UNDP's Istanbul Innovation Days 2025: Reimagining Institutions for a Changing World

Kicking off the event, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner will deliver opening remarks alongside H.E. Mrs. Berris Ekinci, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is setting the stage for bold, forward-looking thinking as the highly anticipated Istanbul Innovation Days (IID) 2025 kicks off today in Türkiye’s vibrant cultural and political hub. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, IID 2025 is not just a milestone – it is a call to action to reimagine the future of public institutions in an increasingly uncertain and fast-evolving global landscape.

Launched in 2015 as a collaborative initiative between UNDP and the Government of Türkiye, IID has grown into a global platform for experimentation, dialogue, and partnership-building. Over the next two days, more than 250 leading thinkers, policymakers, researchers, civil society leaders, innovators, and private sector trailblazers from 78 countries across five continents will converge in Istanbul to explore how institutions can adapt to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Rethinking Governance in an Age of Complexity

The core theme of this year’s event is institutional innovation – a timely and urgent focus as the world grapples with interconnected challenges including climate change, the rise of artificial intelligence, growing social and economic inequalities, and global governance gaps.

UNDP is positioning institutional innovation not as a luxury, but as a necessity. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated in 2023, "We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions don't reflect the world as it is." Today’s institutions, many designed for past centuries, are increasingly struggling to respond to a rapidly transforming global environment.

IID 2025 aims to flip this narrative – to view these institutional shortcomings not as failures, but as opportunities for deep transformation. By fostering adaptive, inclusive, and future-ready institutions, UNDP believes we can build a world that is more just, resilient, and capable of tackling complex, fast-moving challenges.

A Dynamic Global Platform for Innovation and Collaboration

Kicking off the event, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner will deliver opening remarks alongside H.E. Mrs. Berris Ekinci, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye. Their opening speeches are expected to frame the significance of institutional transformation as a shared global mission and emphasize Türkiye’s long-standing partnership with UNDP in driving innovation.

Over the course of the two-day event, IID 2025 will feature a diverse array of sessions including:

• Plenary dialogues with global leaders on the future of governance

• Hands-on workshops for prototyping institutional models

• Interactive panels and roundtables exploring real-world experiments in governance reform

• Networking labs to catalyze new cross-sector collaborations

The event is designed not only as a forum for discussion but also as a space for real-time innovation. Participants will explore tools, methodologies, and frameworks to build institutions that are more responsive, transparent, and capable of learning.

Scaling Real-World Impact

IID 2025 also serves as a launchpad for scaling some of UNDP’s most promising institutional innovation efforts already underway in various countries. These include:

• Digital transformation of public services to improve accessibility and efficiency

• Futures thinking and anticipatory governance for better decision-making in uncertain times

• Climate-resilient policy design to protect the most vulnerable communities

• Alternative economic models that prioritize social well-being over GDP growth

By showcasing successful case studies and surfacing grassroots innovations, IID 2025 emphasizes that institutional transformation is not just the domain of elites or central governments. Change can – and must – happen at all levels of society.

Building Institutions That Can Thrive in Uncertainty

As the world faces compounding crises and escalating complexity, UNDP’s message through IID 2025 is clear: Institutions must become living systems – adaptive, inclusive, and constantly learning. The old models of static governance are no longer sufficient.

With this in mind, IID 2025 is more than just an event; it is a bold experiment in co-creation, knowledge exchange, and systems-level change. By bringing together changemakers from across the globe, UNDP is investing in the collective intelligence and collaborative energy needed to reimagine governance for a better future.

As the world looks toward the next decade, the Istanbul Innovation Days offer a powerful reminder that innovation is not just about technology – it is about people, processes, and the political will to build institutions that reflect and serve the world as it truly is.