SEESAC Staff Hone Their Skills for Social Innovation at the NESTA Training

UNDP/SEESAC representative participated in a two-day NESTA Innovation Training held in Montenegro from 13 to 14 February 2013. The ultimate aim of the training was to get a better sense of the UNDP country offices’ learning needs with regards to innovative skills, given that they are going to be a crucial tool in development work, particularly in the times of financial constraints. The event combined lectures and hands-on exercises aimed at teaching techniques and approaches to social innovations tools. 

The first day was focused on NESTA radical efficiency methodology – how to innovate in times of budget constraints. The second day was dedicated to testing "practical tools” for social innovation in order to find out if UNDP is using these tools and to what extent they are effective compared to other organizations tools.

UNDP is currently working with NESTA to develop an innovation curriculum for UNDP staff and training in Podgorica was among the first steps towards in a development of a more systematic approach to raising awareness of the need for adopting innovation skills.  Around 40 participants from the RBEC region actively participated in the training. The feedback has been overall positive with request to continue trainings in other country offices.