Press Release

Launch of the Cambodia Futures Lab

09 December 2021

Phnom Penh, 9 December 2021 - The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation and the United Nations Cambodia launched on 6 & 7 December the Cambodia Futures Lab in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Service, Royal School of Administration, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Khmer Enterprise, the Ministry of Commerce, National Council on Social Protection, in partnership with the MIT/Presencing Institute and the United in Diversity Foundation Indonesia.

Cambodia Futures Lab is introducing a 6-month learning initiative to co-create pathways for a prosperous, inclusive and innovative Cambodia to bring stakeholders from government, private sector and civil society and the UN to rethink how cross-sectoral issues of social protection, climate change and digital transformation can be taken into consideration in policy solutions.

How can diverse stakeholders reimagine together more sustainable futures? How can leadership, innovation and learning help reshape Cambodia’s development pathways to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?

“To ensure that our policies reach the farthest and the most marginalized, our responses should be collectively designed and driven by government, business, civil society and development partners. Our first step is Cambodia Futures Lab to promote policy integration, especially in social protection and ensure no one is left behind.” said His Excellency, Boros Samheng, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation.

“We commit to multilateralism in the 21st century, where the UN can provide a platform, such as the Cambodia Futures Lab, to facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration, nurture innovation and generate solutions necessary to accelerate achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development," said Pauline Tamesis, the UN Resident Coordinator in Cambodia

The opening remarks included a presentation by Prof. Otto Scharmer from MIT/Presencing Institute, the author of the “Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges”, the concept is known to describe the fundamental mindset shift from ego to eco and from siloed to networked institutions to address the complex challenges of sustainable development. Participants discussed the key elements of systems thinking, collective intention building and systems sensing exercises as a cornerstone for advancing sustainable development in Cambodia.

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