Different missions. Shared challenges.

Mission-oriented work takes many different forms around the world. The missions themselves differ, as do mandates, conditions and ways of working. But many of the challenges are surprisingly similar.

That is one of the reflections Lotta Sörlin, Swedish Metals & Minerals Program office, brings back from the OECD Mission Forward Conference in Paris in September.

The conference brought together policymakers, mission managers, practitioners and researchers from around the world to exchange experiences on how missions are designed, governed, implemented and evaluated. OECD

For Swedish Metals & Minerals, these international exchanges are important. They give us an opportunity to compare approaches, challenge our own ways of working and learn from others facing similar questions.

One issue that stood out for Lotta was how to monitor and assess progress in mission-oriented work, a challenge shared across very different missions and contexts.

And perhaps just as importantly: meeting others working with the same kind of complexity provides perspective on our own journey.

Group photo of conference participants and Lotta Sörlin from Swedish Metals & Minerals attending a conference session. Photos: OECD Mission Forward Conference.