GWSP Archive: Interview with Jakob Rhyner on Future Earth

Future Earth is being designed by an international team of scientific experts from across the natural and social science disciplines, sponsors and executives. The work of this ‘Transition Team’ is focused on delivering a research framework, institutional design and stakeholder engagement strategy. A Transition Management Project, reporting to the Alliance, is being established to manage this transition process and ensure a fully operational Future Earth initiative in 2014. This management project will be overseen by a Project Board, co-chaired by Steven Wilson (Executive Director of ICSU) and Jakob Rhyner (Vice-Rector, UN University) and will cover work streams such as funding, communications and outreach, governance arrangements, etc.

Question:
Mr. Rhyner, being Co-Chair of the Future Earth Project Board, what is the uniqueness of the Future Earth initiative compared to other initiatives and projects on global change and sustainability?

The uniqueness consists in the inclusive approach. Future Earth is lead by the so-called alliance, including ICSU, ISCC, the Belmont Forum, UNEP, UNESCo and UNU. This coordinated effort by science, funding and development organisations, has a real potential to reach a new level in defining and executing the agenda of environmental research.

Question:
Why is there a change in paradigms? What induced this change?

Response:
While environmental and social sciences are presently delivering high quality scientific results on a broad range, there is an increasing sense in the user community that these results are often not really fitting the needs of practice, which is facing growing challenges, but also chances induced by the global environmental change. This is what Future Earth aims to change.

Question:
Is the fact that we are now living in the Anthropocene linked with the emergence of Future Earth?

Response
Yes. The term Anthropocene characterises a phase of unprecedented rate of change of the environment, leading particularly high demands to those who try to understand the mechanisms and those who have to come up with sustainable solutions.

Question:
What are the major challenges to be solved or to be addressed on a global dimension pursuant to Future Earth?

Response:
One of the most important things is to recognize that the challenges may be very diff erent depending on where on Earth you live. While parents in many parts of the northern hemisphere worry about guaranteeing their children a similar quality of life, parents in many other countries struggle for the bare survival of their children. Talking about global sustainability, Future Earth will have to deal with the fact that sustainability comes in very different disguises in diff erent parts of the world.

Question:
Which role freshwater will play within Future Earth?

Response:
Besides air, freshwater is the probably most indispensable material. So questions around freshwater will play a most prominent role in Future Earth. By the way, one of the two first so-called Collaborative Research actions by the Belmont Group this summer was on freshwater.

Question:
How far Future Earth will be solution oriented and demand driven?

Response:
Solution and demand orientation is the main focus of Future Earth. In my personal opinion this does not mean that basic research has no place. While solution oriented research aims at the solutions of today, basic research is often paving the way for those of tomorrow.

Question:
What could be the challenges in the transition from science partnership to co-design and co-production with business and other stakeholders at a global scale?

Response:
Scientists generally don´t have a good record of discussing with and actively listen to the world of practice. Moving away from the attitude that science alone knows the problems and the solutions, and developing real interest of what practice has to tell, might be one the hard parts.

Question:
How the Future Earth initiative will be funded in future?

Response:
While, with the Belmont group, a powerful group of funders is a member of the alliance, the funding basis will have to be broader.  I´m convinced that where Future Earth can make a convincing case for practice there will be funding opportunities.

Question:
How to link science appropriately with policy-makers and other stakeholders?

Response:
The most important step is to formulate questions not for, but with the policy makers and other stakeholders, to let them interfere with the development of the scientific agenda. this is no attack on scientific quality; scientists will have to continue to guarantee it.

Question:
On the website it is written “strengthening international science for the benefit of society”. Is Future Earth only about the benefit of society? What about the benefit of nature?

Response:
We might have to explicitly add “nature” indeed. However I think it is implicitly there: The well-being of nature, in the long run, is a basis for sustainable societies.

Question:
How will the existing global environmental change programmes be involved in Future Earth? What will be the role of current joint projects like GWSP in the Future Earth initiative?

Response:
Many of the projects of the Global Environmental Programmes will be integrated in Future Earth.

We thank Jakob Rhyner for this interview.