Host a Session on-site at the IFRC Global Innovation Summit 2023

The IFRC Global Innovation Summit will be an immersive journey bringing together changemakers, cutting edge thinkers and innovators from all over the world. The Summit will investigate the changes we need to make in our Nationals Societies and our network to be more fit for present and future challenges, and the role that innovation plays in helping us achieve that. The aim is to focus on change and transformation of not just what we do, but how we do it and to dive in deeply to some key initiatives happening around the network and co-create new ones. 

We’d like to invite National Societies, Reference Centres, Global Technical Teams and other IFRC network groups who are thinking about new approaches, innovation, exploring changes in the world, and/or how to rethink different parts of our work, to join us and to host a session at the Summit, on site, in Nairobi from June 26th to 28th, 2023.

A Little Extra About The Summit

• The summit will be attended by staff, volunteers and leaders from National Societies all over the world as well as IFRC staff and special external guests. We estimate 200 participants attending who are driving new ways of working, innovation and transformation within their own programs or National Societies.
• The Summit will be a dynamic, relaxed and open environment where our global network can come together and learn about the work of others, discuss new ideas with their peers and plan for the future. 
• There will be networking and collaboration sessions to help RCRC innovators and changemakers build new connections with like-minded people before diving into the technical sessions. Including a unique game held in a National park in Nairobi.
• The Summit’s content will draw inspiration from the 5 Global Challenges and 7 Transformations identified in Strategy 2030 by the network of National Societies.  Specific streams will be developed to help address these and explore the role innovation can have in helping to achieve these.

Why Host a Session

By hosting a session at the Summit you will be able to;

• Engage with innovative change makers across the network to share inspiring ideas, experiences, insights and to learn from one another. The Summit will be structured so that participants have opportunities to interface with the wider community either in open sessions, dedicated networking and collaboration spaces and overall incidental engagement through informal activities within the Summit.
• The Summit will have a safe and constructive environment specifically designed for open thinking, innovation and creative processes. The summit will have a physical and cultural design specifically crafted to help people relax, create, think and connect.
• Attend other sessions, led by other thematic teams and NSs that are exploring change, the future and innovation to be inspired and get new ideas and insights.
• Establish open elements of your session where innovators and change makers are invited to engage with you, help you brainstorm, provide feedback on your ideas and jointly develop new concepts.
• In-country logistics will be handled by Kenya Red Cross Society, organisation of meeting rooms and conference facilities, accommodation bookings in their BOMA hotels, social activities and creative regional catering for all meals. 
• If desired, IFRC Solferino Academy will conduct creative communications initiatives (targeting the wider IFRC network of National Societies)  about your work and the outcomes you are seeking at the Summit to promote wider engagement in your agenda.

Hosting a Session

There will be numerous leaders, experts and practitioners who will be holding sessions within the Summit and we encourage you to consider doing the same. These sessions ideally will have the following characteristics;

Content

• Hosts are open to choosing their own topic of discussion as long as there is a strong link to at least one of the 5 Challenges and/or 7 Transformations of Strategy 2030 
• We also encourage session hosts to reflect on; the role that leadership(at all levels) plays in driving change and innovation; to explore how your project or initiative addresses shifting trends and the future of the world or your society; and the innovation journey your project/initiative has gone on and what you have learnt from it.
• We are particularly interested in exploring how your innovative work contributes to organisational transformation and what lessons others can take from your experience. Remember at this Summit we really want to understand better the role that innovation can and already plays in driving change in our IFRC network.

Format

• As a session host, you should incorporate innovative methodologies, we don’t want to see a mass fatality by PowerPoint or overly long speeches where people turn to their phones for distraction. 
• Interactivity within the sessions is strongly encouraged – try to incorporate a variety of formats of interactions to allow participants to apply the new concepts they learn in a fun and interactive way.  
• The outcomes and purpose of the sessions is to provide creative spaces to share, learn and grow by showing what is currently happening around the network. 
• In the case that you want to discuss the same topic as another individual/organisation/team, you can opt to co-host a session/ joint panel. (We can also connect those with similar topics if you desire).
• You can opt for any format you wish: presentations, workshops, pitching and feedback sessions, in-depth case studies, trainings, co-creation workshops, hackathons, games, cooking shows, demonstrations and much more. You are only limited by your imagination.
• The maximum length of a session is two hours (120 minutes).

Special Additional Session

In addition to choosing your own creative format and registering your session ahead of time we will also have more casual and spontaneous opportunities at the Summit where you can discuss your work or ideas with Summit goers. These include;

• Open Space sessions where participants can nominate a topic they wish to discuss and participants spontaneously collect to discuss it with you if they are interested
• Pitch and Feedback Sessions where you can put our name down during the summit to pitch an idea you have for a project and receive feedback and contributions on it from Summit goers
• There will be an online community connected to the conference and during the Summit, you will be able to pose questions, challenges and ideas to them if you wish and draw in their contributions.

We will try to give everyone a chance to discuss their work if they wish, however if demand is high for registered sessions we will need to choose who can be given a session.  In these instances sessions that are closely aligned to the core Summit themes and creativity of the design of the session along with diversity of insights and experiences will be considered in our decision.

If you are ready to organise your session at the Global Innovation Summit 2023, please complete this form and we will get back to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check out our FAQ

Register your Session

Please fill out this form if you want to host a session at the Global Innovation Summit in person in Nairobi from June 26th to 28th, 2023. Only fill out this form if you have already secured funding to attend the Summit. Information about fully funded scholarships to attend the Summit will be released very soon. Stay tuned for more details to come.