Rethinking Human Development a finalist in prestigious web awards – vote now

The ISC and UNDP project on Rethinking Human Development has been chosen as a finalist in the Lovie Awards, celebrating the “best of the web” and named in honour of Ada Lovelace, a British scientist credited as being the first computer programmer. Now in its eleventh year, The Lovie Awards continue to celebrate stories, podcasts, video and multimedia content on the web.

Conversations in Rethinking Human Development is a finalist in the category “Websites – Website Craft Best Writing – Editorial”, and voting is now open to the general public.

The Rethinking Human Development project aimed to rearticulate Human Development for the 21st century by initiating a global discussion, gathering voices from across the world to answer some of the following questions:

• How could we rethink our conceptual understanding of human development?
• What are the major emerging challenges to human centred development in the world today?
• How can the human development approach inform public debates and decision makers about current and future challenges?
• What would be a meaningful and useful definition of human development – for our changing world?

We wanted to test the look and feel of ISC products in terms of a compelling storytelling narrative, that drives our members and our community to take action. For Conversations in Rethinking Human Development, we reached out to experts in this field to start a global conversation as part of the thirty-year celebrations of the Human Development Report. To honour the thought-provoking content, we tasked ourselves in making an engaging, multimedia user experience for academics, policy makers and the general public alike. We are delighted to be recognized as a finalist in these prestigious awards.

Alison Meston, Director of Communications, International Science Council

Find out more about the ISC’s nomination:

About the Project

It has been 30 years since the first Human Development Report was published in 1990. Since that time, our world has changed considerably. Current and impending crises in ecological, health, political, and economic systems have become evident. Fundamental shifts are taking place in how we understand ourselves and our connections to local and global societies and our planet in the light of new technologies, socio-political realities and deep environmental changes.

Rethinking human development is not a one-off exercise. It is a continuing process requiring dialogue, a journey towards new understandings that hears a wide diversity of voices from the natural and social sciences, humanities, decision-makers and wider public. This spotlight synthesizes inputs reflecting multiple perspectives on nine topics.

Human Development Report 2020, p. 112

Experts were gathered from around the world to re-articulate what Human Development means for the 21st century. A report, Conversations on Rethinking Human Development was launched in 2020.

The project steering group synthesized the insights from the interviews and commentaries of the experts to present an initial framing towards a rethinking of human development through a set of nine interconnected directions.

Read about the nine directions, and the interviews and commentaries of the experts: