# Foreword

Milk thistle (locally known as Cardo Mariano) flowering in the highlands of Lloa, where the Accelerator Lab Ecuador worked with traditional herbalists to get recognition for their role in protecting ecological and cultural heritage.

Just one year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was already preparing for a major transformation: the global launch of its Accelerator Labs Network. In an unprecedented human resources effort, the organization set out to inoculate itself with a new generation of talent, capable of injecting dynamism into its global expert community and the countries it serves. Our mission: to explore fresh approaches to understanding and practicing development in collective, locally grounded ways. After a rigorous selection process, we embraced the responsibility of pioneering new ways of working within UNDP. We made space for learning through experimentation and welcomed trial and error as a valid path toward progress. As former UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner envisioned: “Let a thousand flowers bloom.” We were seeded into the fertile ground of UNDP’s deep knowledge and expertise. And grow we did, both personally and professionally, as we met wicked problems with agility and curiosity. Along the way, we sought not only to deliver solutions but also to spark change within our teams, across Country Offices, throughout the Labs Network, and in the communities we served. We joined UNDP to innovate inclusively, committed to “leaving no one behind.” But in the process, we discovered that true inclusion is not only about ensuring no one is left out; it is about “bringing everyone forward.” We learned to challenge hierarchies when needed, to foster collective learning and to offer not just methodologies but a mindset capable of catalyzing change, shaping action and nurturing engagement, by restoring value to “the other.” We had the privilege of co-creating spaces of opportunity, consensus and progress, always learning from the true experts: those on the front lines of the challenges we sought to address. Peaceful coexistence. Gender equality. Poverty eradication. Climate justice. Forest and biodiversity protection. The scale of the challenges facing humanity can be overwhelming, triggering fear, polarization and isolation. Yet through our shared practice, we learned that it is possible to face serious challenges with creativity, playfulness and joy. Love, care and optimism may never appear in any project’s “Terms of Reference,” but they are unmistakably present in the daily work of the innovators we had the honor to meet. They are the active forces behind this guide and the inspiration that carries it forward. This guide is for you, who connects and mobilizes your community. You, who walks step by step, doing what needs to be done without hesitation. You, who helps life take root and flourish, leaving each place better than you found it. It is for you, who does not focus solely on how far there is to go, but honors the distance already traveled – by yourself and by others. It is for you, changemaker, who holds the deep conviction that a better life for all is possible, and who knows that getting there means to keep walking together. *From the bloom of a thousand flowers, let new seeds be sown.* {% hint style="info" %} Words by Gabriel Lama Oliart (Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Accelerator Lab Perú), inspired by the people, practices and spirit of the UNDP Accelerator Labs community. Photo by Paulina Jiménez (Head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Accelerator Lab Ecuador). {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://bas-leurss-personal-organization.gitbook.io/undp-accelerator-labs/foreword.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.