The Global Lab project is a participatory dialogues series that aims to connect young thinkers from Geneva and beyond with the International Geneva ecosystem in order to foster innovative policy ideas. Through facilitating constructive exchanges with professionals, the Global Lab project strives to strengthen young professionals’ skill sets and personal networks, while providing experts in the field as well as key multilateral fora with youth’s inputs.

With these objectives in mind, visioning – a participatory foresight methodology – as well as a dedicated platform on our policy innovation tool Policy Kitchen to crowdsource participants’ ideas have been used in past installments of Global Labs. For more information, see the project page and the policy brief from the latest Global Lab (“Protecting the world from future infectious diseases and crises”).

The next installment: trade and circular economy

In recent years and as a consequence of multiple crises, vulnerabilities in global supply chains have been exposed and questions have been raised about the resilience of the international trading system. In response, policymakers and business leaders have started exploring ways to tackle supply chain fragility. One such avenue is the circular economy. By eliminating waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and ensuring that economic activities contribute to the regeneration of nature, the circular economy helps to reduce our dependence on raw materials and increase the resilience and adaptability of supply chains. Apart from a resilience perspective, circularity goals are also an integral part of the UN Agenda 2030 and a key pillar to make the global economy more sustainable. As no single country can achieve a circular economy alone, international trade will play a key role in delivering the “circular transition”.

It is therefore vital that new ideas on the alignment of international trade with circular economy imperatives are elaborated and brought to the attention of policymakers, which is why the next installment of Global Labs will be centered around this objective. At the heart of the process will again be a workshop organized in Geneva in the form of an interactive exchange between young thinkers and experts in the field.

For registration (free) and more information please visit: https://forms.gle/uSk6gnTWiHDfrokK9

The places are limited!