal brought the light to our heart by introducing the concept of Positive Deviance (PD).
The organization has been active with its members consisting of professionals from diverse disciplines such as education, healthcare, international development, business and market, to spread the use of the PD approach, to conduct research and most importantly co-learn PD and the PD approach as the methodology of social innovation and organization development. It has also released and supported several books in Japanese on the Positive Deviance approach. Learn more →
Regular Events: Monthly dialog session among core members, public seminar and workshop once or twice a year
Positive Deviance Initiative Deutschland
Founded in March 2021, the aim of the network is to offer information, exchange and to spread ideas about Positive Deviance in the German language.
The organization wants to build a network of people, practitioners, researchers, community people, students, whoever is interested in PD and to bring PD forward. It has a generic focus on sustainability issues. It offers lectures or short inputs at institutions such as (applied) universities or even in neighborhood settings to inform about PD. One important international collaborator for the PD Germany Network is GIZ-Big Data team. Currently, they are working on a German article about PD, multi-stakeholder initiatives and sustainability. In this article, they intend to include an example from a GIZ project in Costa Rica about carbon neutral engagement at a local level.
Data Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD)
Data powered positive deviance (DPPD) builds on the Positive Deviance approach, giving practitioners a method to use digital datasets, such as earth observation and mobility data, to identify positive deviants. Their local solutions can then be uncovered and used to inform community and policy interventions.
In 2020, a network of partners launched the DPPD initiative to test and develop the DPPD method across a number of domains and geographies, from deforestation prevention efforts in Ecuador to COVID-19 containment in Germany.
Promundo
Promundo is a global leader in advancing gender equality and preventing violence by engaging men and boys in partnership with women, girls, and individuals of all gender identities. Promundo’s global reach expands around the world, with staff implementing projects or providing technical assistance in more than 25 countries. Their research, programs, and advocacy efforts show that exploring positive models of “what it means to be a man” and promoting healthy, respectful masculinity leads to improvements in the lives of women and girls, as well as in men’s own lives, and the lives of individuals of all gender identities.
In 2014, Promundo conducted a fascinating study of “PD” men entitled: “Men Who Care: A Multi-Country Qualitative Study of Men in Non-Traditional Caregiving Roles”