Future Earth is a major international research platform providing the knowledge and support to accelerate our transformations to a sustainable world.
Bringing together and in partnership with existing programmes on global environmental change*, Future Earth is an international hub to coordinate new, interdisciplinary approaches to research on three themes: Dynamic Planet, Global Sustainable Development and Transformations towards Sustainability. It also aims to be a platform for international engagement to ensure that knowledge is generated in partnership with society and users of science. It is open to scientists of all disciplines, natural and social, as well as engineering, the humanities and law.
Paul Shrivastava is the Executive Director, and the Science Committee is chaired by Dr Mark Stafford Smith, with Vice-Chairs Professor Melissa Leach and Dr Belinda Reyers. The Engagement Committee is chaired by Farooq Ullah, with Vice-Chairs Tim Payn and Ruth Wolstenholme.
The Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project joined Future Earth in April 2015.
The Governing Council of Future Earth is composed of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the STS forum and members of the Science and Technology Alliance for Global Sustainability. They include the International Council for Science(ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the Belmont Forum of funding agencies, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations University (UNU), and the World Meteorological Organization.
* DIVERSITAS, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), theInternational Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).
Future Earth will be a global platform to deliver:
- Solution-orientated research for sustainability, linking environmental change and development challenges to satisfy human needs for food, water, energy, health;
- Effective interdisciplinary collaboration across natural and social sciences, humanities, economics, and technology development, to find the best scientific solutions to multi-faceted problems;
- Timely information for policy-makers by generating the knowledge that will support existing and new global and regional integrated assessments;
- Participation of policy-makers, funders, academics, business and industry, and other sectors of civil society in co-designing and co-producing research agendas and knowledge;
- Increased capacity building in science, technology and innovation, especially in developing countries and engagement of a new generation of scientists.
Integrating existing endeavours
Future Earth will build on the success of existing global environmental change programmes (Diversitas, IGBP, IHDP, WCRP and ESSP), to help develop a stronger and broader community.