# Vignette 9: Guinea's BeIn Network
In Guinea's rural communities, development agencies were operating in an information vacuum. Interventions were often designed without understanding local realities and needs, because of the absence of firsthand community insights. "When we want to design interventions with our communities, we realized we were missing reliable primary data to effectively guide public policies," explains Moussa Camara, Head of Solutions Mapping at UNDP Guinea's Accelerator Lab.
At the same time, the Accelerator Lab observed a gap in Guinea's education landscape: a "mismatch between university education and the labour market realities." Universities were producing graduates with theoretical knowledge but limited practical experience and employment prospects.
The Accelerator Lab saw an opportunity to resolve these two challenges: connecting the need for reliable data from rural areas with the available talent pool of university graduates. Led by Head of Experimentation Lamarane Barry, the team established the BeIn network[\[1\]](#endnote-1) – a national sensory system that mobilizes students as community-based data collectors and change agents to map rural realities throughout Guinea.
The team partnered with Julius Nyereré University, which has a population of 11,700 students, to identify fifteen of their brightest, socially-committed students. The Lab provided comprehensive training on solutions mapping and collective intelligence methods, equipping students with skills to engage respectfully with communities (Figure 24).
The underlying principles of this training centered on an open and receptive approach to data collection. Students learned to listen without judgment, understanding that even seemingly insignificant information could reveal deeper community insights. This approach encouraged them to engage with curiosity and humility, recognizing the value of every piece of information.
By listening deeply and engaging without preconceptions, the students uncovered various dimensions of local development challenges. The students facilitated participatory workshops, activating the collective intelligence of local communities to comprehend these challenges, map the ecosystem and its actors, and identify the underlying drivers. Working in groups of five, they practiced understanding problems systemically – seeing interconnections between economic, cultural, and social factors that traditional data collection might miss.
The initiative expanded beyond the university to engage civil society activists. Under the shade of mango trees – traditional spaces for community deliberation in Kankan – these meetings uncovered cultural symbols and local knowledge that proved critical for understanding community dynamics.
What began as data collection eventually evolved into a cyclic process of learning and action. When students identified agricultural challenges, the Lab arranged for farming tools and organized demonstrations. "We have been sharing to, let's say, with those communities some tools and also we have been in the farm where students were showing how to handle the situation, how to protect production," explains Moussa. This closed the feedback loop and demonstrated commitment to communities.
The network expanded across Guinea and gained institutional recognition. UN agencies like UNFPA and UNAIDS began utilizing the student network for their data needs, and the experimental youth network was formally integrated into the Ministry of Innovation's national policy framework.
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#### **Key takeaways:**
* **Leverage existing structures:** Institutions such as universities offer access to a large, concentrated talent pool and institutional legitimacy while providing the infrastructure needed to rapidly scale efforts.
* **Equip the network with essential skills:** Provide targeted training to enhance listening and data collection abilities that ensure high-quality outputs and enable participants to uncover unexpected insights.
* **Create mutual benefit:** Identify critical needs of stakeholders and devise initiatives that provide value for key stakeholders within the system.
* **Return value to communities:** Go beyond data extraction by sharing insights and providing tangible support that demonstrates commitment and builds lasting trust with communities.
* **Design for sustainability:** Engage partners from the outset and establish clear handover mechanisms to ensure initiatives continue to create impact beyond your direct involvement.
{% endhint %}
***
## Notes
1. Be-In is a play on words meaning both "be inside" and "be involved," encouraging active community engagement in social innovation rather than observing from the outside; see Lamarane Barry’s (2021) blog for a comprehensive introduction to the network. [↑](#endnote-ref-1)
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