Science for a Sustainable Future: The value of a strong connection between science, research and policy

Author: Deidre Hudson Reuss

Senior Marketing Manager

This year’s Science for a Sustainable Future event focused on the question What is needed to make the SDGs happen by 2030? and comprised two webinars on topics that provide helpful answers: the value of a strong connection between science, research and policy, and the importance of data in advancing the goals, especially SDG 4, a decade after the UN’s A World that Counts report.

Science for a Sustainable Future is a joint initiative of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Springer Nature, now in its fifth year. It brings together leading researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — from the specific topics and metrics to the challenges in achieving their aims, and what it would take to make them a reality. It is a flagship activity of Springer Nature’s SDG Programme, which aims to connect the best research on sustainable development with those in a position to act upon it.

Read on for some impressions from each of the sessions and the central themes that were touched upon. 

Impacting SDG policy: The role of science and research in driving sustainable change

Even the best science can’t help achieve the SDGs if policymakers never find out about it. This session focused on how researchers can have more impact on policy and showcased best practice examples of policy and research collaboration. It also featured concrete recommendations from our speakers to help policy makers and researchers work more closely together.

Panel session speakers included:

• Dr. Chagun Basha, Chief Policy Advisor, Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India 
• Dr. Sarah Foxen, Knowledge Exchange Lead, UK Parliament 
• Professor Tan Sri Dr. Zakri Bin Abdul Hamid, Distinguished Professor, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
• Dr. Stavroula Kousta, Chief Editor, Nature Human Behaviour, Springer Nature (Moderator)

One of the key things our panel agreed was that bringing research from the lab to legislature and ultimately wider society needs a “whole ecosystem” approach which starts, but doesn’t end, with open access (OA). OA is essential because policymakers don’t necessarily have access to paywalled research.

But, beyond that, researchers need to be able to communicate their work— leading with how the research can help solve problems, rather than leading with methodology. Researchers need both training in how to do this (as it differs significantly from how they usually communicate their results) as well as incentives — at the institutional and funder level — to do so.

As one example, Dr. Sarah Foxen talked about how the UK was able to ban microplastics from cosmetics. This story followed research results from the lab to society (as given voice by Sir David Attenborough who brought wide attention to the issue), to the UK’s infrastructure for embedding researchers with Parliament through secondments and fellowships.

Aditionally, Dr. Chagun Basha discussed how India’s National One Health Mission helped connect research to public health policy during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect India’s population and limit the corona virus’ impact in India.

Professor Tan Sri Dr. Zakri Bin Abdul Hamid talked about the need to connect applied research on top of basic research, to bring practical solutions.

Ten years of A World that Counts: Where has the data revolution taken us in global education? 

How has the data revolution affected progress towards the SDGs in education — if it’s had an impact at all? These were the questions this session addressed.

Panel session speakers included:

Dr. Manos Antoninis, Director, Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO 

Dr. Marcos Delprato, Research Associate at the Instituto de Investigaciones Educativas (IIE), Universidad Nacional de Chilecito, Argentina 

Dr. Clara Fontdevila, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Education, University of Glasgow, UK 

Dr. Suzanne Grant Lewis, Member, Judging Panel, Yidan Prize for Education Development; Emeritus Chair of Education Science and Policy of Education.org (Moderator)

The panellists agreed that while there’s been progress in applying data to education on some fronts (in mindset and feasibility, for example), data collection and analysis remain incomplete. For one thing, there’s an inherent tension between global goals on the one hand and local and national governance on the other and addressing this means finding a balance between these competing forces. This can mean aligning global and local priorities better, including giving countries more flexibility in setting their own national benchmarks.

Dr. Clara Fontdevila pointed out that, in 2015, even trying to get this data was seen as a near-impossible task, due to the various data sources coming from national and local governments. But there has been a revolution in the mindset towards using data for education.

Dr. Manos Antoninis noted that fewer than 20% of countries report data on educational attainment early in primary education, and that many countries oppose providing this data, even when it is collected at the national level. On the other hand, most countries do report on educational attainment at the end of primary and lower secondary education, and this allows for monitoring of trends across these time periods.

Dr. Marcos Delprato spoke to the issue of data missing in some cases because it is not reported, even though it exists, and in other cases it is not included in the framework for reporting – for example some key drivers of SDG 4 targets are not reports on because the UIS database framework does not allow for these. He also emphasised the need for frameworks that can address and make sense of multiple overlapping variables, especially when looking at issues of inequality.

It’s also important to keep equity and inclusion in mind, which means that the data that is collected needs to be disaggregated by gender, location, wealth, disability, and other relevant dimensions. But this data is often missing or under-used.

We are less than five years away from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) original 2030 target, but educational attainment goals seem further away than that, meaning we need to adjust our approaches. This means more realistic, flexible, and country-owned targets, and that the emphasis should shift from short-term results to building institutional capacity over the long term, to include both quantitative and qualitative goals.

Overarching themes

With only five years until 2030, one theme ties these two sessions together: While research and data are essential, on their own, they’re insufficient. Policymakers need to know about relevant and impactful discoveries and solutions to enact them into policy. And in education, we need insights — for example for equity and inclusion — that the data can bring to help reach educational aspirations, reflecting local and national nuances. 

Visit Science for a Sustainable Future to learn more. Watch the event recordings and download the policy briefs.

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