Sustainability Science Forum 2021 - Accelerating Transformation
30.11.2021 | Eventforum Bern | with livestream
Time
Venue
Fabrikstrasse 12
3012 Bern
The Sustainability Research Initiative is creating a yearly event that brings together a community of professionals united by a keen interest – Sustainability Science. The first Sustainability Science Forum focuses on accelerating transformation towards sustainability. Together with research funders and other stakeholders, we will discuss priorities for capitalising on existing knowledge and for addressing key open questions.
How can scientific contributions more strongly and more directly support accelerating change towards sustainability? We will explore this question in many facets and against the background of the interrelated nature of sustainability crises. Since scientific contributions can take many forms, we will not only ask how to enhance knowledge brokerage and policy advice, but also how to strengthen developing possible pathways for action and opportunities for innovative collaborative research on key open questions, as identified in the white paper Priority Themes for Swiss Sustainability Research of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences.
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Programme
Moderator: Gabriela Wülser, Head of Sustainability Research, SCNAT
09:30 Welcome note by Marcel Tanner, president of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences
09:45 Transformation pathways to sustainability. Keynote by Thomas Vellacott, CEO WWF Switzerland
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 The value of priority themes for institutional agenda setting. With contributions by
Corina Caduff, vice rector for research, Bern University of Applied Sciences
Lutz Merbold, head of strategic division "Agroecology and Environment", Agroscope
11:30 How can we strengthen science for change? Panel discussion with
Stuart Lane, SNSF Research Council member & Professor of Geomorphology, UNIL
Renat Heuberger, Innosuisse Innovation Council member & CEO South Pole Group
Julia Steinberger, Professor of Societal Challenges of Climate Change, UNIL
Moderator: Florian Egli, Energy and Technology Policy Group, ETH Zurich & Swiss Young Academy
12:30 Networking lunch
13:45 Parallel sessions
1. Unleashing knowledge
2. Research for societal transformation
3. The hard problem: Interdependencies between sustainability goals
15:00 Coffee break
15:15 The way forward. Plenary fishbowl discussion
- What are the big challenges we must address to accelerate societal transformation?
- How should a flagship funding programme be designed in order to tackle these challenges?
Moderator: Christian Pohl, USYS TdLab, ETH Zurich
16:15 Outlook: Peter Edwards, president of the Sustainability Research Initiative
16:30 Apéro
Realised with the support of the FOEN.
Participation is free of charge.
Please note that a valid Covid Certificate will need to be presented at this event.
Parts of the event
Related topics
With the first edition of the Sustainability Science Forum on 30 November 2021 at the Eventforum Bern, SCNAT's Sustainability Research Initiative brought together key players in the field of sustainability research. The event was dedicated to the question of how science can more strongly and directly support the acceleration of change towards greater sustainability. A particular focus of the lively debates was on the more effective use of existing knowledge, the development of concrete pathsways for action against the background of the interdependencies between sustainability goals, and the strengthening of collaborative research, especially on the pressing open questions identified in the white paper "Priority Topics for Swiss Sustainability Research" by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences.
Image: Anja Zurbrügg
The Sustainability Research Initiative is creating a yearly event that brings together a community of professionals united by a keen interest – Sustainability science. The first Sustainability Science Forum takes place on November 30, 2021 in Bern.
Image: Hansjakob Fehr, 1kilo
Which research topics should be prioritised to best support our committment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals? What is the role of science on this path towards a more just and sustainable society?
Image: Akademien der Wissenschaften SchweizUsing six priority themes, the "White Paper on Sustainability Research" outlines Switzerland's most urgent research needs in order to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The priority themes were developed by 30 experts from science and practice on the basis of a broad-based dialogue with over 100 stakeholders from science, business, administration and civil society.
Image: Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences
Contact
Anja Bretzler
SCNAT
Steering Committee Sustainability Research
House of Academies
PO Box
3001 Bern
Switzerland