March 2012: The Rio+20 Issues Cluster on Innovation has published the March 2012 Informal Rio+20 Issues Brief on Innovation, titled “Innovation for Sustainable Development,” which highlights innovation as a horizontal thematic priority for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

The publication is an informal/unofficial issues brief produced by the Rio+20 Issues Cluster on Innovation, which aims to contribute to the Rio+20 preparatory process by including innovative civil society perspectives and also by inspiring new thinking about the potentials of innovation.

The issues brief includes articles on: scales of innovation and dynamic sustainable development; global change/grand challenges and innovation systems; the “complexity gap” and the danger of x-events; broadening of the innovation paradigm; paradigms, behavior, norms and values of societies; innovation in Agenda 21; changes in innovation systems terms since 1992; innovation and the Rio+20 preparatory process; and linking Rio+20 outcomes with other UN innovation efforts.

The issues brief underlines the importance of innovation, including as a precondition for an effective institutional framework for sustainable development (IFSD) for all the Rio+20 thematic priorities. It also outlines some good practice examples of the perspectives and activities on innovation by Major Groups and innovation cluster members. It highlights the “15/15/15 UN Civil Society Resource Mobilization Partnership Formula” proposal for the design of a UN-led global innovation system for sustainable development, to the effect that at Rio+20, global civil society should commit to mobilize €15 billion and 15 million volunteers by 2015 for UN-led sustainable development efforts. [Publication: Informal Rio+2o Issues Brief on Innovation]