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Ambiente & Sociedade n São Paulo. Vol. 21, 2018 n Original Article n 2018;21:e00010
Moving towards the sustainable developMent goals:
the unleash innovation lab experience1
RAFAEL JUNQUEIRA BURALLI2
TIAGO CANELAS3
LAURA MARTINS DE CARVALHO4
ETIENNE DUIM5
RENATA FORTES ITAGYBA6
MARÍLIA FONSECA7
SOFIA LIZARRALDE OLIVER8
NÚRIA SANCHEZ CLEMENTE9
Introduction
In a world ever more complex and interconnected, it is not surprising that the
problems that blight humanity manifest in a similar way. Hunger, poverty, inequality,
access to a decent education, health and well-being, basic sanitation, climate change,
among others, are issues that directly or indirectly affect the health and quality of life of
our population.
Since 1992, the United Nations (UN) has been working on strategies to further
the sustainable development of our planet. In 2000, it launched an ambitious 15 year-
-long program, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with an overall objective to
address health and combat poverty with the guidance and structure of eight overarching
1. The authors acknowledge UNLEASH and its partners for launching and sponsoring this innovative event.
2. PhD candidate in Public Health. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. E-mail: rafael_buralli@
usp.br
3. PhD in Global Health and Sustainability. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. E-mail:
tcanelfe@usp.br
4. PhD candidate in Global Health and Sustainability. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
E-mail: lauramarcarvalho@gmail.com
5. PhD candidate in Epidemiology. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. E-mail: etienneduim@
usp.br
6. PhD candidate in Global Health and Sustainability. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
E-mail: renataitagyba@gmail.com
7. PhD candidate in Epidemiology. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. E-mail: marilia_
fonseca@yahoo.com.br
8. PhD in Public Health. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. E-mail: s.oliver@usp.br
9. PhD candidate in Epidemiology. Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil. E-mail:
nuriasanchezclemente@gmail.com
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goals. It was the most successful health and anti-poverty initiative ever conducted; ho-
wever, inequalities persisted and the progress made was uneven (UNITED NATIONS,
2015a). This was a huge opportunity to learn from previous challenges and led the UN to
conduct the largest consultation program in its history, aiming to gauge opinion on what
the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should look like. At the Rio+20 Summit
in 2012, it was decided that an open working group should come up with a draft agenda.
The working group, with representatives from 70 countries, had its first meeting in March
2013 and published its final draft, with its 17 core goals and 169 targets, on July 2014. In
September 2015, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, a bold and ambitious strategy
to end poverty by 2030 and pursue a sustainable future, was unanimously adopted by all
193 member states of the UN. The Agenda seeks to promote health and well-being, gender
equality, end poverty and hunger, provide equal opportunities for all, protect the planet,
manage natural resources, enhance our quality of life and develop countries equally and
sustainably (UNITED NATIONS, 2015b). The 17 goals are listed in Table 1.
Table 1. Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the
United Nations for the 2030 Agenda.
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages
Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities
for all
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employ-
ment and decent work for all
Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably man-
age forests, combat desertication, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustain-
able Development
Source: United Nations, 2015a
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The UNLEASH initiative
To launch the SDGs, stimulate creative thinking, and disrupt conventional solutions
to the 17 goals, a non-profit global sustainability initiative was proposed and endorsed
by partners from different countries and sectors, among them, NGOs, philanthropic
institutions and foundations, private companies and educational institutions as well
as the United Nations Development Programme. The initiative, named UNLEASH, aims
to bring together a thousand young (under 35 years old) entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs,
academics and tech experts from all over the world in yearly discussions, until 2030. The
selected individuals will participate in a nine-day immersion and innovation challenge
focused on creating scalable solutions for the SDGs. At each annual meeting, different
themes, or goals, will be selected to focus the scope of the reunions and a different city
will be chosen to hold the event. The objective is to explore the SDGs through different
lenses, incorporating aspects of the local life, culture and way of thinking and working.
The culmination of UNLEASH Innovation Lab takes place during the last 3 days of the
meeting. The teams present their solutions to peers, investors and experts within their
field and the best projects are selected. The winner will receive technical, financial and
technological support from different professionals to ensure fast implementation of those
projects in the field (UNLEASH, 2017) (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The UNLEASH SDG innovation model, how ideas are
transformed into tangible solutions.
Source: UNLEASH, 2017.
In this context, for the first UNLEASH meeting, the School of Public Health of
the University of São Paulo, Brazil (Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São
Paulo – FSP/USP) was selected as the only educational institution partner from South
America among 150 academic institutions all over the world (UNLEASH, 2017). About
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to celebrate its centenary (1918 – 2018), the FSP/USP is a renowned institution - a local,
national and global reference center for health, which possesses a strong tradition in
regional development and international cooperation and partnerships. The FSP/USP is
frequently ahead of its time; it was the first school of nutrition, health care systems engine-
ering and hospital administration in Brazil, and the first school to offer the undergraduate
course in Public Health. Besides which it was also a pioneer in medical entomology, health
demography and occupational health. The School offers many excellent undergraduate
and postgraduate programmes and receives students from all over Brazil and the world.
Currently, it is the only Latin American institution to offer a PhD in Global Health and
Sustainability (FACULDADE DE SAÚDE PÚBLICA, 2010).
After an initial internal selection process of PhD and post-doc students, the FSP/USP
put forward 8 students and 3 of these were subsequently selected by the UNLEASH selection
process to participate in the very first event. Diversity is a key theme in the UNLEASH pro-
ject, so the profile of the selected students was naturally very eclectic. The trajectories of the
UNLEASH chosen students – with backgrounds in physiotherapy, medicine and geography,
were diverse, and their research projects varied from infectious diseases and epidemiology to
environmental health. However, they were all united by one common objective: to contribute
their talents to solving global problems thoughtfully and sustainably.
The themes
The first event was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 13th to 21st of August
2017. From the original 17 SDGs, seven themes were selected for discussion, namely
health, food, education, water, energy, urban sustainability, and sustainable consumption
and production. In preparation for UNLEASH Lab, the selected USP students carried
out a short review of current innovations around the seven selected themes in order to
stimulate discussions and ‘warm up’ for the official event. Some of the thoughts that
emerged from these sessions are summarized below:
Health
Despite the huge progress achieved with the MDGs related to health issues, such
as reduction in the incidence of the big three: HIV, tuberculosis and malaria as well as
huge steps forward in child and maternal mortality, there is still much more to be done.
Globally, infectious diseases continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality. In
2015, there were 10.4 million new cases of tuberculosis and 1.4 million deaths. The global
incidence of malaria was 94 cases per 1,000 persons at risk, but more than double that in
some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In Sub-Saharan Africa only half of all
births are assisted by skilled health staff, compared to almost 90 percent in the developed
world. Other health challenges include substance abuse and Universal Health Coverage.
In 2012, 6% of deaths worldwide (3.3 million) were attributed to alcohol consumption,
predominantly through injuries or non-communicable diseases. Every year, 75 million
people are pushed into extreme poverty (less than $1.90 a day) by out-of-pocket health
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payments, and 12% of those already below this line are driven deeper into poverty (WHO,
2016; WORLD BANK, 2017).
Since the 1960s, health has been understood and discussed not only as disease
prevention and treatment but as an inseparable and interdependent condition strictly
linked to other areas. Almost 40 years ago, the Declaration of Alma Ata in 1978 brought
health equality to the center of discussion and Dahlgren and Whitehead (DAHLGREN;
WHITEHEAD, 1991) presented their diagram to show how health is dependent on many
social determinants and related to other SDG (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Determinants of Health
Source: Dahlgren & Whitehead (DAHLGREN; WHITEHEAD, 1991)
While the MDGs had three out of eight goals focused on health, the SDGs have
one specific goal for health with 13 targets covering: Universal Health Coverage, health
workforce, vaccines and medicines, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adoles-
cent health, infectious diseases, communicable and noncommunicable diseases, mental
health and substance abuse, hazardous chemicals, injuries and violence (WHO, 2015).
Despite this, health is indirectly contemplated in most other SDGs.
In an increasingly globalized world, these problems do not exclusively affect the
poorest regions of the world and cannot be viewed as belonging to single countries.
Borders are ever more permeable, and in order to achieve progress in the health goals,
a joint global effort is mandatory with cooperation and collaboration from other sectors
as well. Some actions are necessary and urgent, and may require a change in paradigms
in order to improve the population’s health and well-being. For instance: reducing social
disparities and inequities, malnutrition, gender inequalities, violence, vulnerability to
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environmental, social and economic disasters, improving educational status and pro-
moting social protection and resilience for the poor. Figure 3 shows the complexity and
interrelationship of all the SDGs. The width of the lines connecting the goals represents
the strength of the links between the targets. In order to tackle one, several others must
be included in the equation to success.
Figure 3. Interrelations between goals and targets of the SDGs.
Source: Adapted from SDG toolkit (“SDG Toolkit”, )
Rasanathan & Diaz (RASANATHAN; DIAZ, 2016) state that, paradoxically, the
recent increase in knowledge about health inequities has not been accompanied by an
improvement in equity. Likewise, there has been no increase in the production of good
quality evidence about interventions and policies that have been shown to reduce health
inequities. This is because the literature has been more focused on relaying the prevalence
of disparities and their pathways rather than finding ways to overcome these barriers and
implement change. One innovative solution might be the use of e-health and mobile
health (m-health) both recently emerging as interesting options to make healthcare more
accessible, efficient, faster and cheaper (GLOBAL DIGITAL HEALTH NETWORK,
2017). These new technologies can connect people to health professionals, improve
remote monitoring, and foster health workforce development, alleviating the pressures
on healthcare services depleted of professionals and infrastructure especially in the most
isolated communities. They can also contribute to diseases and disaster prevention, early
warning, risk reduction and management of local, regional, national and global health risks
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(WHO, 2017). Changes will not come from one source, everyone has to take ownership
and play their part: Governments, universities, private sector and society.
Food
The second goal of the SDGs seeks to address the growing challenge of world hun-
ger, establish food security, improve proper nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
It is estimated that 800 million people are currently hungry in the world (FAO; IFAD;
WFP, 2015). Although this rate has declined in the last decade, current food production
would have to increase by 70% to account for population growth, to feed a staggering
projected population of 9 billion people by 2050 (DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS, 2014).
By this time, 66% of the world population will live in big cities, making food pro-
duction and distribution more challenging. Rapid urbanization and population growth,
particularly in developing countries, are expected to put mounting pressure on the global
food system as agricultural production comes under stress from environmental degrada-
tion, climate change, and extreme weather conditions. And as urbanization accelerates,
so will the triple burden of malnutrition: the coexistence of hunger, undernutrition, and
overnutrition in the form of obesity (INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH
INSTITUTE, 2017). As of today, 2 billion people worldwide are overweight or obese
(UNITED NATIONS, 2015b).
The Global Food Policy Report (INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESE-
ARCH INSTITUTE, 2017) asserts the need for commitment of the world’s leaders to
agree on a common approach for food production. This approach should be integrated
at a local and global level and have clear criteria and indicators to help identify and
prioritize the implementation of policies for good governance. Numerous food produc-
tion projects in urban and peri-urban areas, known as urban agriculture, have been
identified as solutions for food production, distribution, and security (FAO, 2014). An
example of a successful food production project in an urban area can be found in the
work of the NGO Cities Without Hunger, based in the city of São Paulo (CIDADE
SEM FOME, 2015).
Education
It can be argued that the success of the SDGs overall, hinges around the achie-
vement of the education goal, since education targets are not only encapsulated in a
stand-alone goal but also appear in goals on health, growth and employment, sustainable
consumption and production, and climate change among others. Education is a funda-
mental right, yet there are 58 million children still out of school and 781 million adults
are illiterate, two thirds of which are women (UN WOMEN, 2016). The education goal
strongly supports the reduction of persistent disparities by ensuring equal access to all
levels of education and vocational training for all boys and girls, the vulnerable, inclu-
ding persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.
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To fulfil the promise of universal primary and secondary education, new primary school
teachers are needed, with current estimates showing a need for nearly 26 million of them
by 2030 (UNESCO, 2017).
The education goals include seven main targets, encapsulating the need for an
inclusive and equitable access to primary, secondary and tertiary education. Also em-
phasized are the importance of quality and affordable education and the reduction of
illiteracy among adults (ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, 2017).
Education brings innumerous benefits to society. With each year of education,
the risk of conflict in a given population reduces by around 20% and an increase in
secondary education enrollment reduces the risk of war by 3% (COLLIER, 2000;
COLLIER; SAMBANIS, 2005). Not to mention the countless benefits for the indi-
vidual; an additional year in school increases individual earning by up to 10% and
each dollar invested in an additional year of education generates gains and health
benefits equivalent to ten dollars in low-income countries (GEM REPORT, 2011; THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON FINANCING GLOBAL EDUCATION
OPPORTUNITY, 2016). However, disruptive innovations are needed in order to
achieve these targets.
Water
Access to safe drinking water continues to be an issue of concern. According to
the UN, 2.6 billion people have gained access to potable water sources since 1990, but
663 million are still without. It is also estimated that more than 2.4 billion people lack
access to basic sanitation services such as toilets and latrines. Although the proportion
of people without access to water and sanitation has fallen, there is still much to be done
(UNITED NATIONS, 2015b).
Water scarcity not only compromises quality of life but also the consumption of
contaminated water is an important cause of infectious diseases, such as cholera and
cysticercosis. Diarrhea, which among other factors is caused by drinking contaminated
water, is the second largest cause of child death in the world (CAULFIELD et al., 2004).
In many cases, the scarcity and contamination of water sources can be fully or partly
blamed on anthropic actions (WHO, 2008), such as pollution and climate change. It’s also
important to remember that water scarcity is not only restricted to low-income countries.
In fact, more than 40 percent of the global population is affected by water security issues
and this is projected to rise.
Thus, this SDG is not restricted to accessibility to water, sanitation and hygiene but
also refer to diseases transmitted by polluted water and how humans can be an altering
agent of the water cycle (ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, 2017).
There are revolutionary ideas about new ways of obtaining water or getting access to
safe water. For example the use of portable water bottles containing high-tech microbiolo-
gical filters to remove waterborne pathogens (GERBA; NARANJO, 2000; LIFESAVER,
2017) These may provide a solution in disaster relief situations and in areas where water
is available but contaminated.
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Energy
In the words of the UN, energy is a crucial ingredient in achieving almost all
of the SDGs; and was a dominant theme in the discussion of the 2030 Agenda in
Rio+20. Furthermore, in the center of the Climate Change agreement, signed in
Paris in 2015, was the idea of a global energy transition; which saw a big commitment
from the signatory countries particularly in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
However, today there are still 1.1 billion people living without electricity and only
58% of the world’s population has a clean energy source for cooking, the rest being
at risk of intoxication from burning unsafe fuels. In 2015 the total consumption
of renewable energy was just 19.2% (REN21, 2014; UNITED NATIONS, 2015b;
UN, 2016a).
The SDGs concentrate energy goals into three main targets; universal access to
energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Achieving universal access to energy by
providing electricity to those 1.1 billion living without, especially in rural settlements
in developing countries, will improve equity and the health of these populations, as
energy shortages in health facilities are commonplace in these areas. Renewable energies
such as hydropower, solar, wind, biogas, geothermal, marine sources, waste and bio-
fuels have been increasing in the distribution of total energy consumption. However, a
switch-paradigm is still necessary as well as investment and political will to support the
implementation of these energies. Energy efficiency is a matter of investment in infras-
tructure, research and technology to improve the existing network as well as creating
new energy-efficient and environmentally sound technologies (UNITED NATIONS,
2015b; UN, 2016a).
Solutions are appearing slowly but disruptively. For instance, by July 2017,
Costa Rica had already accumulated 160 days of 100% renewable electricity (INS-
TITUTO COSTARRICENSE DE ELECTRICIDAD, 2017). In the US, Burlington
became the first city to run completely on renewable energy (CITY OF BURLING-
TON, 2017) and Denmark has pledged to run entirely on renewable energy by 2050
(DANISH ENERGY AGENCY, 2014). The adoption of renewable energy sources
depends mostly on political will. Finding more reliable, accessible and cheaper ways
to move forward in energy will no doubt be aided by investment in science. Howe-
ver, innovations are crucial to change how we source, store and distribute energy.
In rural communities in the world’s poorest regions the availability of electricity
is still very limited which has huge impacts on education, health, agriculture, econo-
mic growth and ultimately jeopardizes gender equality and sustainable development
(PALIT; BANDYOPADHYAY, 2016). In many of these regions, energy infrastructure
is outdated and improving this would be very expensive.
We need to find alternative ways to reach these populations, for example with
off-grid household or community solutions (PALIT; BANDYOPADHYAY, 2016).
However, improvements in these technologies are essential in order to reduce costs,
make them more reliable and more sustainable.
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Urban sustainability
Currently, about 54.5 percent of the world’s population resides in cities. Of this
amount, one in five individuals live in a city with at least one million inhabitants. Pro-
jections indicate that by 2050, cities will house a total of 6.25 billion individuals, with
developing regions accounting for 90% of citizens (DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS, 2014). These data highlight the urgency of policies, programs
and attitudes to deal with the impacts of accelerated growth, and the need to think about
the development of sustainable cities (NAM; PARDO, 2011).
Against this backdrop, SDG 11 discusses Sustainable Cities and Communities. The
main targets addressed in this goal are related to ensuring access to safe and adequate
housing and promoting access to basic services for the population as a whole. This in-
cludes an adequate transportation system, the preservation of public spaces, prioritizing
green spaces; and guaranteeing safety and access to the community, especially women,
children and the elderly population to all the services available. Special attention is paid
to the deleterious effects of accelerated urbanization processes, such as air, land and water
pollution, with a focus on the destination and treatment of waste.
Another aspect highlighted in the presented objectives is the importance of inte-
grated policies and relevance of social participation in development and implementation
of programs for urban sustainability (UNITED NATIONS, 2015b).
However, as Wachsmuth and colleagues discuss (WACHSMUTH; COHEN; AN-
GELO, 2016), it is important to reflect on the problems that arise if we were to consider
urban sustainability as only being about large centers and most favored populations.
Thus, it is crucial to discuss urban sustainability with social equity in mind, considering
the population demographic, economics, health, and the migratory movements of the
inhabitants.
Several projects are being developed in the perspective of urban sustainability.
Among them, an interesting model to evaluate and implement projects for urban sustaina-
bility: Paris started in 2014 with a proposal to redefine urban spaces using a collaborative
thinking and under support of the citizens. The project is called “Reinventing Paris” and
reinforces the need of social participation to change our cities and communities (REIN-
VENTER PARIS, 2017).
Sustainable consumption and production (SCP)
The definition of SCP has previously been proposed during the Oslo Symposium as
“The use of services and related products, which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality
of life while minimising the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emissions
of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the
needs of future generations” (UNEP, 2010).
In 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20),
a 10-year framework of programmes (10YFP) was proposed to accelerate a shift towards
global sustainable consumption and production. Since then, more than 500 stakeholders
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have engaged in the 10YFP and several programmes have already been initiated throu-
ghout the world (UNEP, 2013).
Sustainable consumption and production is becoming a pivotal issue, as societies
continue to grow in a disordered manner. World resources are finite and more than
ever need to be used efficiently and consciously. With a projected global population
of 9.6 billion people by 2050, it is estimated that we would need the equivalent of
3 planets to provide the resources to maintain our current consumer lifestyles (UN,
2016b).
This goal proposes that societies should adhere to some of the programmes
mentioned above; promoting energy efficiency, sustainable management of natural
resources, and sustainable infrastructure; providing access to basic services, green and
decent jobs and a better quality of life for everyone. The key concepts are “doing more
with less” and reusing where possible. The idea of “lifecycle thinking” has also been
widely discussed and consists of utilizing resources in an eco-friendly manner, reducing
food waste, managing waste production and reducing its impact on the environment,
encouraging recycling and sustainable practices; and at the same time developing
societies and economies into an era of progress and inclusive growth (UNEP, 2010;
UNITED NATIONS, 2015b).
Specific targets include: implementation of 10YFP worldwide, reduction in mate-
rial footprint and domestic material consumption, adequate management of chemicals,
decrease in food waste and increase in national recycling rate, adoption of sustainable
practices by large companies and development of sustainable tourism.
The UNLEASH experience
The first day of the UNLEASH innovation lab saw the participants from 129 coun-
tries gathered bright and early in a huge former train workshop in the city of Copenhagen.
When we entered, there weren’t 1,000 chairs as one might expect, but instead a fluid and
adjustable structure of boxes which served equally to work on and to listen to inspiring
opening speeches. This dynamic and creative set-up gave us a sneak preview of what lay
ahead. The methods that would be used to guide and catalyze the innovation of process
in the seven different SDG themes would not be conventional by any means. These initial
days, where a thousand of us were all bundled together as a group, were overwhelming
yet exhilarating - at every turn, you would have an intellectual and thought-provoking
debate about a number of issues related to the 2030 Agenda. It made you realize you
were part of something really huge and powerful.
For the subsequent days, the talents from each theme were shipped off to their own
Folk High School (traditional Danish liberal schools where you go to learn about ‘life’
for a few months with educational courses). There, the talents were divided into sub-
-themes. The School of Public Health representatives were assigned to health and water.
The health subthemes were: prevention, access, supply chain, disability, mothers and
families and mental health. The water sub-themes were related to access & governance,
purification/treatment & recycling, scarcity, sanitation & hygiene.
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The UNLEASH innovation method (Figure 4) was a dynamic process that involved
moving through five stages (UNLEASH, 2017):
• Problem framing: Using insights to establish a clear-cut problem statement.
• Ideation: Creating a solution to address the problem statement.
• Prototyping: Designing a preliminary model for potential users/customers to
visualize the solution.
• Testing: Testing assumptions and uncertainties and refining the prototype based
on expert and community feedback.
• Implementing: Production, dissemination and marketing of final product or
service to investors and customers.
Figure 4. UNLEASH Innovation Process.
Source: UNLEASH, 2017
During the initial problem framing phase, the participants were encouraged to
brainstorm broadly about problems and ideas related to their sub-theme that had been
brought forward by the talents on the online platform. Subsequently, the participants
were asked to present posters with root causes (in the form of a problem framing tree)
and information about the needs and wants of the target user as well as the existing roa-
dblocks. The problems were voted on by each individual according to what they felt was
most relevant and what they would like to work on. The top problems were then selected
according to number of votes and groups of up to six people were naturally formed. For
the ideation phase, participants were encouraged to draw three alternative solutions to
address the chosen problem statement. In order to select the final idea to work on the
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innovation, viability and impact potential of the idea had to be taken into account. For
the prototyping phase, a solution canvas was used to consolidate key areas such as value
to the user, resources and cost structure, partners, implementation approach, societal
impact, revenue streams (financing) and links to the SDG targets and indicators. The
testing phase helped the groups to validate the ideas and prototypes based on experts
and community feedback. Short- and long-term roadmaps were drawn up by the groups
to plan the implementation including milestones and major anticipated obstacles.
To move between phases every group had to go through a “gate”, based on a
checklist of tasks to be completed and presented in a 3 minute pitch. Suggested acti-
vities for each phase were provided to help groups to fulfill the checklist requirements.
The facilitators and external experts provided continuous feedback to guide the groups
through the innovation process. If at the gates, the panel felt the group wasn’t ready to
move on, they would have to go back to the drawing board. However, despite setbacks
and disappointments, it was incredible how dedicated everyone was, pushing forward
with brave smiles on their faces whilst helping other teams along the way if they could.
The experience of being in the Folk High Schools was simply unforgettable and was the
crucial ingredient in the bonding/innovation process.
The final stage of the innovation lab was held in Aarhus (European Capital of Cul-
ture, 2017) where the 1000 talents gathered once again to present a total of 199 solutions,
initially to peers for the first phase of the selection process, and later to a panel of experts.
By the end of the day, the 14 best solutions (two from each theme) had been selected for
the final event - the ‘Dragon’s Den’. This final phase saw the talents making 3-minute
pitches to a panel of four ‘Dragons’ (investors) who would put the teams through their
paces before committing to invest in the top ideas.
Some innovative ideas that came from the health group were the use of blockchain
technology to improve supply chain traceability and combat counterfeit drugs, the use
of artificial intelligence with machine learning for diagnosis and prevention of colorectal
cancer, the creation of online platforms to translate scientific knowledge into unders-
tandable and actionable information for end users or to foster health care accessibility.
Unsurprisingly, technology was harnessed by many solutions at Unleash. For ins-
tance, in the food theme, an app was proposed to link small farmers with providers and
consumers in order to improve food security and prevent food waste that occurs due
because to the lack of communication between the members of the chain. In the water
theme, an app was designed to prevent household water leaks in urban areas by linking
the individual consumers/residents and the water supply companies, optimizing water
distribution and reducing waste. In the education theme, a platform was proposed to allow
teachers to share micro-innovations in a classroom setting to improve communication
and student achievement. Another solution was to reduce prejudice and discrimination
against refugees using virtual reality to allow the user to actually feel and experience the
real-life journeys that these displaced people have had to endure to arrive where they are.
Several ideas also emerged from a number of themes which provided consumers with a
platform to look up the sustainability profile of various products and companies, therefore
promoting sustainable production and consumption and enhancing transparency.
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Buralli, Canelas, Carvalho, Duim, Itagyba, Fonseca, Oliver and Clemente14 de 20
The entire event was incredibly enriching and inspiring in all aspects, but also ser-
ved as a huge learning experience not only for the participants but also for the organizers
who will use this as a model to help improve future events.
We hope that in the upcoming events, like in this one, sustainable attitudes can
continue to prevail not only for the duration of the event but also in the ongoing efforts
of the participants and organizers, and that this innovation laboratory reflects desirable
actions of our day-to-day lives.
UNLEASH Lab 2017 was a truly unique experience and commendable in its huge
effort to connect such a diverse group of people with different experiences and backgrounds
to achieve real scalable solutions to the SDGs.
Conclusion
The current globalization paradigm presents many problems, while also offering new
opportunities. Complex problems challenge policy makers and society in the modern world
and by observing the web of relationships these challenges present, we can emphasize that
health is a recurring theme and virtually connected to every goal of the 2030 Agenda.
The creation of a global network and platform to join efforts and share innovative
solutions is a way to foster social, economic and environmental sustainable development
and improve health and quality of life. Connecting highly skilled young people with di-
verse backgrounds and areas of expertise to discuss the world’s most pressing problems is
an experiment that can bring huge benefits to mankind. UNLEASH Lab is an example
of this leap of faith and demonstrates how much stronger and effective we can be if we
work on solutions together.
Exchanging successful practices, knowledge, products and technologies through
international and interregional partnerships will help address problems that are difficult
to tackle for countries in isolation. Thus, it is up to the citizens of the world, private
companies, NGOs, policy and decision-makers to take action, remembering that, in the
end, as the world becomes even more interconnected and interdependent, that a more
holistic view can produce better results than individualistic thinking.
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2018;21:e00010
Featured Topics
Abstract: In response to innumerable global challenges in a world ever more complex
and interconnected, including a number of public health challenges, the United Nations
launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; a guideline intended to deal
with these issues. Foreseeing their huge complexity, the UNLEASH initiative was created
with a vision to gather, on a yearly basis until 2030, 1.000 young talents from all over
the world to co-create disruptive solutions for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). The School of Public Health of the University of São Paulo was selected as the
only educational institution partner in South America and was invited to select and send
students to the launching event in Denmark in August 2017. The aim of this study is to
address and reflect on the seven SDGs (health, food, water, energy, urban sustainability,
sustainable consumption and production and education) that were explored in this first
event and relate the students’ experiences of this global innovation lab.
Key-words: Sustainable Development Goals; 2030 Agenda; United Nations.
Resumo: Em resposta a problemas cada vez mais complexos e interconectados, entre os
quais figuram diversos desafios de saúde pública, as Nações Unidas lançaram a Agenda 2030
de Desenvolvimento Sustentável que pretende servir como guia para lidar com essas ques-
tões. Visando abordar a complexidade destes desafios, foi proposta a iniciativa UNLEASH,
um evento que reúne 1.000 jovens talentos de todo o mundo anualmente até 2030 para
encontrar soluções inovadoras aos 17 Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS)
propostos na Agenda 2030. A Faculdade de Saúde Pública da Universidade de São Paulo
foi a única instituição de ensino latino-americana selecionada para enviar estudantes na
primeira edição do evento, realizado na Dinamarca em 2017. O presente artigo tem como
objetivo abordar os sete ODS (saúde, comida, água, energia, sustentabilidade urbana,
consumo sustentável e educação) que foram trabalhados neste primeiro encontro, refletir
sobre os mesmos e relatar a experiência dos pós-graduandos no evento global e inovador
da UNLEASH.
Palavras-chave: Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável; Agenda 2030; Nações Unidas.
Resumen: Como respuesta a los innumerables desafíos globales en un mundo cada vez más
complejo e interconectado, las Naciones Unidas lanzó la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo
Sostenible; como un guía para tratar con estos problemas. Previendo las grandes comple-
Moving towards the sustainable developMent goals:
the unleash innovation lab experience
jidades de estos, la iniciativa UNLEASH, fue creada con la visión de reunir anualmente
1000 jóvenes talentos de todo el mundo hasta 2030 para encontrar soluciones disruptivas
para los 17 Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS). La Facultad de Salud Pública de
la Universidad de São Paulo ha sido elegida como la única institución colaboradora en
América del Sur, y fue invitada a seleccionar y enviar estudiantes para el primer evento en
agosto del 2017 en Dinamarca. El objetivo de este estudio es abordar y reflexionar sobre
los siete ODS (salud, alimentación, agua, energía, sostenibilidad urbana, producción y
consumo responsables, y educación) que fueron explorados en este primer evento, y relatar
las experiencias de los estudiantes sobre este laboratorio de innovación global.
Palabras claves: Objetivos del Desarrollo Sostenible; Agenda 2030; Naciones Unidas.
