资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

18/02/2020

Collaborative working as part of UNDP’s Accelerator Labs. Copyright UNDP

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have committed to accelerating their joint efforts towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – an international call to action to end poverty, live sustainably, protect the planet and ultimately ensure that no one is left behind by 2030.

Through a Memorandum of Understanding, signed today (18^th February), UKRI and UNDP have pledged to ensure closer collaboration between researchers and policymakers across the world, by combining their collective expertise in driving international development, research and innovation.

The agreement, which is centred on the UN’s call for a decade of action in support of its Sustainable Development Goals, will transform the development landscape and enable community groups, local policymakers, researchers, social and commercial enterprises to work in agile, innovative and transformative ways to make lasting change for the world’s poorest people.

Through their new partnership, UKRI and UNDP will work with a broad range of organisations to cultivate a better understanding of what the future development research could and should look like. In the first instance, this new partnership means that some of UKRI’s Global Challenge Research Fund (GCRF) projects will serve as knowledge partners for the UNDP’s Accelerator Labs Network. Combining the ambitious, challenge-led research being generated across UKRI’s GCRF 12 interdisciplinary Hubs, in 85 countries and with over 400 partners, with the vast network of 60 Accelerator Labs across 78 countries will provide a dynamic, multisectoral environment to generate creative new ways to achieve the SDGs within local contexts.

“UNDP is placing increased emphasis on supporting innovation which helps communities to tackle the acute challenges that they face on a daily basis,” said UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner. “This closer partnership between UKRI and UNDP, focused on research and innovation, will help to generate even more solutions with the communities we work with - and drive forward progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Professor Andrew Thompson, UKRI’s International Champion and Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, said: “In order to achieve a healthier, safer and fairer future for all, we need to work in imaginative new ways to transform how research for international development is done. We need to start by changing the centre of gravity to ensure that research solutions are being generated from within the countries where the problems are most acutely felt. Joining forces with UNDP provides an exciting opportunity to ensure policy makers and researchers with intricate on-the-ground knowledge of local challenges work together to find and implement sustainable, lasting solutions, which are owned and embraced by local communities across the world.”

About UKRI

UK Research and Innovation works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. We aim to maximise the contribution of each of our component parts, working individually and collectively. We work with our many partners to benefit everyone through knowledge, talent and ideas.

Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £7 billion, UK Research and Innovation brings together the seven research councils, Innovate UK and Research England.

About UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

Learn more at www.undp.org or follow on Twitter at @UNDP.

About GCRF

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research and innovation that addresses the global issues faced by developing countries. It harnesses the expertise of the UK’s world-leading researchers, focusing on: funding challenge-led disciplinary and interdisciplinary research; strengthening capability for research, innovation and knowledge exchange; and providing an agile response to emergencies where there is an urgent research or on-the-ground need.

GCRF is a £1.5 billion fund which forms part of the UK Government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment and is overseen by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and delivered through nine delivery partners