Science for a Sustainable Future (SFSF) is a joint initiative of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Springer Nature.
Now in its fifth year, this annual event brings together policymakers, government representatives, UN officials and leading global scientists to discuss and advance the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This year Science for a Sustainable Future will focus on the question: ‘What is needed to make the SDGs happen by 2030?’ and compromise of two webinars on topics that could provide helpful answers: the value of a strong connection between science, research and policy, and the importance of data in advancing the goals, especially SDG 4, a decade after the UN’s ‘A World that Counts’ report. Find out more about each session and register to join us by following the links below.
27 May 2025, 15.00 BST/16.00 CEST
The launch of the 2014 UN report, A World that Counts, marked a continued and growing view that data and efforts to align national outcomes with global indicators would inevitably achieve the UN’s vision for a sustainable future. A World that Counts represented one of the most notable changes in development agendas, emphasizing accountability through data and reporting.
Now 10 years on from the report’s launch and with only 5 years left of the SDG timeline, where has this data revolution taken us? The centrality of metrics and measurement associated with the 2030 Agenda has been highlighted as a key innovation on past agendas, but important threads of commentary are worthy of exploration after a decade of data driven action and policy. This session seeks to address if SDG data has been impactful, relevant, and sufficient to provoke the progress needed to meet global aspirations in education.
To mark Earth Month 2024, three panels were held on topics in need of further investigation and which complemented the focus of the 2024 UN Summit for the Future.
We invite you to find out more: Watch the recordings, download the policy briefs, read our summary blog and check out our visual summaries.
Human health cannot be considered in isolation: it must be reviewed in the context of planetary health if we are to achieve SDGs 3 and 13. This session looked at the connection between human, planet and animal health. What can civil society and governments learn from science?
Is GDP the right supra metric for measuring progress towards the SDGs? Never designed as a metric for welfare, its continued use conflicts with metrics more relevant to well-being and social progress. How can new metrics be developed in an inclusive way?
Migration is a topic dominating newsrooms from a political perspective, yet the real implications of global migration are closely connected to biodiversity, food systems, climate and more. This session asked how we can effectively measure, predict and respond to migration.
Following Springer Nature and UN SDSN’s Science for a Sustainable Future 2024 event series, we spoke to the panellists from each of the three sessions about the messages and points that stood out to them the most.
The experts - who discussed the connection between human, animal and planetary health, migration and impact metrics beyond GDP - also shared a message for those attending the UN’s Summit of the Future in September.
In 2023 we hosted three webinars on topics such as energy and science communication, energy and social justice, as well as energy and the transition to net zero.
Watch the webinars on-demand below and hear from the panellists as they reflect on their key takeaways from each session.
Discover the key policy recommendations needed to achieve SDG7 that were identified during the series, by downloading our Policy Brief: Delivering Clean, Affordable Energy For All.
In 2021, Springer Nature and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) brought experts together from across industries and disciplines for a virtual event to coincide with climate conference COP26.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that the world can act with urgency to tackle the biggest crises; it has demonstrated that the focused and coordinated efforts of global experts can lead to radical changes in global mobility, economies, and entirely new vaccines. It has also highlighted the crucial importance of tackling misinformation and motivated ignorance, encouraging individual behaviours that benefit society collectively, and shown how structural inequalities dictate who is most affected - issues with clear parallels to the climate crisis. How can the lessons from the covid-19 global emergency inform climate action?
The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that the world is capable of acting with urgency to tackle crises on a global scale. It demonstrated that the focused and coordinated efforts of global experts can lead to rapid and radical changes to address an emerging threat – for example in global mobility, ways of working, and medical advances.
It also highlighted the crucial importance of tackling misinformation, demonstrated that individual behaviors can benefit society collectively, and showed how structural inequalities predetermine who is most affected and how - all issues that have clear parallels to the climate crisis.
This white paper explores the development of strategies through an interdisciplinary approach to motivate behaviour change, tackle misinformation and address inequality in times of crises.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about mass global disruption and presented a significant setback to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, it paved the way for more science-informed decision-making, enabling the research, scientific, and policy communities to join together like never before, and proving the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to combating crisis, developing effective policies, and accelerating innovation.
In May 2021, on the sidelines of the UN Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation, Springer Nature and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) hosted a virtual debate on how to bridge the divide between the research and policy communities to accelerate innovation on the SDGs and build resiliency post COVID-19. The debate also drew on insights from a white paper on how to foster greater collaboration and inclusive problem-solving between these communities.
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) was established in 2012 under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General.
SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. SDSN works closely with United Nations agencies, multilateral financing institutions, the private sector, and civil society.
