Future Earth launches Strategic Research Agenda at the European Parliament

On Tuesday 3 February 2015 Members of European Parliament (MEPs), representatives of European and international organisations and businesses, research funders and leading researchers met in the European Parliament (EP) for a dialogue session seeking to gain insights from MEPs and EU policy makers and identify strategic priorities for European research leading to sustainable solutions, building on the Strategic Research Agenda recently published by Future Earth. It urges the private sector, governments and civil society to work with researchers to co-design and co-produce a more agile global innovation system.

Speakers at this event hosted by Paul Rubig MEP, Chair of STOA (the European Parliament Science and Technology Options Assessment unit) included: European Commission Director in DG Research and Development and Belmont Forum co-Chair, Kurt Vandenberghe; Future Earth Interim Director, Prof. Frans Berkhout; UNEP Brussels office Director, Ulf Bjornholm; Prof. Corinne Le Queré, Global Carbon Project and Director of Tyndall Centre (East Anglia University); Prof. Frank Biermann of the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University Amsterdam; and Farooq Ullah, Executive Director of the Stakeholders Forum for a Sustainable Future.

The event, convened by Future Earth, the European Commission and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the European Parliament Intergroup on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development”, was organised in view of a number of important new global agreements on climate, disaster risk reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals expected in 2015. Scientific research is critical to the success of these agreements, and science and innovation in Europe will play a crucial role.

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For more information contact:

Kathleen Laissy, Secretariat of the EBCD Intergroup

kathleen.laissy@ebcd.org, +32 2 230 30 70