A cross disciplinary international seminar organized in Paris in June 2023 is calling for abstracts before 3 April 2023.
The science communities working on the current “big ticket items” like climate change, mitigation and adaptation, energy transitions, biodiversity, food security, and other global challenges under the U.N. Agenda 2030, have been historically “disconnected” from biological research in all its forms. Yet, scientists working in fields such as cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, human cognition, behavior, and public health can bring vital perspectives and can help close persistent gaps in our understanding of how the living parts of Earth’s systems interact with, and potentially regulate, key systems such as the Earth’s climate, the carbon cycle, prevailing ocean currents, and interfaces at biomes. Indeed, approaching sustainability from a holistic, scientific point of view that is transdisciplinary can accelerate sustainable development solutions.
Pioneering science needs to integrate research from all sides – biological sciences and earth sciences – together with approaches from other disciplines, such as the social sciences, engineering, and other fields in order to provide answers relating to sustainable development. Innovative multidisciplinary studies have, in recent years, helped to bridge some of these knowledge gaps, but what is missing is a holistic integrative approach, connecting the fragments in a meaningful way to better understand and tackle some of these critical problems and fuel the transition to sustainability.
HFSP invites the global scientific community to submit abstracts for an International Science Symposium on “Fundamental Life Science meets Climate, Environment and Sustainability: new bridges, new partnerships, new opportunities.” The symposium will focus on four thematic areas:
- Climate Change and Health
- Ocean Biodiversity and Resources at Risk
- Food Security in a Changing World
- Individuals, Institutions, and Society –the Need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness Transformations
Abstracts should reflect research in progress (unpublished, or late breaking research) or published previously under the above topics. Anyone working in a related focus is also welcome to submit an abstract and attend. Topics can span all levels of organization and can be research at the molecular level, the earth/sustainability level, bridging the two broad areas, or research on sustainability issues as applied to demography, diversity and inclusion. The abstracts should convey a scientific result, but it may contain reference to innovations and applied technology that shows the impact of basic science for sustainable development.
All details about abstract submission can be found here.