LocationsSmall is beautiful, but will it scale? The UNDP Accelerator Labs at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference
October 4, 2024
Event Details
07 October 2024
5:00PM - 6:00PM Hamburg (GMT+2) 11:00AM - 12:00PM New York (EDT)
Hamburg Sustainability Conference
On October 7, the UNDP Accelerator Labs hosted a session on scaling grassroots innovations for systemic change with speakers from the Global Majority. Check out the full program of the conference here.
In the drive for a fairer world, we have an often-overlooked asset: what 8 billion people around the world know. Innovators and changemakers in the Global Majority tend to be defined by their problems. Our session explored an alternative model: learning from innovations that are working in sustainable development and taking them to scale via digital public goods and private sector partnerships.
Meet our speakers!
Hafsa
Mbamba
Tourism Delivery Manager
Zanzibar Presidential Delivery
Hafsa Mbamba is a seasoned CEO specializing in tourism development and international tourism management. She has held several key positions, including her role as CEO at the Zanzibar Commission for Tourism, and as the Founder and Managing Director of a destination travel company.
What makes you most excited about the possibility of attending the Hamburg Sustainability Conference?
I'm thrilled about the opportunity to showcase our innovative AI platform at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference on a global stage. The prospect of engaging with global leaders and experts in sustainable development is incredibly exciting, as it offers a unique opportunity to share our experiences and learn from others working towards similar goals. I'm particularly looking forward to discussing and learning more how AI and digital technologies can drive sustainable tourism practices in island destinations like Zanzibar. The conference's focus on forging new sustainability alliances and developing concrete solutions to global challenges aligns perfectly with Zanzibar’s efforts, making it an ideal platform to explore potential collaborations and partnerships that could further enhance our initiatives.
How do you think grassroots innovations can help us develop a more sustainable future?
I believe grassroots innovations are essential for creating a sustainable future, as they emerge from local communities to address unique challenges with tailored solutions. Grassroots innovations can also enhance community resilience and provide practical insights that bridge the gap between high-level sustainability policies and on-the-ground implementation. In the case of Zanzibar, we have seen how grassroots innovations can accelerate a destination’s transition to become more sustainable benefiting both local communities and the tourism sector.
Peter Ernest Nyanda
Head of Exploration, UNDP Accelerator Lab, Tanzania
Peter Ernest Nyanda is a skilled development professional with over 15 years of experience in the private and non-profit sectors in Africa, leading projects with organizations like The Johns Hopkins University, Millicom, and the Palladium Group. As the Head of Exploration at the UNDP Accelerator Lab in Tanzania, he is leading efforts in digital transformation and innovative solutions for sustainable growth, collaborating with international partners to align development strategies with cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and GIS (Geographic Information System).
What makes you most excited about attending the Hamburg Sustainability Conference?
It is an honour for me to participate at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, which provides an exciting opportunity to meet with a diverse collection of thinkers, innovators, and business leaders committed to bringing the global sustainability agenda ahead. What excites me the most is the ability to share and learn from a varied range of new solutions and strategies that are making a real difference on the ground. The conference offers a unique chance to build on our work at Accelerator Lab Tanzania, particularly in the areas of sustainable tourism, circular economy, and AI for sustainable development. I'm thrilled to discuss my insights on how grassroots innovations and data-driven methodologies might be applied across contexts. Furthermore, networking with potential colleagues and participating in topics that could impact global policy and action is both thrilling and empowering. The conference is more than just a forum for discussing best practices; it is also a platform for collaboratively envisioning and strategizing the future of sustainability, to truly discuss, share and scale next practices.
How do you think grassroots innovations can help us develop a more sustainable future?
Grassroots innovations are the lifeblood of sustainable development because they originate in communities and address the specific challenges and opportunities of local environments. These inventions are founded on local knowledge, culture, and resources, making them naturally flexible, robust, and scalable. They have the potential to alter our approach to sustainability by providing inclusive and participative solutions that ensure no one is left behind. In my work with UNDP Accelerator Labs, I've seen how grassroots initiatives like community-driven trash management in Tanzania and digital savings schemes in South Sudan are having a genuine, verifiable impact. These bottom-up initiatives empower communities to take control of their own development and promote systemic change. In the process of supporting and growing grassroots innovations, we can create a future in which sustainability is co-created and firmly embedded in people's lived experiences all around the world. This allows us to co-create a more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient future.
Joe Arinaitwe
Vice President Business, mGurush
As the former Head of E-Channels & Virtual Banking for United Bank for Africa, Joe Arinaitwe successfully managed business in over 18 African countries driving large-scale digital and mobile money projects. Currently serving as Vice President for mGurush Money Service, South Sudan's leading mobile money service provider, Joe is a passionate mobile money evangelist dedicated to advancing Africa's financial landscape.
What makes you most excited about the possibility of attending the Hamburg Sustainability Conference?
I am excited about sharing experiences and telling the world about the transformative work we are doing in South Sudan especially in the mobile and digital payments space. I look forward to networking with like-minded peers and hopefully through this gathering broaden my horizon.
How do you think grassroots innovations can help us develop a more sustainable future?
We, at mGurush, consider ourselves to be at the forefront of championing the adoption and acceleration of mobile and digital finance in South Sudan. By being the very first and leading mobile money provider we have been able to give South Sudanese the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of mobile and digital finance. By signing up on our mGurush mobile money platform, millions have become financially included, been able to build their own business, learnt how to save, invest and manage debt. We have no doubt that ours is vehicle through our people have been and continue to get out of poverty, build wealth and live meaningful and dignifying lives.
Professor
Anamika Dey
Co-founder of GIAN, HoneyBee Network
What makes you most excited about attending the Hamburg Sustainability Conference?
I am thrilled at the prospect of participating in the Hamburg Sustainability Conference. I look forward to learning from the connection between macro and micro: grassroots innovators who can solve community problems sustainably but not always optimally and innovators who innovate for grassroots optimally but not always sustainably. When the two meet, they have a fair chance of complementing each other in devising optimal solutions for a sustainable future
How do you think grassroots innovations can help us develop a more sustainable future?
Having evolved with the Honey Bee Network, the social movement of grassroots innovators, for over 16 years, I have recognized that the challenges they face across regions or countries like Guatemala or Colombia are not very different from those in India or Bangladesh, but the opportunities in this domain vary. The UNDP Accelerator Labs Network gave them a global platform to share knowledge and lessons worldwide. We also need policy dialogues informed by their wisdom. This is a step waiting to happen. It is for everyone who believes in solving wicked problems creatively, frugally, and collectively, giving way to a circular, inclusive, and sustainable economy.