Citizen science data (CSD) presents untapped opportunities to track progress towards the SDGs offering multiple advantages for Governments and National Statistical Offices (NSOs): help fill in data gaps for indicators where traditional data collection instruments, such as, household surveys or administrative registers may not be well suited or may not have the sufficient coverage, improve the granularity of data and sometimes timeliness, and offer an effective and cost-efficient means for NSOs to address data needs of policy-makers in the context of limited or falling resources. Many citizen science data initiatives and datasets exist already. Why then have NSOs not been using citizen science data to any large extent to date? To begin with, NSOs require a better understanding of how such data can be useful in their specific context and requirements, as well as understanding what exactly needs to be done to leverage it. Citizen science practitioners, for their part, need to better understand policy applications and know how to ensure that the generated data meets necessary quality standards. This Policy Brief aims to bring greater understanding to these issues by drawing on a research conducted as part of the EU-funded Crowd4SDG project with contributions from several international organizations and research centers. It shows how NSOs can give value to CSD benefitting official statistics, policy-making and citizen science communities and helping ensure that no one is left behind.

9 August 2022, New York, USA (Virtual) - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) office in New York concluded its summer 2022 collaboration with the Harbour Education (Beijing) on Sunday August 7, 2022. This online training series marked the fourth successful endowment of the Harbour – UNITAR global competency training programme – a training programme equipped with curriculums centered around knowledge sharing and skill development, for students who desire to work in the international organizations post college graduation.

29-31 July 2022, Bali, Indonesia - UNITAR, the University of Geneva and Open Geneva organised the first SDG Open Hack! Bali on Tackling Waste Management through Innovation.

29 July 2022, New York, United States - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) New York Office held a session on Human Rights during the weekly training workshops for the 2022 President of the General Assembly Fellowship for HOPE (Harnessing Opportunities for Promoting Empowerment of Youth) — UNITAR Office in New York's flagship initiative. Fellowship workshops are held every Friday at the United Nations Headquarters and feature multiple distinguished high-level speakers from various branches of the United Nations.

19 May 2022 - The First Multi-Sector Policy Dialogue between the Government of Seychelles and the United Nations Country Team provided space for discussing areas of focus for the UN’s support for the implementation of national development strategies and SDGs, as well as the areas of focus for the next Strategic Partnership Framework. On this occasion, UNITAR’s representative had an opportunity to present to the Ministers of the Seychellois Government and UN Regional and Country Directors UNDESA-UNITAR’s analytical paper illustrating the use of system thinking and how it can be used to bridge long-term priorities and immediate needs as part of an integrated planning approach.

On 13th July 2022, during the 2022 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) organized jointly with the Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA/DPIDG) a virtual side event entitled "Enabling small island states to achieve the SDGs through more forward-looking and holistic planning and governance".

12 July 2022, Geneva, Switzerland, Paris, France, New York, USA – UNITAR participated in the Learning Session 9 on Innovative tools for target setting, peer learning and policy dialogue on SDG 4 and SDG competencies. This session is organized by UNDESA and UNITAR - SDGs Learning, Training and Practice Center – during the 2022 High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (2022 HLPF). The event brought together UN experts, academics, and government actors to discuss education and the Sustainable Development Goals as well as showcase their experiences in integrating the SDGs into innovative pedagogical tools, educational programs, and policies.

This event also provided UNITAR the opportunity to present the work of UN SDG:Learn and present its new product, the SDG Fitness Test.

28 June 2022, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR served as mentor to the innovation projects of the UNITAR-Franklin University MSc. students in International Management, with a focus on Climate Action, and hosted the final project presentations at the UNITAR Headquarters.

8 June 2022, Geneva, Switzerland - The 2022 World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI) Ranking, seeking to assess the innovativeness of universities for the future, will be presented on June 9, 2022, at 3:00 pm (CET)/10:00 pm (KST) in both Switzerland and South Korea.

A new self-paced Massive Open Online Course "Develop and Implement Science, Technology, and Innovation for SDGs Roadmaps - Level I" was developed by UNDESA and UNITAR to support UN Member States in developing and implementing STI for SDGs Roadmaps as well as attracting global assistance in doing so.