Paul Shrivastava to complete term as Executive Director of Future Earth, and continue as senior advisor to Governing Council

Following two years leading the successful establishment of Future Earth as an international scientific programme, Executive Director Paul Shrivastava will return to his position at Concordia University in January 2017 to pursue sustainability research and policy advising, while continuing as a senior adviser to the Future Earth Governing Council.

“It has been an honour to work with such an outstanding group. Future Earth is doing remarkable work at a remarkable time,” said Dr. Shrivastava.

Under his leadership Future Earth has transitioned from an interim secretariat to a permanent global secretariat with five global hubs and four regional centres and offices. Over 20 global research projects have transitioned into Future Earth and are working collectively to operationalise eight approved Knowledge-Action Networks. Funding has been agreed on for the global secretariat and three regional offices in Africa and one in South Asia are due to open soon. 

“Our vision and research strategy are clear, and a two-year Implementation Plan was approved by the Governing Council last July. I look forward to my continued involvement with the Governing Council on global science governance issues,” said the Executive Director.

“On behalf of the Governing Council and the global Future Earth community, we thank Paul for his outstanding contributions in advancing the programme.  Future Earth is now leading in addressing the research needs for global sustainability and we are very confident that, building on this base, the programme will provide the global scientific inputs for societies to collectively address the challenging issues of a sustainable future Earth.  The announcement inviting applications for the position of Future Earth Executive Director will be posted shortly and, in consultation with the Scientific and Engagement Committees and the secretariat, we expect to appoint soon an outstanding international scientific leader to this very important position,” said Gordon McBean and Jakob Rhyner, Co-Chairs, Governing Council of Future Earth.