We are just back from the first Action Forum on Transformative Innovation organised by UN-ECE Transformative Innovation Network (ETIN) in collaboration with the Joint Research Centre and DG Innovation and Research of the European Commission. We got so much valueable input and insights on how we can innovate to transform our societies to be more sustainable. 🌏 ☀️
Some key takeaways from these three intensive days of peer learning, good practice exchange and co-creation in Brussels:
💡 Many of the problems we are facing require our mindsets to shift: questioning on how we do things by changing the rules that were created decades ago although our world has changed dramatically in the meantime (e.g. new ways of doing funding and public procurement or allowing different stakeholders to experiment (providing ’shields, sandboxes and safe spaces‘) and even learn from failure as part of our growth journey to developing solutions to problems all countries are experiencing.
💡 We have to leave linear approaches behind and go for more holistic/circular ways of doing.
💡 Place-based is important: there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works for all in the same way.
💡 We need a multi-actor and multilevel governance approach to get everyone on board and overcome silos
💡 The best time to start is NOW! We sometimes feel overwhelmed by changing complex systems and think we are too small to make a contribution. The contrary is the case: every contribution counts and by applying the 1% rule
Let’s call this event by its name and turn the insights into action!!
