The UN System Design Solutions Working Group at Yale University is an informal initiative by Yale graduate students from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES), the Yale School of Management (SOM), the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and undergraduate students from Yale College, in collaboration with Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar at the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies and Yale F&ES, and former Director-General of IUCN.

Motivated by shared concerns about the effectiveness, representation, inclusivity, values and integrity of the United Nations system, we aim to discuss and develop constructive suggestions to improve the system and make it more future-proof. Besides smaller group discussions, we organize Yale-wide retreats at Yale F&ES about timely topics such as the selection of a new UN Secretary-General (29 April 2016). In Fall 2016, we focus in on institutional changes for a 21st-century system.

Working Group Members: Ralien Bekkers, Samara Brock, Gyan De Silva, Erika Drazen, Shannon Dulaney, Parfait Gasana, George Gemelas, Enni Kallio, Apurva Mathur, Maki Soto, Peter Umunay, Agnes Walton, Leehi Yona, Weiyang Zhao