On April 30, we gathered our partners, stakeholders, and friends at the Palais des Nations to officially launch the Lab’s new strategy, programme of work, focus areas, and importantly, our new name and visual identity.  

As UN Geneva’s space and design lab for social innovation – and a think-and-act tank for long-term sustainability, located within the Office of the Director-General – we believe this shift to the Beyond Lab encapsulates the need to go beyond the status quo across all aspects of development and move towards a whole-of-systems approach. One that looks at sustainable development through new ‘lenses’, such as intergenerationally equitable impact, evolving and regenerative development, and emotions and affective sciences, among others. It is also about embracing the ‘X’ factor; that is the known unknowns.  

This shift to the beyonds marks more than a simple rebranding; it signifies a growth journey we have been on for over one year, engaging with our closest partners to identify, test and map out an approach that focuses on enabling true systems change for long-term sustainability.  

We will be sharing more updates on our initiatives and activities in the pipeline in the coming weeks and months, including a new website, so stay tuned! But for the time being, review our Beyond Lab overview for a concise glimpse into who we are, what we do, and what we want to achieve.