The 17 Rooms initiative has been co-hosted by the Brookings Institution and The Rockefeller Foundation since September 2018, when a first experimental convening took place on the eve of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City. Since then, the initiative has continued to innovate and adapt its approaches to spur new forms of collaborative action for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The initiative is co-chaired by John McArthur, senior fellow and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings, and Zia Khan, senior advisor at The Rockefeller Foundation.
A secretariat team within the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings supports the overall initiative, working in close day-to-day collaboration with partners in at The Rockefeller Foundation and the rest of the 17 Rooms network.
Flagship evolution
Since its inception in 2018, 17 Rooms has undergone several iterations of experimentation and refinement:
- 2018: The first informal gathering in New York City introduced a creative hackathon-style approach to “next step” priorities across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
- 2019: The second annual gathering included Room-by-Room preparations and a structured exchange of insights, leading to a public report outlining recommended priorities for the upcoming year.
- 2020: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 17 Rooms went fully virtual, with over 200 participants presenting their final products live to the U.N. deputy secretary-general. Each Room published a document summarizing its insights and priorities, and the secretariat published an overall insights report.
- 2021-2023: The initiative expanded its secretariat function to provide more direct programmatic support, both within and across Rooms. A hybrid format emerged in 2022, combining virtual sessions with in-person meetings, including an informal community gathering in New York.
- 2024-onward: The flagship shifted its focus to “big ideas”—things that can make a consequential difference for an aspect of the SDGs by 2030. This aims, in part, to tackle the lack of systemic approaches to creating scalable solutions for sustainable development.
Major reports
Annual reports distill the flagship’s overarching themes each year and showcase the Rooms’ work. These reports highlight the varied actions emerging from the flagship processes, from accelerating policy initiatives to sparking fresh alliances for advocacy, research, and implementation efforts.
- 2024 – 17 Rooms: Supporting ‘big ideas’ for people and planet
- 2023 – Forging next steps into the SDG second half
- 2022 – 17 Rooms: Rejuvenating the Sustainable Development Goals through shared action
- 2021 – Coming together: Forging new paths to action for the Sustainable Development Goals
- 2020 – Great Transitions: Doubling down on the Sustainable Development Goals
- 2019 – 17 Rooms: Global Flagship Meeting Summary Report
See also:
The 17 Rooms secretariat
Brookings
- John McArthur (17 Rooms co-chair) is senior fellow and director of the Center for Sustainable Development.
- Jacob Taylor is a fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development.
- Kershlin Krishna is a project manager in the Center for Sustainable Development.
- Clea McElwain is a senior project coordinator in the Center for Sustainable Development.
The Rockefeller Foundation
- Zia Khan (17 Rooms co-chair) is senior advisor at The Rockefeller Foundation.
- Kevin O’Neil is managing director of innovation at The Rockefeller Foundation.