UNDP launches Accelerator Lab in India to work on tackling pollution

News:The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched its Accelerator Lab in India.

Facts:

About UNDP’s Accelerator lab:

• The Accelerator Lab is an innovative initiative by the UNDP, Qatar Government and the Federal Republic of Germany to find 21st century solutions to today’s complex new challenges.
• These labs seeks to identify grassroots solutions together with local actors and validate their potential to accelerate development.

Key approaches of Accelerator Lab:The four key approaches sit at the core of the Labs’ work are:

• Building on locally-sourced solutions, finding things that work and expanding on them
• Rapid testing and iteration to implement what works and go beyond the obvious solutions
• Combining the best understanding, ideas and expertise to generate collective knowledge
• Accelerating progress by bringing expertise, creativity and collective intelligence to bear.

About Accelerator Lab in India:

• The lab has been launched by UNDP in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission and will look to solve issues through innovative solutions.
• It will seek to address some of the most pressing issues facing India, such as air pollution, sustainable water management and client-resilient livelihoods through innovation.
• The vision is also to make faster progress in meeting the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations(UN) by 2030.
• India’s Accelerator Lab will be part of a network of 60 global labs covering 78 nations that will test and scale new solutions to global challenges like climate change and inequality.

Additional information:

About UNDP:

• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network.
• UNDP was established in 1965 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.It is headquartered in New York,US.
• It provides expert advice, training and grants support to developing countries, with increasing emphasis on assistance to the least developed countries.
• UNDP is central to the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG).
• UN SDG is a network that spans 165 countries and unites the 40 UN funds, programmes, specialized agencies and other bodies working to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

About Atal innovation mission:

• The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) was set up by NITI Aayog in 2016.
• It aims to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
• It seeks to create institutions and programs that enhance innovation in schools, colleges, and entrepreneurs in general.