The UNDP Accelerator Labs initiative was launched in 2019 with the aim of building a global network of laboratories that could complement traditional project cycles with faster learning loops in the field of development. The goal was to enhance the ability to rethink development in the 21st century and to strengthen capacities for transforming systems, while supporting progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UNDP Strategic Plan.

Within this framework, a more deliberate Research and Development (R&D) approach was adopted. The focus was not only on designing projects, but also on systematically testing new value propositions at local, regional and global levels.

Between 2019 and 2025, UNDP Accelerator Lab Türkiye supported and accompanied a range of initiatives that applied this approach across different themes. Examples include participatory policy design processes, simulation tools that brought climate issues into education, open source mapping efforts to support post-disaster recovery, and artificial intelligence-based early detection initiatives in health. These activities were developed within a culture of experimentation, trial and shared learning.

Field-level insights from the UNDP Accelerator Lab Türkiye 

Work carried out with a wide range of stakeholders, across projects of different scales and themes, points to several recurring insights:

1. Locally grounded solutions are more sustainable when they connect to everyday institutional practice

In Türkiye, stronger effects were observed when the methods tested led to changes, even modest ones, in the daily work practices of municipalities, public institutions or local partners. Participatory mapping, debris monitoring, systems thinking in education or co-design workshops generated more value when they contributed to adjustments in areas such as planning datasets, monitoring approaches, or the way institutions interact with neighbourhoods, rather than remaining as standalone project activities.

2. Without investment in institutional capacity, innovative models tend to remain one-off projects

Municipalities, schools, cooperatives and NGOs were able to adopt new models more effectively when their own teams had the time and skills to use the methods introduced. In Türkiye, the continuation of tools beyond the pilot phase depended on clear plans for training, accompaniment and knowledge transfer, and on at least one team within the institution assuming responsibility for carrying the work forward.

3. In resource-constrained contexts, small and carefully designed interventions can have significant effects

Especially in post-earthquake settings and in contexts with limited resources, low-cost but well-designed interventions had a notable impact. Tactical urbanism applications, neighbourhood level maps developed with communities, composting practices and participatory rehabilitation processes often depended less on large budgets and more on appropriate partnerships and designs that took the local context into account.

4. Data helps move discussions from abstract principles to concrete decision points

Debris tracking based on satellite and aerial imagery, mapping of public services and risks, and the collection of qualitative and quantitative data from the field provided a useful framework for determining priorities in complex and time-pressured environments. The Türkiye experience suggests that data can support not only reporting, but also greater transparency, a shared understanding of the situation among stakeholders, and evidence-informed decisions on reconstruction.

5. Models developed jointly by diverse actors can be adapted and applied in other contexts

When municipalities, academia, producer organisations, community initiatives, civil society and volunteer networks worked together, models emerged that would have been more difficult for a single institution to develop alone. Examples such as the agro library or the value chain built around flax production indicate that partnerships with clearly defined roles and regular communication can become reference points that other cities and sectors may adapt to their own circumstances.

Looking ahead

Development work involves understanding multi-actor and interconnected systems that seek to respond to increasingly complex challenges. As the formal phase of UNDP Accelerator Lab Türkiye concludes with the end of 2025, the Lab has provided a view, both in Türkiye and within the global network of Accelerator Labs, of how approaches based on innovation can be designed as part of development practice and how they can relate to supporting progress towards the SDGs. One shared legacy of this work is our contribution to open knowledge. The SDG Commons is a space for data, insights, and practices around the SDGs.

https://sdg-innovation-commons.org/

The global learning network, and the shared memory it has produced from both successes and setbacks, has contributed to a body of knowledge that is available to partners and country offices. The methods developed through the Accelerator Labs Türkiye have created a starting point for future collaboration with institutions that aim to build more adaptive, locally rooted and resilient systems, and they may continue to inform innovation-related work in the coming period.

I would like to close by noting that the contributions of everyone who took part in this process have created a shared memory and learning ground that goes beyond formal titles and project boundaries. 

Municipalities, public institutions, civil society organisations, cooperatives, academia, community initiatives and volunteer networks played an important role in the work of this Lab by contributing their time, effort and expertise. Sincere thanks to all partners whose paths crossed with Accelerator Lab Türkiye during the 2019–2025 period.

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