Shaping UN Innovation through conversation: UN Innovation Toolkit webinar series

The United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) and the United Nations Innovation Network (UNIN) ended another successful edition of the UN Innovation Toolkit webinar series this month. The six-part series, held once a year since 2020, brings together a community of UN colleagues interested in promoting and advancing innovation within the UN System. The series which ran between April and July this year, is designed to introduce and mainstream the UN Innovation Toolkit

This year, each Webinar drew an average of 90 participants into timely conversation about the five foundational elements of the Toolkit which are seen as crucial to innovation - Strategy for innovation, Partnerships for innovation, Architecture for innovation, Culture for innovation and Evaluation for innovation, and more.

 “The conversations we’ve had in the last few weeks have been enriching. There is a lot of complexity in organizations, and this sometimes makes it difficult for individuals to be deliberate about innovation. Promoting dialogue about tools like the UN Innovation Toolkit can help us uncover the nuances, and provide clear avenues to share ideas that can enable us to work together to spur and accelerate innovation impact across the UN system” said Berin McKenzie, Learning Portfolio Manager at UNSSC.

From understanding how to connect with internal and external entities to learning about developing platforms that users need to administer throughout the innovation life cycle, the Webinars have been a great platform to share a number of insights, best practices, and lessons learned.

“We have developed this Toolkit in collaboration with the UNSSC and another 30 UN entities in 2019, upon request of the Secretary-General - and he asked us specifically to design a Toolkit that meets the unique need of UN entities wishing to introduce more innovation work” said Johanna Jochim, Manager of the UN Innovation Network. 

The 2021 Innovation Toolkit Webinar series is a continuing series of Webinars to empower UN staff with knowledge and insights to promote innovation, activate innovation partnerships, and create a culture of innovation in the UN. This initiative is part of UNSSC and UNIN’s commitment to ensure the wide dissemination and integration of the Toolkit into relevant capacity building and innovation efforts.

The Webinars can be viewed at any time on UNIN’s YouTube channel. To watch, click on the Webinar you would like to view.

-  2021 Innovation Toolkit Webinar series

-  2020 Innovation Toolkit Webinar series