Leibniz Conference on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

 

04.10.2018

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More than 220 participants from the fields of science, politics and society accepted the invitation of the Leibniz Association and took part in the conference on the United Nations Goals for Sustainable Development on 14 September in Berlin. The Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) was closely involved in the organisation and structuring of the conference.

 The implementation of the 17 goals for sustainable development in politics and society adopted in 2015 has made progress in recent years through regional and supra-regional civil society and political initiatives. But what about science’s contribution to achieving these goals? This question set the framework for the ten thematic specialist sessions at the conference and was the guiding question through the keynotes and panel discussions that formed the prelude to the event.

Prof. Katharina Helming, Co-Head of Research Area 3 "Landscape Research Synthesis" at ZALF and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Leibniz Conference, played an active role in its organisation and content: "We are very pleased that the Leibniz Association is now attaching such great importance to the topic of sustainability goals through its hosting of the conference. We have been seeking dialogue across the various specialist disciplines. With the integration of 15 Leibniz institutions and several Leibniz networks and research alliances into the conference programme, we have been extremely successful in this respect."

Prof. Frank Ewert, Scientific Director of ZALF, chaired one of the ten specialist sessions on "Sustainable food systems from agriculture and aquaagriculture". Dr. Stefan Sieber, Head of the Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries Working Group, and Prof. Katharina Helming both contributed lectures to the conference programme.

The conference was opened with introductory speeches by Klaus Töpfer, former Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, and Ottmar Edenhofer, new Co-Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Press release in PDF-format

• Press releases on events held by the the Leibniz Association can be found here: www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de

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