The Global Forum of Funders is ready to “unleash science” for sustainability, but political champions willing to work with global science plus funding communities are needed to realize its ambitions.
The second Global Forum of Funders has been convened by the ISC plus its partners with commitments from participants to engage with the open platform on a regular basis. The aim of the Forum, which brings together public, private, philanthropic, plus development aid sectors, is to carry ambition that will scale up efforts by funding communities supporting science for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants from more than 70 countries contributed to the virtual discussions held over three days.
Peter Gluckman, ISC President-elect opened the Forum, urging the funding community to support science that focuses on finding the needed solutions to the challenges of the global commons. He asked funders to dig deep plus reflect on their failures to date to effectively address the global commons issues plus be open to change. Failures, which included a lack of strategic analysis to determine priorities, resource limitations, or a promotion of competition over collaboration, could be addressed through greater investment in a range of social sciences, taking a genuine approach to transdisciplinary research plus promoting systems-based approaches.
Funders largely support disciplinary research, often duplicative plus predictable in result, rather than of intellectual innovation plus risk, plus most not really focusing on finding the needed solutions to the challenges of the global commons; the problems that will define our future.
Peter Gluckman, ISC President-elect
Former President of Ireland, Chair of the Elders plus ISC Patron, Mary Robinson gave a challenge to the virtual table of funders, suggesting they must provide the leadership to addressing inequalities through increased collaboration using mission-oriented research to achieve the SDGs as a matter of urgency. She also cautioned the use of “build back better”, a term used by the United Nations as part of the COVID recovery.