Doing things differently: fostering sustainable innovation across the UN

As a catalyst for public-sector innovation, the United Nations (UN) system, with its 4,000 locations worldwide, offers unique and strategic opportunities to broaden the global scope of innovation. As outlined in UN 2.0, the UN aims to leverage its extensive network to enhance the impact of innovation, striving to create an agile ecosystem that rapidly scales solutions.

But how do various UN entities support innovation within their organizations? What is the process and impact of innovation challenges they undertake? How can innovation champions be selected and supported?   

Towards the end of 2023, the Staff College hosted the second edition of the End-of-Year Event: "Learn and Share: S.P.A.C.E. for Innovation at the UN” attended by over 800 individuals across the private and public sector.

In the opening session seven leaders from across the system were invited to share their experiences.

• Gladys H. Morales, Senior Officer, Global Head of Innovation, IFAD
• Adriana de Oro Osorio, Innovation Coordinator, ITC
• Tanya Accone, Senior Advisor on Innovation, UNICEF  
• Nigina Muntean, Chief of the Innovation Unit, UNFPA  
• Glen Cauwenberghs, Senior Project Innovation Specialist, UNWTO
• Janina Peter,Head of Innovation, WFF
• Sandra Raad, Head of Innovation Network, WFP

Watch and learn from these videos about the various initiatives these leaders drive to contextualize innovation with a UN 2.0 lens, aligning with the Secretary General's definition of "Doing things differently, and doing different things."

In this video the discussion revolves around methods used by UN entities to foster innovation through selected innovation champions.

Get started on your own journey and dive into the UN Innovation Toolkit, a freely available public good that includes 21 tools, step-by-step directions, worksheets, case studies, references as well as a 27-question assessment which provides a diagnosis on all users’ strengths and areas for improvement.

For more information on the UN Innovation Toolkit, access our resources