Future Opportunities

Pathways 2

Approved for Scoping: 2022
Lead BF Member: NSF
Estimated launch timeframe: TBD

Brief Summary:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were unanimously adopted by all member states of the United Nations in September 2015 (UN GA 2015).  These goals encompass a broad range of economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development and set specific targets for implementation of these ambitious goals.  If the timeframe set by the UN to achieve these ambitious goals by 2030 is to be realized, there will need to be unrivaled international collaboration over the next fifteen years within the political, scientific, and civil societal realms.  Furthermore, if humanity is to meet these goals, then clear targets and pathways to achieve these goals within a sustainable Earth system must be identified.  The targets and pathways must account for critical drivers of human capacity, demographic changes, opportunities for technological innovation and diffusion, sound institutions and transformative governance capabilities, sustainable diets, and other critical socio-economic developments. 

Although substantial progress has been made on how to achieve specific goals, we currently lack a truly integrated, comprehensive qualitative and quantitative understanding of sustainable development pathways that account for the inter-linkages between the economy, technology, institutions, environment, climate, and human development and that are anchored within the constraints of a sustainable Earth system.  To help provide a science base for achieving the SDG’s, we need research that focuses on integrated qualitative and quantitative approaches to develop Earth system-based targets and transformation pathways for sustainable development.  International, transdisciplinary research that brings together natural and social scientists, modelers, governance experts and stakeholders from around the world is necessary to create sustainable development pathways to achieve the SDGs through integrated systems approaches.  Effective and sustainable development pathways must address multiple SDGs while being cognizant of the synergies and trade-offs between potential pathways and different SDGs.

Scoping activities:

For more information contact info@belmontforum.org, insert “Pathways 2” in the subject line or sign up our mailing list.

Vulnerability and Resilience Management for socio-environmental systems in exposed territories

Approved for Scoping: BF Members Meeting June 2023
Lead BF Member: ANR/AllEnvi/NTSC
Estimated launch timeframe: June 2025

Brief Summary:

Within the current context of increasing environmental risks, scientists and disaster experts have been working together for decades around communities such as the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA). The need is now to go one step further to better integrate the complexity of socio-environmental systems, so as to define, formalize and implement a holistic risk science. This integration implies the theoretical roadmap of sustainability science, namely a trans-disciplinary approach that sums up knowledge and involves all concerned parties in the definition of adequate risk management solutions, but requires specific knowledge gaps to be addressed urgently. Taking inspiration from the current pandemic crisis, this CRA aims at defining and promoting “new” risks management concepts that better accounts for global change and the transformations of the relations between societies and nature. Within this holistic approach that expands the research conducted so far within the DR3 Collaborative Research Action of the Belmont Forum, this proposed CRA investigates the links between the vulnerability of socio-environmental systems in exposed territories and their capacity to converge to a resilient future. Expected outcomes include risk science developments in line with a sustainability science perspective, co-production of knowledge from the different disciplines, their implementation on highly vulnerable territories for informed governance, and the rise of a new generation of scientists and stakeholders able to better cope for ever-rising environmental risks.

For more information contact info@belmontforum.org, insert in the title “Vulnerability and resilience management” or sign up our mailing list.

Ocean 2

Approved for Scoping: BF Administrative Plenary November 2023
Lead BF Member: AllEnvi/ANR
Estimated launch timeframe: June 2025

Brief Summary:

Covering an expansive 70% of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is a vital part of our planet, playing a fundamental role in sustaining life and fostering a thriving global ecosystem. The ocean’s importance is related to various issues such as climate change, energy, agriculture, health, and sustainable resource management. In this context, the ocean emerges as a central player given that it is a major carbon stock and climate regulator. However, the “Blue acceleration” highlights increasing human pressures on marine ecosystems, threatening their ability to sustain life.

Marine conservation areas are essential components of global efforts to protect and sustainably manage our oceans. These designated areas, often referred to as marine protected areas (MPAs), play a crucial role in safeguarding marine biodiversity, habitats, and ecosystems. By establishing these zones, authorities aim to monitor and mitigate the impact of human activities, such as overfishing and habitat destruction, while providing refuge for endangered species. Data collected from MPAs provides important evidence towards the development of policies that will support biodiversity conservation and sustainability of our marine ecosystems. Within this context, this Collaborative Research Action (CRA) would aim to coordinate international projects with a transdisciplinary approach focused on marine biodiversity and socio-ecosystems relying on oceans to mitigate and adapt to global environmental change and achieve global well-being by 2050.

For more information contact info@belmontforum.org, insert in the title “Oceans 2″ or sign up for our mailing list