PROGRAM: K-3

Title:

THE ROLE OF THE REGIONAL CENTER FOR FUTURE EARTH IN ASIA

Abstract:

Future Earth is a new international research platform providing the knowledge and support to accelerate the world’s transformations to a sustainable world. To address the unprecedented challenges facing the world, Future Earth pursues a new type of science that links disciplines, knowledge systems and societal partners to support the sustainability transition. It brings together 20+ pre-existing global environmental change core projects and is in the process of co-designing a number of new Knowledge-Action Networks that are to embody the inter- and transdisciplinary approach. The organizational structure and problem-conceptualization of Future Earth are largely global: the initiative is led by a Governing Council and supported by a Science Committee, Engagement Committee and globally distributed Secretariat. The core projects and Knowledge-Action Networks address global issues in a relatively uniform way across the globe. However, the drivers and consequences of environmental deterioration are not evenly distributed and, in order to address sustainability problems, they need to be understood in an historically-informed and region-specific fashion. Future Earth is therefore developing an organizational structure with regional centers and offices to ensure the incorporation of regional perspectives and to engage with researchers and societal stakeholders at the regional level. This paper briefly outlines the organizational structure of Future Earth, with a special emphasis on Asia.