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Joining Hands for Climate Week NYC & UNGA

IDEO, IDEO​.org, Public Digital, Gehl, SYPartners, kyu, and their partners shared fresh perspectives around sustainability.

Five people stand in a line onstage, holding hands and smiling. A projection screen behind them displays a “Thank you” message with a colorful butterfly graphic.
All images by David Dini.

Published

Topic

Collaboration, Sustainability, Organization

Companies

SYPartners, Public Digital, IDEO, Gehl

Featuring

Blaine Merker

On September 22, IDEO, IDEO​.org, Public Digital, Gehl, SYPartners, kyu, and their partners hosted guests for programming around Climate Week NYC and the U.N. General Assembly. What emerged was a day structured around connection and action. Here are highlights from the gatherings:

People of diverse backgrounds sit in small groups around tables, engaged in discussion in a bright, modern room with wooden floors and large windows. There are notebooks, drinks, and papers on the tables.
IDEO’s session allowed attendees to connect on a human level around climate opportunities and challenges.

The Human Side of Climate Leadership

In Real Talk: Thrive Locally, Survive Globally, IDEO, along with Rooted and Rising and Movilizatorio, brought together inspiring people like Juliana Uribe and World Climate Foundation’s Flora Bitancourt, who are showing creativity and resilience in the face of today’s climate challenges. They highlighted key insights like:

  • Care is strategy. Self-care and community are the ground leaders rise from. 
  • Adapt to endure. Surfaces may shift, but we need to be sure to protect the heart of the work.
  • Start small, risk often. Small steps build courage for bigger leaps forward.
  • Stories shift power. Voices matter — now is not the time to stay quiet.
  • People hold the mission. Language changes, but intention lives in those who care and act.

Attendees named both the obstacles — shrinking funding, shifting ecosystems, and the risks of speaking openly — and the enablers that help them persist — community, family, friendship, love, and a belief in a shared future worth fighting for.

A woman in a maroon suit speaks into a microphone at an indoor event, while others stand around her, listening attentively. People wear name tags and business attire.
Speakers like Simi Nwogugu (far right) brought fresh insights to IDEO​.org and Public Digital’s session.

Putting User Needs First

IDEO​.org and Public Digital partnered with Opportunity Collaboration and speakers like Junior Achievement African president Simi Nwogugu, Alight’s Abraham Leno, and The World Bank’s Aly Rahim, for The Future Of: User-Centered Collaboration in Global Development. Some of the insights discussed:

  • Institutions must undergo ​“boring revolutions.” System change doesn’t require flashy apps or missing expertise. It requires using the wisdom that exists in communities and shifting how institutions fund, measure, and structure their work.
  • Refugee communities are already innovating and building their own networks of support. In the absence of formal aid, they’re creating systems of care and resilience. Those closest to disruption may be the last to be warned — but they are often the first to respond — and we must learn from them.
  • Governments can deliver differently. The success of an organization rests on how it works, not just what it does. Collaboration grows when governments organize around user needs, embrace test-and-learn approaches, and invest in lasting digital foundations rather than one-off solutions.
  • Financing trust is as important as building it socially. Without reimagined financial systems that link local solutions to global structures, effective community-driven solutions risk staying stuck in pilots instead of scaling into lasting change.
A woman in a light blue blazer and glasses speaks into a microphone while holding a remote, standing in front of a colorful presentation screen. She appears to be presenting to an audience.
Three people stand indoors at an event; one man in a suit speaks into a microphone, while the other man and a woman listen attentively. All wear name badges, and there is a large green plant in the background.
From left: Public Digital’s Lauren Kahn shared insights, and attendees engaged in some healthy debate during the session’s interactive ​“Creative Tensions” segment.

The session ended with a dynamic ​“Creative Tensions” exercise that got attendees on their feet as they responded to — and debated — questions like ​“What is the barrier to collaboration: personal dynamics or politics?” and ​“When I’m mad, I want to burn it down or build something?”

People sit on couches and chairs in a casual setting, engaged in conversation. The environment appears social and relaxed, with small groups talking and interacting. Some hold drinks, and soft pillows are visible on the couches.

Climate-Aligned Urbanism

World Resources Institute and Rocky Mountain Institute were back, this time with Gehl to discuss Doubling Down on Urbanism, with decarbonization in mind. This exploration of climate-aligned urbanism and housing reform created a convergence between two worlds, offering new perspectives to both sides. Here’s some of what came out of it: 

  • Transit-connected housing outperforms traditional climate interventions. Building walkable, transit-connected housing reduces urban household emissions more than twice as effectively as electrification, heat pumps, or building efficiency, yet it is virtually ignored by climate philanthropies.
  • Local momentum defies national gridlock. While federal energy policies stall, state and local legislation enabling transit-oriented housing has surged from California to Montana to New York, creating unexpected momentum where national efforts have faltered.
A man with short brown hair and a beard is holding a microphone and some papers while speaking at an indoor event. He is wearing a dark blazer over a navy shirt and is standing in front of a light-colored wall.
A panel of six people sits on stools in front of an audience, discussing climate change at “New York Climate Week 2025;” a city park scene is projected behind them in a modern, well-lit room.
From left: Gehl’s Blaine Merker kicked off the session and, later, a panel of experts discussed top-of-mind urban issues and opportunities.
  • Scale opportunities concentrate in key states. Colorado, California, and Texas hold the greatest potential for emissions reduction through climate-aligned urbanism, according to WRI analysis.
  • Affordability is a non-partisan issue. The ​“climate-aligned urbanism” approach has the potential to address climate while also solving for affordability — no mention of climate necessary. 
A woman writes on a sticky note and places it on a large brown paper wall covered with questions and sticky notes. A small table with markers and more sticky notes is beside her. The setting appears to be a collaborative workshop.
Guests participated in activities designed to spark new ideas and conversation during the evening reception.

An Evening of Connection

The day closed with an evening, hosted by kyu, Kite Insights, and SYPartners, where reception guests were encouraged to share thoughts in a variety of ways: via a ​“sustainability confessional,” where two people sat down to have a deeper conversation about the challenges and opportunities they were facing in their climate work; a suggestion box intended for leaders at large organizations; and message boards for guests to write in the futures they envisioned. 


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