How can research networks of the Future Earth framework effectively contribute to implementation of the SDGs in Africa?

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stresses the fundamental role science should play for implementation of the 17 SDGs. In this context, the Future Earth platform encourages the scientific community to engage in co-production of knowledge together with societal actors to generate the knowledge needed to support sustainability transformations. To achieve this aim, several international sustainability research network are currently working on novel approaches, organising conferences, webinars or working groups dedicated to the issue, designing sciencepolicy-interfaces, or studying best practices. However, many networks involved are challenged to implement collaborative approaches within their structures and creating conditions which are truly favourable for co-production. A major reason for this challenge is the global scope of these networks. How can global scale, international research networks effectively foster the production of knowledge relevant for key actors in the implementation of the SDGs in Africa? In particular, how can these networks foster knowledge production that truly considers African perspectives and needs regarding the SDGs? And how can African perspectives be integrated into global frameworks so that global priorities are relevant to actors on the ground in Africa. The session aims to jointly explore how international sustainability research networks, together with regional partners, can work towards creating the knowledge needed for implementation of the SDGs in Africa, and beyond

How can the Earth System Governance community effectively contribute to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals?

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stresses the fundamental role science should play for implementing the 17 SDGs. In this context, the Future Earth platform encourages the scientific community to complement disciplinary research with inter- and transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge together with societal actors for generating knowledge that supports sustainability transformations. To achieve this aim, international sustainability research networks are currently working on novel approaches through organizing conferences, webinars or working groups dedicated to the issue, designing science-policy-interfaces, or studying best practices. However, many of the network representatives find it challenging to implement collaborative approaches within their structures and to create conditions, which are truly favourable for co-production. A major reason for this challenge is the global scope of these networks. Traditionally, co-production approaches have mostly been applied in rather local settings. How can global scale, international research networks effectively foster the production of knowledge relevant for key actors in the implementation of the SDGs? The goal of this session is to discuss different perspectives of how the ESG network can tackle the above mentioned challenge. The session will start with a short introduction on the topic and a presentation on how other global networks such as GLP, PECS, GMBA, BioDiscovery, and PAGES addressed the issue. By doing so, we will focus on different theories of change, as well as implementation strategies and implementation experiences of these networks. Then, we will moderate a discussion with all participants. The discussion will be organised by applying the “fishbowl”-technique to allow all participants to express their perspectives. The following are key questions for the discussion: What kind of knowledge production is needed for implementation of the SDGs? How can the ESG networks foster such research? What are favourable context conditions? What change theories are underlying the different approaches? The discussion will be documented by jointly creating generic models of transformative sustainability research network

Research funding programmes aiming for societal transformations: ten key stages

Societal issues such as poverty, water scarcity, and food insecurity make it more important than ever for science to produce knowledge that is relevant to address serious challenges on the ground. A growing number of research funding programmes emphasize the need for transdisciplinary (TD) coproduction of knowledge as one way of making research part of needed societal transformations. Despite this positive trend, very few studies have focused in particular on how research funding programmes themselves could enhance the implementation of TD research. To address this gap, we explored processes and structures of TD research funding programmes, and created a generic model that explicitly shows the key stages relevant to the enhancement of TD research. Based on a discussion of these key stages with representatives of four TD research funding programmes we coproduced design recommendations that offer guidance for implementation of future programmes