Third Symposium on Sustainability Science: Towards Guidelines in Research and Education

The Third Symposium on Sustainability Science will take place at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, on 31 May and 1 June 2017, in Room XIII, Bonvin Building. This event will serve to present the guidelines on sustainability science in research and education to UNESCO Member States.

A simultaneous interpretation will be available in English and French.
In October 2015, UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector and Social and Human Sciences Sector, together with the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan/MEXT), initiated a project on “Broadening the Application of the Sustainability Science Approach” in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The overall objective of the project is to foster dialogue and disseminate concrete policy messages that will help UNESCO Member States introduce a sustainability science approach in response to global challenges. A set of guidelines on sustainability science will be developed - from definition to application, for consideration by UNESCO Member States in the last quarter of 2017.

With a strong multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder composition, a scientific steering committee has been established in the framework of this project; a drafting sub-committee of the project’s steering committee has also been formed to outline the policy guidelines on sustainability science, which will represent the main output of the project.

Three symposia will highlight the inputs and expertise of several stakeholders including scientists, policymakers, other expert practitioners, and UNESCO Member States, as well as research and education institutions and organizations with relevant experience at multiple levels in sustainability-related issues.

The inception symposium, held on 5 and 6 April 2016 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, provided an opportunity for a first face-to-face meeting between steering committee project members and other experts in sustainability science, and representatives of UNESCO Member States. Significant key lessons learned and recommendations emerged from the symposium through the presentation of scientific perspectives and case studies on sustainability science.

Held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 19 to 21 December 2016 and hosted by the Office of the Science Advisor to the Prime Minister and the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), the Second Regional/Thematic Symposium on Sustainability Science focused on presentations and discussions on how to apply a sustainability science approach in UNESCO’s five regions. It also involved the identification of particular regional characteristics, priorities, needs and gaps, and to incorporate such specific features into the guidelines on the sustainability science.