About the Innovation Fair 2011

The United Nations will organize an innovation fair during the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) at the High-level segment of the annual substantive session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which will be devoted to “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in education”.  The objective of the Fair is to showcase innovative practices, approaches and projects in education from around the world.

Objectives of the Fair

The Innovation Fair will contribute to the objectives of the 2011 AMR, in particular by: 

1. promoting broad multi-stakeholder engagement in the work of the Council;
2. sharing innovative solutions and best practices in the area of education;
3. demonstrating the strong links between education and the internationally agreed development goals (IADGs)/Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);  and
4. encouraging interaction among participants in the Fair and Member States, which could possibly lead to the replication of projects.

Participation

The UN Economic and Social Council aims to bring together all development actors, be they governmental or nongovernmental, from around the world. Consequently, a wide range of institutions are invited to take part in the Fair: governments, international and regional organizations, private sector entities, academia, civil society organizations and foundations.

What type of innovative approaches/projects/products will be showcased?

The AMR, under which the Fair is organized, will consider broad thematic areas related to education and development. However, in order to ensure the legibility of the event and to make it more interesting to participants, the Innovation Fair will be organized around four themes:

1.   access to education for marginalized groups and those in rural and hard-to-reach locations;
2.   education in crisis situations (conflict, post-conflict and disasters);
3.   information and communication technologies (ICT) for education; and
4.   promoting education for the world of work.

Innovation criteria

The innovative products and projects that will be showcased will meet the following criteria:

1. create an enabling environment for improvement, potentially leading to policy change through legislation, regulation or resource allocation;
2. showcase sustainability and replicability;  and
3. promote partnerships and foster synergetic activities with other stakeholders.