Future Earth, which supports the largest global community of systems-focused sustainability researchers and innovators, and the Belmont Forum, the world’s largest consortium of transdisciplinary global change and sustainability research funders, are joining forces to establish an annual marquis congress.

This congress will allow the world’s foremost research and innovation communities to come together to share successes, exchange views, and work across disciplines and sectors to support a global transformation to sustainability.

The congress will convene the research community working at these intersections as well as major funders and actors from society, business in order to:

• Support and connect transdisciplinary research and innovation communities and encourage cross-learning, network building, and synthesis;
• Establish the global scaffold and legitimacy needed to support individual professional growth in research and innovation communities focused on sustainability and to support the process of moving from knowledge to action;
• Develop capacity and share best practices through collaboration and training in transdisciplinary research and innovation; and
• Build a stronger voice for research and innovation for sustainability and global mechanisms for collaborations amongst sectors, disciplines and nations.

Our first convening will bring together a global community of transdisciplinary research and innovation in an engaging, interactive format, allowing leaders in sustainability innovation to work alongside the world’s leading sustainability scientists, and to engage policy leaders working to support the major international policy processes supporting this transition (Agenda 2030, the UN SDGs, Paris Agreement on climate change, Sendai Framework for Disaster and Risk, Aichi targets).

We are committed to the following principles in the development of this major conference series:

• Inclusivity
• Engagement
• Innovation
• Sustainability

We will establish a “native domain” for the global sustainability community and strengthen the sense of identity for sustainability scientists, scholars, practitioners, and experts in the public sector, private sector, and civil society. The meeting will be inclusive of the full range of sustainability challenges, and the approaches, disciplines, and sectors needed to address those challenges, and will serve as a launch meeting for a sustained effort.

This event will be the first in an annual congress series that will serve as a focal point in the sustainability science and innovation calendar, providing broad networking, training, and knowledge exchange opportunities.  As such, the meeting series is being designed as an umbrella under which side events, special sessions, mentoring, valorization, capacity-building and town hall activities will take place to support a vibrant, diverse, and growing community.

Hosting applications will be accepted until March 1st 2019.

Apply to host the first annual SRI conference.