Skip to content

Francesco Pisano on Knowledge to Lead

September 5, 2025 · 36 min

Show notes

Francesco Pisano, Director of the UN Library & Archives Geneva, reflects on the transformative power of knowledge, and the role of the Library & Archives in democratizing access to knowledge. He discusses projects like the Total Digital Access to the League of Nations, the balance between humans and machines, and how knowledge-led leadership can strengthen multilateral cooperation.

As he prepares to step down from his 32-year UN career, Francesco Pisano emphasizes optimism, hope, and the responsibility of international civil servants to persist in doing the hard work of building wiser decisions for the future.

Francesco says, "There is work to do. The system needs to get down to work, hard work."

Resources: Ask a Librarian!

Archives platform: https://archives.ungeneva.org/lontad

Where to listen to this episode

Content

Guest: Francesco Pisano https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/discover-institute/francesco-pisano

Host, production and editing: Amy Smith, UN Library & Archives Geneva

Recorded and produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva

All episodes of The Next Page

Settings

Display

Language

Decides which stations you see first on the home page.

History

Recently played stations and episodes and your latest searches are only stored in this browser.

Notifications

A short notice when a podcast you follow has a new episode. Turn off single podcasts with the bell on their page.

Account

Save favorites – in the app and on the website.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Open search
Space
Play or pause
← →
In the player: back 15 s, forward 30 s (episodes) · in a row: next tile
↑ ↓
In a row: target within the tile
Home / End
In a row: first or last tile
Esc
Close window or menu
?
This overview
Now playing

Go to station page

Play next

    Add episodes with “Play next” – they play after the current episode.