Our Challenge and Ambition

At a time when dominant sustainability narratives often fall short, trapped in cycles of crisis and techno-solutionism, the Beyond Lab at UN Geneva aims to (re)claim and (re)frame the conversation. The Lab believes that genuine, long-term sustainability requires a dramatic shift in mindsets and in narratives: from short-term fixes linked to political terms and extractive economic practices to long-term, systemic transformation informed by evidence grounded in constructive hope.

Rooted in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reaching towards a post2030 vision - what the Lab calls the “Beyonds” - our work challenges dystopian trajectories with the following key questions:

  • How can we advance narratives that champions thriving and alternative, hopefulfutures where people, nature, and planet coexist in balance?
  • How can we shape new narratives tales and channels of communications that seek to resonate across diverse stakeholders and actors – from boardrooms to communities?
  • How can we collectively influence systems by influencing words and stories?

The Lab is answering these questions through the Beyond Action Platform!

Our Solution

The Beyond Action Platform is a bold new space where storytelling drives the future of sustainability. The platform brings together three powerful storytelling and engagement tools – the Beyond Magazine, the Beyond Podcast, and the Beyonds Challenge – into a single, inclusive and participatory digital space. The platform amplifies diverse voices across generations, geographies, and disciplines, from students and activists to policy experts and artists. Through thought-provoking articles, in-depth podcast interviews with changemakers, and participatory challenges that invite collective reflection and action, the platform seeks to inspire, inform, and connect individuals who are shaping the future of sustainability. As a dynamic hub for inclusive and imaginative policy engagement, the Beyond Action Platform enables new narratives and fresh perspectives to influence long-term sustainability conversations and policies beyond 2030.

  • The Beyond Magazine: The Beyond Magazine is a biannual publication by the Beyond Lab and its partners aimed at making narratives and methods to build a sustainable world clear, engaging, and accessible to everyone. Through the different articles within the magazine, big ideas are broken down, jargon is challenged, and real stories of change are brought to the forefront. Ultimately, complexity becomes clarity, because the future belongs to everyone.
  • The Beyond Talks Podcast: The Beyond Talks podcast series inspires listeners to take action for the change they want to see in the world by featuring each month conversations with individuals who are making a difference—whether through activism, art, or everyday actions. Within the podcast episode, guests share their personal stories, perspectives, and how they’re working to advance brave, bold, and hopeful narratives beyond just simple words but through concrete actions. The podcast has already featured impactful conversations with renowned anti-apartheid and human rights activists; award winning photojournalists; multidisciplinary artists exploring identity, culture, and collective experiences through performance, visual art, and storytelling; and youth activists challenging racism and gender stereotypes. More exciting Changemakers are on the horizon!
  • The Beyonds Challenge: The Beyonds Challenge is an initiative designed to mobilize unconventional, innovative, and collective knowledge on key concepts shaping the future of sustainable development (the “Beyonds”), through a cross-disciplinary, cross-geographical, and cross-generational call for inputs. Through the Beyonds Challenge, the Beyond Lab at UN Geneva, together with its partners, is encouraging the public to provide personal interpretations and definitions to four key elements defining what a sustainable, socially owned, and aware future should look like through the means of traditional essays, short movies, artistic performances, policy proposals, clothing lines, and more. These four elements, which emerged from hosts of multi-stakeholder consultations conducted by the Lab, are: Regeneration; Constructive Hope; Debt to the future; and the Great Unknowns.