The Forum brought together leaders from national research funding agencies, foundations and development aid agencies, as well as eminent individuals across the globe who share a common vision of advancing science for a sustainable future for all.
Recognizing this pivotal moment in time, the Forum will provide a unique dialogue space to stimulate ideas and action for fostering collaboration, improving coordination and the mobilization of future funding in mission-oriented science for global sustainability.
More specifically, the strategic objectives of the Global Forum of Funders are threefold:
Agenda, recordings and other materials
| Date and time | Programme |
| DAY 1 | Missions for Science for Global Sustainability Nick Ishmael-Perkins, Master of ceremonies, Senior Consultant, International Science Council |
| 14:30 – 14:40 | Introduction and Welcome to the Second Global Forum of Funders Peter Gluckman, President-elect, International Science Council ▶️Watch |
| 14:40 – 14:50 | Goals of the Meeting Heide Hackmann, CEO, International Science Council  Download the slides |
| 14:50 – 16:00 | Accelerating the Science Impact for the 2030 Agenda Keynotes: Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Mary Robinson, ISC Patron and the Chair of The Elders  WatchPanel discussion Heide Hackmann, CEO, International Science Council Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, Chief Executive Officer, National Research Foundation of South Africa Ingrid Petersson, Director General of Formas, Swedish Research Council Luiz Eugênio Mello, Scientific Director, FAPESP, Brazil |
| 16:00 – 16:15 | Break: live piano music by Christoph Spangenberg |
| 16:15 – 17:15 | Key Recommendations: A Framework to Unleash Mission-Oriented Science Susanne C. Moser, ISC Strategic Advisor on Transformations to Sustainability Albert van Jaarsveld, IIASA Director General and Chief Executive Officer  Download the slides (presented by Suscanne C. Moser and Albert van Jaarsveld)Alison Meston, Communications Director, International Science Council Asun Lera St.Clair, Senior Advisor for Barcelona SuperComputing Center and member of the European Commission Mission Board for Climate Change Adaptation and Societal Transformation Edgar Pieterse, South African Research Chair in Urban Policy, Director, African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town |
| 17:15 – 17:30 | Break: live piano music by Christoph Spangenberg |
| 17:30 – 18:30 | Reaction of Science Funders to the recommendations Albert van Jaarsveld, IIASA Director General and Chief Executive Officer Julie Shouldice, Vice-President, Strategy, Regions, and Policy, International Development Research Centre Daniel Goroff, Vice President and Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Mark Ferguson, Director General, Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland Vitoria Langa de Jesus, Executive Director, National Research Fund (FNI), Mozambique Yukihiro Imanari, Programme Advisor, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research, Japan |
| 18:30 – 18:45 | Wrap Up Day One Mathieu Denis, Science Director, International Science Council |
| DAY 2 | Strategies and mechanisms for accelerating collaboration between science funders to support mission-oriented science globally Alison Meston, Master of ceremonies, Communications Director, International Science Council |
| 15:00 – 15:05 | Welcome Maggie Gorman Vélez, Director, Policy and Evaluation, International Development Research Centre, Canada |
| 15:05 – 16:15 | Supporting mission-oriented science for global sustainability: what does it mean in practice? Keynote followed by the panel discussion and Q&A Drew Leyburne, Keynote, Vice Chair, the Mission Innovation Steering Committee  Download the slidesAldo Stroebel, Moderator, Executive Director Strategic Partnerships, National Research Foundation of South Africa Li Jinghai, President, National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Diane Matar, Fellow, the Science Philanthropy Alliance  Download the slidesMarc Schiltz, Chief Executive Officer, Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) Wendy Broadgate, Global Hub Director, Future Earth, Sweden |
| 16:15 – 16:30 | Break: live piano music by Christoph Spangenberg |
| 16:30 – 17:30 | Aligning Science and Science Funding for Global Sustainability Keynote followed by the panel discussion and Q&A Joanna Chataway, Keynote, Head of Department at UCL Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (University College London)  Download the slidesTom Kariuki, Keynote, Director of Programmes, The African Academy of Sciences  Download the slidesVidushi S. Neergheen, Keynote, Centre for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research (CBBR), University of Mauritius  Download the slides Watch the recordingNick Ishmael-Perkins, Moderator,Senior Consultant, International Science Council Kedest Tesfagiorgis, Deputy Director, Global Health, Global Partnerships and Grand Challenges, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation AnnaMaria Oltorp, Head of Research Cooperation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Marcus Wilms, International Affairs, Africa, Near and Middle East, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), German Research Foundation |
| 17:30 – 18:00 | High-level summary of Day 2 Maria Uhle, Co-Chair, Belmont Forum Albert van Jaarsveld, IIASA Director General and, Chief Executive Officer  Download the slides |
| DAY 3 | Building funding alliances for science for sustainability Nick Ishmael-Perkins, Master of ceremonies, Senior Consultant, International Science Council |
| 15:00 – 15:05 | Welcome Wendy Broadgate, Global Hub Director, Future Earth, Sweden |
| 15:05 – 16:15 | Examples of collaborative initiatives, running in parallel 1. Accelerating Open Science globally Geoffrey Boulton, Keynote, Chair of the ISC project on the Future of Scientific Publishing and member of the ISC Governing Board  Download the slidesKhotso Mokhele, Moderator, Chair of the Advisory Council of the African Open Science Platform Kostas Glinos, Director, Open Data Policy & Strategy, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission Oktawia Wójcik, Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Open Research Funders Group Robert Kiley, Plan S and cOAlition S, the Head of Open Research at the Wellcome Trust Suchith Anand, Chief Scientist, Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition 2. SDG pilot initiative of the Global Research Council Aldo Stroebel, Introduction to the SDG pilot initiative, Executive Director Strategic Partnerships, National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa  Download the slidesKristin Danielsen, Executive Director, The Research Council of Norway Download the slidesIngrid Petersson, Director General of Formas, Swedish Research Council Luiz Eugênio Mello, Scientific Director, FAPESP, Brazil 3. Climate Adaptation Research Alliance  Download the slidesRosalind West, Welcome, UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and ARA co-chair Debra Roberts, High-level statement, Co-chair, IPCC WGII Anand Patwardhan, Introduction to the ARA initiative, University of Maryland and ARA co-chair Bruce Currie-Alder, Moderator, Canada’s International Development Research Centre Ying Wang, World Adaptation Science Programme (WASP) Coordinator, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi Jean Ometto, Global Climate Change Programme, The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Maria Uhle, Program Director for International Activities, US NSF Laura Birx, Deputy Director for Strategy and Planning, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
| 16:15 – 16:30 | Break: live piano music by Christoph Spangenberg |
| 16:3 – 17:15 | Taking Missions for Science forward: conclusions and looking ahead Heide Hackmann, CEO, International Science Council  Download the slides |
Background
Humanity has become the major force in shaping the future of our Earth systems. The speed, scale and interconnectedness of human activities on Earth has brought new vulnerabilities – from escalating climate change and loss of biological diversity, to the growing inequalities of human societies laid bare by the global pandemic.
Today, humanity is at a crossroads and the choice is stark. Either we continue our “business as usual” practices, with potentially severe consequences for all life on Earth or we collectively transition towards a more sustainable, resilient and just future. The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the urgency of accelerating societal transformations towards sustainability to prevent similar future threats and create a more resilient society in the long run.
In today’s highly uncertain world, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer an invaluable framework to guide governments and societies in shaping a transformative and resilient recovery from COVID-19. Achieving the transformative vision of the SDGs by 2030 requires an urgent realignment of most countries’ and actors’ priorities and resources towards longer-term, more collaborative, and drastically accelerated action. It also requires game-changing collective action within funding and science systems globally, in order to maximize the contribution of science towards the implementation of the SDGs.
The ambition to scale up efforts by funding communities supporting science for the SDGs was the strategic goal of the 2nd Global Forum of Funders.
Science is recognized as a critical lever in achieving the SDGs. It is at the forefront of providing solutions by creating actionable knowledge and informing policies and practices that support the attainment of the SDGs. Unlocking the full potential of science for advancing sustainable development in the next decade requires a system change in the way science is conducted, harnessed, assessed, and funded.
Advancing open and collaborative science; promoting mission-driven, high-impact and transdisciplinary knowledge creation; revision of existing incentives and reward systems; building capacities for dealing with complexity, uncertainty, and values; developing robust scientific capacities in all parts of the world; and securing sustainable investments in science, will be key for science to effectively support wider societal transformations in the 21st century.
Securing such developments is a systemic responsibility, shared by scientists themselves, the institutions in which they work, the policy makers that shape the conditions under which they work, and science funders that influence the direction of science and its practices.
Collectively, we must empower science to advance the SDGs and there is no time to spare!
About the Global Forum of Funders
The 2nd Global Forum of Funders builds on a successful first event held in Washington DC in 2019, where science funders and the research community initiated a “Decade of Global Sustainability Science Action”. The event called for the identification of critical priorities for science that will support and enable societies to accomplish the SDGs by 2030. In 2020 the ISC mobilized the global scientific community to shape a priority action agenda for science. This strategic agenda, Missions for Science to Enable a Prosperous Future for All, will be presented and discussed with the heads of some of the world’s primary science funders at the Forum.
The Global Forum of Funders is organized by the International Science Council with a consortium of public science funders, donor aid agencies, and international scientific partners, including:
