Transforming Our Mindset for Social Impact: UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab
Imagine you’re a senior energy minister from a developing country responsible for increasing electricity access for your citizens. The main source of energy in the country has traditionally been non-renewable sources, as this has been the cheaper and more affordable option for your government. You’re open to the idea of accelerating renewable energy, but the incentive to switch to clean energy is low due to limited resources, low private sector engagement and commercial viability. Also, there is a lack of clear structured data to support your budgetary allocation in clean energy. What do you do?
This was the project my team and I were focused on solving while in Denmark for the UN Global Innovation Lab: UNLEASH. Over the course of nine intensive days(August 12–20 2017), UNLEASH talents from around the world gathered in Denmark to tackle some of the world’s emerging issues; quality education & ICT access, health, water, affordable energy, etc. I had the amazing opportunity to participate as a talent delegate at UNLEASH, representing Canada and Rwanda, along with 1000 young leaders from129 countries. UNLEASH was a unique collaborative partnership of UN agencies(World Bank, IMF), Microsoft, Dalberg and Deloitte to launch the innugral Global Innovation Lab for Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) for emerging leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The focus of the innovation lab was on co-creating entrepreneurial solutions to the UN SDGs, through collaborative design thinking methods to unlock new and innovative ways of doing business/partnership at a global scale. Through the UNLEASH innovation lab process(problem frame, ideation, prototype, testing and implement), we learned how to effectively frame a problem and turn it into an scalable solution. From this facilitated process, my team designed a prototype solution for accelerating renewable energy(SDG 7) access to support national governments in least developed countries through an intermediary data technology platform to assist governments in mapping out strategic hotspots of renewable energy investments.
I couldn’t believe what we were able to achieve in a few short days at UNLEASH and the passion that people put into their projects at the dragon den pitch presentations for potential seed funding and mentorship support. It was amazing to see innovative solutions to complex global problems through creative collaboration and diversity of lived experience. One of the unique highlights of UNLEASH was the intimate group setting at the Folk High Schools in Denmark. We explored innovative global solutions through local Danish insights and best practices.
UNLEASH was a great platform to experiment and hack out creative SDG implementation solutions. It truly was an accelerator incubator for designing impactful start-ups that transform societies and communities. The skills/insights(human centered design, machine learning, strategic problem solving) I learned during UNLEASH has been helpful, as I apply the innovative process through my work in government and my start-up venture projects. Also, not to mention the incredible exposure to a global network of innovators/change makers across every continent.
The impact of the UNLEASH innovation labs will continue every year in a different country until 2030. This year UNLEASH will be in Singapore from May 30-June 6 2018. I strongly encourage anyone interested in exploring new innovative approaches to cross sector partnership and entrepreneurial strategies for scaling the SDGs to apply and get involved.
UNLEASH was an inspiring experience and I’m excited to see the impact towards a changing of mindsets that fosters innovative design and collaboration for meaningful global change.
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