C3 - Collaboration for Complex Challenges

Collaboration for
Complex Challenges

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OUR VISION
We’re facing crises that don’t respect boundaries - food insecurity, climate disruption, biodiversity collapse, geopolitical cascading effects. Yet most responses still happen in silos.
C3 Labs is a global initiative designed to bring people, knowledge and prototypes together across systems. We convene leaders, practitioners and communities through a shared commitment to systemic collaboration, cross-sector innovation and locally-rooted solutions.
C3 stands for Collaborations for Complex Challenges.
The future is collaborative.
JOIN THE MISSION
We believe systems don’t change unless the way we work together does.
The C3 vision is simple but radical: create the conditions for meaningful collaboration across sectors, institutions and geographies - so we can respond to today’s complex challenges with shared intelligence, not siloed solutions.
Our approach is grounded, adaptive and human-first. Through our Labs, Fellowship and vision for the C3 Labs Space digital platform, we’re creating a living ecosystem of systems leadership and institutional transformation.
C3 Labs
In 2025 we are launching the first round of country C3 Labs in Kenya and Thailand. The focus of the Labs will be on strengthening collaboration for complex challenges — starting with the food-biodiversity-climate nexus. Future labs will be in other geographies and can include other critical nexus themes.
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C3 Fellows Space
As C3 Fellows immerse themselves in their C3 Lab, they’re also welcomed into the C3 Fellows Space. A digital platform designed to keep them connected and engaged. Running in parallel, the C3 Fellows Space acts as a living hub for shared learning, where insights, questions, and approaches can ripple out into a wider global community of practice. It’s a space for exploring what it really takes to do deep collaboration.
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C3 Space
(coming soon)
A future extension of the C3 Fellows space, the C3 Space is the next evolution of collaboration.
It’s an open-source, global, digital platform designed for people working on the frontlines of complex social and environmental challenges. Whether you’re prototyping policy reform, designing food systems solutions, or trying to shift culture inside your organisation, the C3 Space gives you the tools, community and intelligence to move faster, together.
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The C3 Approach
During 2025 we are developing a Fellowship and Collaboration Labs initiative R+D prototype designed to:
Build Systems Leadership
Every Lab begins with people. We select a diverse cohort of C3 Fellows - leaders who can navigate complexity and drive more inclusive, collaborative approaches within their institutions and communities.
Strengthen Collaboration

We surface what's already happening and connect the dots. Labs identify opportunities to align existing efforts, incubate cross-sector partnerships and co-design initiatives that respond to systemic challenges.
Cultivate Community
We don’t just build networks - we build relationships. Trust, mutual respect and shared purpose are at the core of the C3 experience. The community continues long after the Lab ends, forming the backbone of the C3 ecosystem.
Transform Institutions
Fellows return to their organisations equipped to shift culture, rewire systems, and influence planning and funding practices. The result? Institutions are better able to respond to the real world’s complexity and sustain change.
How to Get Involved

We are building a coalition of partners to convene and facilitate collaboration labs and to expand the C3 Fellowship and platform. There are many ways to get involved: from participation at the individual level, to partnership and collaboration at the organizational and institutional level.

Our collaboration methodology can be adapted to addresss diverse issues and contexts. We welcome conversations with governments, development organisations, academic and research institutions, civil society organisations, the private sector, and funders.

If you'd like to explore collaboration opportunities, please reach out to the core C3 Labs team, facilitated through the United Nations Development Program Global Food Systems - Collaboration and Innovation Team.
You can contact Courtney Savie Lawrence, Nicolas Petit, Charles O'Malley

We are a multi-partner collective led by UNDP,  FAO, UNEP and Wageningen Social and Economic Research Center. Seed funding is provided by the Global Environment Facility. The founding coalition of partners for C3 includes UNDP (led by the Global UNDP Food Systems Team of the UNDP Nature Hub), Wageningen Social & Economic Research, FAO and UNEP. This visual presentation is for learning and information purposes only.
C3 Labs Comms & Brand World created by C3 Creatives in Residence Sophie Rucker & Max Lilley (c) 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Collaboration for Complex Challenges

OUR VISION

JOIN THE MISSION

C3 Labs

C3 Fellows Space

C3 Space

The C3 Approach

During 2025 we are developing a Fellowship and Collaboration Labs initiative R+D prototype designed to:

Build Systems Leadership

Strengthen Collaboration

Cultivate Community

Transform Institutions

How to Get Involved

We are building a coalition of partners to convene and facilitate collaboration labs and to expand the C3 Fellowship and platform. There are many ways to get involved: from participation at the individual level, to partnership and collaboration at the organizational and institutional level.

Our collaboration methodology can be adapted to addresss diverse issues and contexts. We welcome conversations with governments, development organisations, academic and research institutions, civil society organisations, the private sector, and funders.

If you'd like to explore collaboration opportunities, please reach out to the core C3 Labs team, facilitated through the United Nations Development Program Global Food Systems - Collaboration and Innovation Team.

You can contact Courtney Savie Lawrence, Nicolas Petit, Charles O'Malley

Collaboration for
Complex Challenges