With the rapidly changing world we live in, the need for responsive and adaptive National Societies has never been greater.

At the IFRC Global Innovation Summit, we will bring together changemakers, thought leaders, and experts from around the world to share inspiring ideas, experiences, and insights. This immersive experience will allow us to investigate the changes we need to make to be more fit for present and future challenges, and the role that innovation plays.

Who Should Attend

The working language of the Summit is English. Some sessions may be held in another language, with English interpretation.

The summit is open to anyone, specifically:

• Innovation professionals within the network responsible for building innovation within their organisation
• Those responsible for leading change and organisational development and transformation efforts within National Societies
• Thematic leads/management who are interested in innovation and rethinking their work
• Leadership at all levels
• Staff and volunteers implementing innovative programs or looking for new approaches to their work.

What to expect

The IFRC Global Innovation Summit will help you stay up-to-date and relevant in today’s rapidly evolving world!

• We want to connect you with other innovators and changemakers, so you can build sustainable networks for the future.
• We’ll explore what helps innovation and change thrive in your organisation and how you can enable these conditions.
• We’ll investigate the challenges and barriers you face in driving more innovation and change, and we’ll explore potential strategies to address them.
• We’ll share best practices within thematic innovations, such as Digital and Data, Volunteering, innovative financing, strategic foresight, entrepreneurship, youth-led action and much more, so you can accelerate change in these areas.
• We’ll celebrate your successes and build momentum for the change agenda across the network.

A Unique Experience

Get ready for an experience like no other at the Global Innovation Summit! Our team is working closely with Solferino Academy alumni and innovation leaders from National Societies to create an unforgettable event that inspires, helps you learn, has unusual experiences and creative opportunities to discuss and think through new approaches to your work. 

But that’s not all — we know that too often conferences/summits are jam packed with meetings and presentations and not enough time to just talk with others attending, (how often have you thought the coffee breaks were the best part of the meeting?!), so we have a lineup of fun activities that will help you connect with your peers from around the world in a creative and relaxed environment. 

Join us for a one-of-a-kind festival experience that we hope will help you come back to your work with fresh ideas and new exciting connections!

What Types of Sessions Can I Expect to See at the Summit?

• Keynotes and talks on leadership, negotiation, behaviour change, surprising innovators, methodologies and tools, case studies, and personal experiences;
• Interactive deep dive workshops led by National Societies and external experts;
• Peer idea and creation spaces for designing/prototyping, innovation demos, and mentoring;
• Games, experiential design sessions, pitching sessions
• Specific tracks for thematic areas.
• And much more

Additional programmes:

In addition to the core Summit program the below opportunities are being held before and after the Summit available to all those attending:

• 24th — 25th June: Innovation and  Strategic Foresight Masterclass Workshops. Limited positions available by application only. Stay tuned for more.
• 29th — 30th June: Visit to Lamu (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) and the Kenya Red Cross Society Innovation Lab. Limited positions available, stay tuned for more.

Host your own session or meeting at the Summit

Help us shape the Global Innovation Summit!

• We would 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 their own meeting at the Summit. Check our guide if you are considering hosting a meeting at the Summit.

• Participants will also be able to apply to host specific sessions at the Summit. Get ready to come and share your experience in keynotes, talks, deep dive workshops, demo’s, trainings and more… These are different to hosting a meeting in that they are shorter (between 10-120 minutes) and are open to all attending the summit. There will be a variety of these sessions ranging from new initiatives, collaborative design and in-depth learning. Start thinking about your session; more info will come soon.

Want to Attend the Summit?

We will be releasing details soon on how to register.

Agenda

The agenda will be released in the coming weeks and continually updated as we get closer. The sessions will be linked to the 5 Global Challenges and the 7 Transformations of the IFRC Strategy 2030.

We will keep you posted!