MATERIALITY at SDG Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals.

The second workshop convention, held in April, focused on the Define - challenge identification stage, crucial for setting the right direction for further work. Teams looked at their businesses through the lens of breakthrough impact characteristics, analyzing where change of greatest significance is realistically possible. Participants deepened their understanding of the challenges by mapping target audiences and key stakeholders, then translating these observations into a precisely formulated „How might we?” question, linking audience needs, desired outcome and chosen approach. The work also resulted in setting a scale of ambition for the SDG Business Challenge - one that, on the one hand, remains grounded in business realities and, on the other, opens up space for innovation with real, positive impact.

The third phase of the work

The third session, held on May 29, opened with an inspiring presentation by Kamil Wyszkowski, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network Poland, on the role of partnerships, the importance of the SDGs, and collaboration with the business sector in creating innovative solutions. Participants then moved on to the key part of the workshop—the solution development and prototyping phase. This marked the transition from a well-defined challenge to concrete concepts with the potential for real impact. The teams worked on developing their ideas, giving them a more operational shape, and exploring how they could simultaneously address business needs and the challenges posed by the Sustainable Development Goals. It was at this stage that the ideas began to take shape, allowing us to consider them not only conceptually but also in terms of implementation.

The fourth and final phase of the work

The final meeting focused on testing, validating, and preparing the solutions for implementation. This was a time to refine the prototypes, verify the assumptions made, and assess the impact the proposed solutions might have in practice. An important element of this part of the program was the group presentations, during which teams could showcase the results of their many months of work and consider them in light of future development. The Accelerator culminated in a closing ceremony, the presentation of certificates, and a joint review of the journey the participants had undertaken: from identifying the challenge to developing solutions ready for further action.

Acknowledgments

Participating in SDGI was both an intensive development process and a valuable experience for our team in collaborating at the intersection of business, innovation, and sustainable development. We would like to thank the organizers, facilitators, experts, and all program participants for their inspiration, the exchange of knowledge, and our joint efforts to build solutions that have the potential to bring about real change. We would also like to extend special thanks to our team of innovators for their commitment, openness, and consistency in turning ambitious goals into concrete actions.