UNDP, in a partnership with the Research Institute of the Belarusian Ministry of the Economy and the technical assistance of Edgeryders, hosted an experimental collaborative session on the National Strategy for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development. The session took the form of a one-day workshop, held on Monday, 17th of November, 2014. UNDP explicitly targeted the social innovation community, and ensured maximal inclusion of different societal groups, while at the same time leaving ample scope for citizens from all walks of life to invite themselves: about 40 people attended the presentations of the national strategy and took part in the associated idea generation and response sessions. They represent a broad cross section of the social innovation community in Belarus, working on social innovation, inclusion, environmental protection, health issues, digital literacy, sustainable mobility, startups, social and familial cohesion. Beneficiaries of the different policies and services were also included in the workshop.
The outcome of the workshop, summarized in a position paper, was well received, and later on UNDP received an official letter from the Ministry confirming that most of our suggestions were actually incorporated in the NSSSED. We have not been authorized to publish this letter, but you can ask for more information to the UNDP Country Office in Belarus.
From this page you can download the position paper summarizing the results of the workshop, with the recommendations made to the Belarusian government, in English.