Disclaimer:
Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Learnings on your challenge
What are the top key insights you generated about your learning challenge during this Action Learning Plan? (Please list a maximum of 5 key insights)
[Collective Intelligence] The Accelerator Labs’ pilot to create a community of youth volunteers that will engage with the topic of environment challenges and work with them using different CI tools, has been proven to be successful as both an on-boarding tool for citizens participation in UNDP processes, but also that it offers unique value and add-ons to the conversation on climate change in North Macedonia.
[Signals Scanning] Through two experiments with localizing and piloting the UNDP signals scanning process in the country office, we have created an appetite about using this tool as a continuous foresight and engagement tool between our organization and the academic and civil society in the country that works on development policies.
[Research Insights] The Accelerator Lab team has continued to serve the role of a research unit that provides actionable knowledge and insights to the country office. In this period, we led the development of the 2023 SDG Insights Report that provided new and important insights to our country office on the status of achievements of the SDGs [mindful that our last VNR was done in 2020] this report allowed new and relevant insights to be gathered for the SDGs that are important both for the country office and national institutions.
[Nudges] The Accelerator Lab team has worked with one of our country office projects on embedding behavioral nudges in the way they approach the challenge of air pollution in the country. These activities have been undergoing few iterations and have now become a part of the regular project dynamics/activities.
[Solidarity] The Accelerator Lab team has been working on providing new ideas and venues for thinking on what role solidarity could play in tackling the development challenges of today. In this process we learned that in our society, the concept of solidarity is something that people believe can contribute to the way we approach challenges in our environment, economics, governance and are wiling to articulate new arguments on the role of solidarity for development policies.
Considering the outcomes of this learning challenge, which of the following best describe the handover process? (Please select all that apply)
Our work has led to significant changes in our UNDP Country Office programming, Our work has led to a significant change in public policy at a national or local level, Our work has been picked up by UNDP or the government and has now expanded geographically in our country, Our work has been picked up by UNDP or the government and has now expanded geographically to another country
Can you provide more detail on your handover process?
[Collective Intelligence] The pilot that was led by the Accelerator Labs, was used by the country office team [Environment unit] to onboard and engage with members of the public in a pre-COP event with the President of the country. Moreover, they are considering the pilot + collective intelligence approach/tools as one of the niches for their 'youth climate hubs' for 2024.
[Signals Scanning] After our first experiment with localizing and piloting the signals scanning process in the country office, we instantly received an offer from our Gender team to do one thematically aligned with gender equality and women empowerment in the country.
[Research Insights] The insights from this research process, have been widely shared in our country office and our key national counterparts, including the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and for EU affairs.
[Nudges] The behavior nudges approach has become a permanent feature in one of our country's projects, after successfully collaborating in this space in previous years.
[Solidarity] The way of thinking on how the interplay of solidarity and development can influence development policies of today, that has been opened as an avenue of thinking from the Lab has been used by our country office teams to create activities in the spaces of: youth and solidarity, DRR and solidarity, Women and solidarity etc. These activities resulted with new project activities, communication campaigns and knowledge products.
Please paste any link(s) to blog(s) or publication(s) that articulate the learnings on your frontier challenge.
Data and Methods
Relating to your types of data, why did you chose these? What gaps in available data were these addressing?
CI tools have not been piloted/used in our country office while the Lab has been working in the team, so we believed it would be an exciting and new avenue for work for both the organization and to onboard and engage with new partners/people/organizations.
Why was it necessary to apply the above innovation method on your frontier challenge? How did these help you to unpack the system?
For instance, we used the signals scanning process, to learn more about the signals and development trends that are relevant for the work of UNDP and our partners, and are noted by the members of our academic community and the CSO sector. Through this innovation method we heard/saw the future/anticipatory thinking of valuable members of our community.
Partners
Please indicate what partners you have actually worked with for this learning challenge.
Please state the name of the partner:
Civil Society Organizations in North Macedonia [20 CSOs] - for the signals scanning process
What sector does your partner belong to?
Civil Society
Please provide a brief description of the partnership.
For the signals scanning process, we share the form [in both experiments] to a list of 20 civil society organizations in North Macedonia and a number of academics.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
Please indicate what partners you have actually worked with for this learning challenge.
Please state the name of the partner:
National Institutions [DPM for Economic Affairs and DPM for European Affairs] ; UNRCO [other UN Agencies in the country] - for the SDG Insights Report
What sector does your partner belong to?
Government (&related)
Please provide a brief description of the partnership.
To develop the SDG Insights Report, in addition to the collaboration within the country office, we also had to collaborate with our government in collecting the data for the report, as well as validating the key findings from the report with them.
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Please indicate what partners you have actually worked with for this learning challenge.
Please state the name of the partner:
Collective intelligence
What sector does your partner belong to?
Civil Society
Please provide a brief description of the partnership.
Direct on-boarding and engagement with the general public, has not been a practice in the way our organization. With our CI pilot, we focused on creating an informal group of enthusiasts that would deploy CI tools
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
Yes
End
Bonus question: How did the interplay of innovation methods, new forms of data and unusual partners enable you to learn & generate insights, that otherwise you would have not been able to achieve?
In all activities mentioned above we trust that the use of innovation methods, and a new way of thinking has enabled us to learn and provide new insights to both our organization and the society as a whole.
Please upload any further supporting evidence / documents / data you have produced on your frontier challenge that showcase your learnings.
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9Industry, innovation and infrastructure
11Sustainable cities and communities
16Peace, justice and strong institutions
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