What is a C3 Lab?
WHERE COLLABORATION GETS TESTED
C3 Labs are live, experimental spaces where collaboration isn’t just talked about, it’s practiced and prototyped.
Each Lab brings together systems change leaders from across institutions, sectors, and perspectives to tackle complex challenges at their roots.
From climate to food to biodiversity, our approach goes beyond silver bullet solutions and technical fixes.
We work on the messy stuff: broken relationships, misaligned incentives and rigid systems that resist change.
What Happens in a Lab?
Most Labs runs over 12 months and include:
A curated cohort of 30 Fellows who are systems aligned, and in positions of significant leadership, from government, the private sector, development practitioners, civil society and academia.
Systems retreats, peer learning and coaching.
Cross-sector teams explore collaboration and partnership synergies, often leading to the design and implementation of real-world prototypes, scale and acceleration of a portfolio of systems change oriented solutions.
Support from facilitators, researchers, and policy advisors.
Types of Lab
C3 Labs happen at different scales, are demand drivem, and they all share a common DNA focused on deep collaboration.
City Labs
Urban-focused labs working at the intersection of local governance, infrastructure, and community innovation.
Country Labs
National-level collaborations focused on deeply embedded systems challenges that hold a complex nexus issue at heart.
Regional Labs
Cross-country or thematic collaborations across shared ecological, landscape or geopolitical contexts.
Global Labs
Reflective, synthesis-driven spaces that connect learning across all other Labs or producing solution sets through a curated set of fellows.
WHY IT MATTERS
C3 Labs are designed to change how change happens by working across the inner (mindsets), the relational (partnerships), and the structural (systems).
- It's not a workshop series
- It's not a sioled pilot
- It's not a one off training
It’s where institutional transformation begins.
Get Involved
Whether you're a policy actor, practitioner, or potential host, find out how you can bring a C3 Lab to your country, city or region.
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.