ODID’s Humanitarian Innovation Project (HIP) will convene the Humanitarian Innovation Conference in July 2014.

The emerging trend of ‘humanitarian innovation’ has captured the minds and practices of humanitarian actors across the globe. Seeking to draw upon ideas traditionally used in the private sector to improve the responses in emergencies, protracted crisis and post-conflict recovery, humanitarians have turned to innovation for solutions to critical challenges in the field.

Current debate has begun to document examples of ad hoc innovation in practice; however there is a need to develop a common language and greater conceptual clarity as a starting point for moving forward in the dialogue and debate. The conference aims to provide a platform for discussion and debate, bringing together actors from UN agencies, NGOs, academia, and both the public and private sectors. By convening these discussions, the agenda for humanitarian innovation will be further defined.

HIP invites individual paper proposals, full panel proposals, and suggestions for alternative format (e.g. film, debate, demonstration) sessions from academics, policy-makers, and practitioners from across sectors.

Although it is interested in papers that relate to any theme that can advance debate on humanitarian innovation, it particularly invites submissions that may relate to any or a number of five core themes:

• Definitions and Frameworks for Humanitarian Innovation
• Improving Organizational Responses
• “Bottom-up” Approaches to Innovation
• New Directions within Humanitarian Work
• Critical Approaches to Humanitarian Innovation

The deadline for proposed submissions is 31 January 2014.

For further details, see http://www.oxhip.org/2013/10/hip2014/.