Collaborative Research: Development of the U.S. Hub of the Future Earth Secretariat

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the initial development of the US hub of Future Earth Secretariat. Future Earth seeks to harness the insights and capacity of the global scientific community, development professions, and stakeholders to address global scale problems. The Future Earth effort is based on the recognition that modern environmental problems cannot be solved by disciplinary science alone and rather requires the coordinated efforts of many disciplines working with stakeholders to meet today's societal challenges and to catalyze a transition to global sustainability. Future Earth seeks to advance a new way of doing science by directly emphasizing the co-design and co-production of knowledge with those who most need scientific information to make effective decisions to help manage a changing environment. First and foremost the Future Earth Secretariat will serve the needs of stakeholders and scientists around the world. The Future Earth program is organized around three major themes: Dynamic Planet; Global Development; and Transformations toward Sustainability. Under the auspices of these three themes, the Secretariat will support workshops and other efforts to foster the co-design of research to enhance transdisciplinary efforts to inform solutions and decision making. The secretariat will also develop programs and initiatives to educate the next generation of inter-disciplinary professionals on how to integrate global sustainability with human prosperity and will actively engage the public through an extensive communication and outreach effort.