Addressing climate change, youth employment, and economic diversification requires localized, context-specific solutions. In SSCH, engaging local communities and leveraging their insights was highlighted, ensuring interventions and a high level of participation from the community in Thi Qar were relevant and impactful in implementation and management to ensure sustainability and behavioral changes. Collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Communication, civil society (e.g., Bahr Al-uloom Foundation), and other stakeholders strengthen the foundation for sustainable impact. Strategic partnerships were identified as critical to providing legitimacy, resources, and diverse perspectives for the project. Community and innovation hubs must prioritize participatory design and ownership to achieve long-term sustainability. Ethnographic insights revealed that integrating the voices of youth and women into the hub’s design and operations enhances community trust and active participation.Also, Innovation workshops, crowdsourcing, and human-centered design methods emerged as valuable tools for encouraging creative, community-driven solutions. These methods foster collaboration among government, youth, and private sector actors, generating innovative ideas for climate resilience and economic diversification.  Ecosystem mapping and ethnography filled existing data gaps, providing critical insights into stakeholder relationships, unmet community needs, and systemic challenges. This data-driven approach ensures the initiatives are well-informed and adaptive to evolving needs. UN Volunteers and local volunteers played a crucial role in running and sustaining the hub. Volunteers brought diverse skills, passion, and commitment, bridging resource gaps while fostering a sense of ownership and civic responsibility among community members. Their involvement ensures that the hub remains a dynamic, community-driven space, while also nurturing a culture of service and social solidarity that aligns with the project's goals.

The handover process for the Souq Al Shoyukh Climate Hub (SSCH) ensures a seamless transition to local ownership and long-term sustainability. Below is a detailed outline: By UNV, Acclab built the capacity of SSCH Staff and volunteers in Souq Alshyoukh in Digital skills, operational management, resource mobilization, program execution, sustainability, monitoring and evaluation, Partnership, Innovation, system thinking, and managing smart farms. This training and practical work continued for three months  Supported SSCH volunteers technically to run four initiatives, manage a Co-Working space, and implement four workshops, and sessions, that focus on Youth, climate, and Women's Empowerment. the SSCH Volunteers and Staff developed comprehensive mechanism reporting, guidelines, and maintenance protocols for the hub’s facilities and initiatives. Creating a digital report of all relevant project documents, training materials, and contact lists of stakeholders and partners. Providing final progress reports, including key achievements, lessons learned, and recommendations for future improvements. Form a governance committee comprising representatives from MoYS, Bahr Al-uloom Charity Foundation, youth leaders, and other stakeholders to oversee hub operations. Clearly define roles and responsibilities for the hub’s management team, ensuring accountability and smooth operations.  Formalized partnerships through MoUs or agreements that outline continued support from government bodies, the private sector, and civil society. Provided training on securing funding from local, national, and international sources, including grants, sponsorships, and revenue-generating activities. Developed a business plan for sustainable income, such as renting co-working spaces, offering paid training programs, and selling locally made eco-friendly products. Shared a robust M&E framework for tracking progress, assessing impact, and ensuring accountability post-handover. Trained the volunteer team in using the M&E tools, analyzing data, and making evidence-based decisions for continuous improvement  Implemented a phased handover approach for two months, gradually transferring responsibilities to local stakeholders over six months to one year. Established a mentorship program where the UNDP Accelerator Lab remains available for advisory support during the transition period. Allowed the local management team to independently run the hub for a trial period while still receiving guidance and support from UNDP. Encouraged local ownership by involving the community in designing and implementing activities post-handover.

Souq Shyoukh Climate Hubs website:  https://www.thesouqhub.com/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/people/%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AF%D9%89-%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AE-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A6%D9%8A-%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%8A/61554769804869/  Deep demonstrations: a portfolio approach to re-imagining the social contract in Iraq: https://www.undp.org/arab-states/blog/deep-demonstrations-portfolio-approach-re-imagining-social-contract-iraq

Co-Designing: To directly involve stakeholders, including youth, women, local businesses, and government representatives, in designing solutions tailored to their needs. This approach ensured ownership and alignment with the community's unique challenges and aspirations. Co-designing was critical to creating initiatives that were both inclusive and practical.  Addressed the lack of direct community involvement in planning processes, ensuring solutions were relevant and supported by stakeholders. Collective Intelligence: To harness the diverse knowledge, insights, and ideas from a wide range of sources. This method was chosen to bridge the gap between top-down planning and grassroots innovation, ensuring that solutions incorporated perspectives from across the community and were innovative and relevant. Bridged the gap between isolated insights by synthesizing diverse perspectives into a cohesive strategy. Design Thinking: To systematically approach problem-solving with a focus on user-centricity. This iterative process allowed for understanding the root causes of challenges, prototyping solutions, and refining them based on real-world feedback. It was instrumental in ensuring the solutions were actionable and adaptive to changing circumstances. Ecosystem Mapping: To visualize the relationships and interactions between stakeholders and identify gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities in the system. This tool provided a strategic overview of how resources, influence, and information flowed within the ecosystem, helping optimize collaboration and resource allocation. Filled the gap in iterative solution development, enabling real-time testing and adaptation of interventions. Ethnography: To gain deep, qualitative insights into the community's behaviors, preferences, and contextual challenges. Ethnography allowed the team to uncover unmet needs and cultural nuances that quantitative data could not capture. It provided a holistic understanding of the community's lived experiences. Provided insights into socio-cultural barriers and opportunities that traditional data sources failed to reveal.

Crowdsourcing Ideas and Solutions: Engage the wider community, including local communities, businesses, universities, NGOs, and the youth, in brainstorming sessions to gather ideas on tackling climate change, promoting economic diversification, and climate crisis, and enhancing youth employment. This can help identify local needs, priorities, and innovative approaches that may not be immediately evident to enablers, leaders, actors, and decision-makers. Community Surveys, solutions mapping, and Data Collection: Implement surveys and use technologies to collect data and explore innovative local solutions from the community on various aspects of the challenge, such as perceived climate impacts, economic needs, and potential areas for youth employment. This data can provide a solid foundation for designing targeted interventions that directly address community concerns. Hackathons and participatory design: Organize events that encourage participants to develop creative solutions to specific aspects of the SSCH challenge, such as sustainable building designs, green business models, or climate resilience projects. This can harness the creativity and expertise of a wide range of individuals and groups, fostering innovation and community ownership of the hub's initiatives. Collaborative Workshops and Human-Centered Design: Conduct workshops that bring together community members, MoYS representatives, environmental experts, and other stakeholders to collaboratively design the hub's programs and operations. Using design thinking principles, these sessions can explore complex problems from multiple angles and co-create human-centered solutions