Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth (RESCUE)

RESCUE SYNTHESIS REPORT - LAUNCH EVENT - 16/02/2012, BRUSSELS

The RESCUE synthesis report will be officially presented during the RESCUE Press Event on Thursday 16th February 2012, morning (10.00-12.00) in the “Polak” room, International Press Centre, Residence Palace - 155, rue de la Loi, 1040 Brussels (BE) - Metro: Line 1; Stop: Schuman.

The RESCUE Press Event will conclude our main activities, and will make it possible for the RESCUE community to present their key findings to a range of actors and stakeholders, such as:

  • high-level representatives from research funding and performing organisations;
  • science policy makers at national, European and global levels;
  • research managers representing key science communities and initiatives;
  • representatives from academia and NGOs; and
  • researchers, practitioners and educators, in Europe and beyond.

N E W !  Here is the announcement flyer for this event.

The RESCUE report was also prepared in close cooperation or liaison with other key organisations or initiatives, including the International Council of Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA) and its Belmont Forum, and the European Alliance of Global Change Research Committees (EA-GCR).

Overall, this RESCUE foresight initiative aimed to contribute also to the current international efforts preparing transitions toward sustainability, among which emerge especially the ‘Planet under Pressure - New Knowledge Towards Solutions’ Conference (PuP, March 2012), the ‘Rio+20’ United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, June 2012) and the 'Future Earth - research for global sustainability' initiative, newly established by the International Council for Science (ICSU) and a global alliance of partners. This new 10-year international collaborative initiative will aim to effectively deliver solution-oriented research on global environmental change for sustainability and to provide global coordination for science to respond to the most pressing societal and environmental challenges. This new endeavour echoes markedly some of the findings and conclusions of RESCUE regarding the global change research agenda setting.

Should you be interested to participate in the RESCUE press event, please contact us at fl-rescue[at]esf.org.

 

 

RECENT NEWS from RESCUE

The "RESCUE briefing for stakeholders" has been updated after this Stakeholders Conference (19/12/2011).

 

The RESCUE Stakeholders Conference has been held on 16-17 May 2011, in the International Auditorium, Brussels (BE).

This Forward Look is a joint COST-ESF "Frontiers of Science" foresight initiative that involves the ESF Standing Committees for Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences (LESC), for Social Sciences (SCSS), for Humanities (SCH) and for Physical and Engineering Sciences (PESC), and the COST Domain Committees for Earth System Science and Environmental Management (ESSEM), for Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health (ISCH), for Forests, their Products and Services (FPS) and for Food and Agriculture (FA).

Summary

Humankind is currently facing unprecedented changes in the Earth system, that have arisen at a rapidly growing rate because of human activities: among others, unsustainable exploitation and consumption of natural resources and accelerating perturbations of the environment. The systemic understanding of global environmental change has expanded markedly, but societal and policy-relevant drivers and consequences are still to be fully explored. In particular, the complex Earth system requires interdisciplinary studies at scales compatible to political and societal agendas, and some stronger common, integrated foundations between natural, social and human sciences to be established.

In this context, the “Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth” (RESCUE) foresight initiative help address the societal and scientific challenges related to global environmental change, including its human dimensions, and help stimulating an integrated response from natural, social and human sciences. This will be achieved through the following key objectives:

  1. To propose a strategic process for natural, social and human sciences to improve their interdisciplinary synergy, to respond efficiently to societal and policy-relevant needs; 
  2. To articulate new scientific issues related to global change, especially those of transdisciplinary nature or of major society-driven relevance; 
  3. To explore new approaches towards interdisciplinary science, and to facilitate the ‘revolution’ in education and capacity building it requires.

Through its analyses and recommendations, RESCUE will help enable the scientific community, together with other actors and key stakeholders, to develop medium to long-term strategies for future research activities and applications. It is anticipated that RESCUE will impact society by favouring common strategic understanding and coordination, and transformative education delivery, to help ensuring global sustainable development and sustainability governance.

Relationships between Humanity, its Environment and the Earth, considered as interlinked parts of the Earth System.