A workshop that enables early-career professionals and students to design fresh innovations to development challenges.
How can you use design thinking to tackle global development challenges? Design thinking is a human-centred approach to innovation that integrates people’s needs, the possibilities of novel solutions, and the requirements for success. The UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab and its Lead Scale Partner Chemonics International will guide participants through an innovation process to design solutions to sustainability challenges, including those that protect the environment, reduce poverty, and uphold human rights.
The session will demonstrate how passionate, empowered youth equipped with the right tools, resources, and partners can accelerate social impact and address sustainability challenges at scale.
The workshop will be an opportunity for participants to gain insight into the UNLEASH methodology, which gathers young innovators through its in-person and online programs to collaborate on solutions that address the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Leveraging 45 years’ experience delivering development programming in over 150 countries, Chemonics International will provide real-world examples of development innovation in practice.
Why attend?
From catalysing the start up of a sustainable and affordable Tanzanian fish feed business to acting as the genesis for a “fog catching” innovation that boosts water security in arid areas, UNLEASH enables changemakers to kickstart innovative work that addresses some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
During this session, international development and innovation experts will guide attendees to identify actions to help tackle the causes that motivate them. Participants will have the opportunity to meet development professionals who will share their experiences designing innovations on large international development programmes or started their own social impact ventures, and, ultimately, spurred progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
What will I learn?
The skills-building workshop will focus on problem-framing and human-centered design, providing a practical framework for solving development challenges. In the session, you will learn how to:
What will I leave the session with?
We hope that all participants will leave the session with new ideas and refined perspectives about what role innovation plays in international development. The event will introduce attendees to new ideas and approaches about engaging with the local context and community to solve development challenges.
Who is leading the session?
Chemonics International’s Lauren Behr and UNLEASH’s Greg Pepper will lead the workshop.
The organisers
London Development Symposium is the organiser for this conference and is hosted by LSESU International Development Society, SOAS World Development Society and UCL Idea Society.
Chemonics International is a leading international development consulting firm. In more than 80 countries, our 4,400 development professionals work to realise a healthier, more prosperous, and peaceful world.
Chemonics International sponsors the London Development Symposium’s Annual Conference.
UNLEASH is a global innovation lab that brings together top talent from around the world with the aim of development real, scalable solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).