Springer Nature and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) have published a white paper featuring some of the most compelling ideas explored in a series of interdisciplinary roundtables which aim to spur new perspectives on, research in, and interdisciplinary approaches to global crises.
The Learning from Crises series, which asked what we could learn from the COVID-19 pandemic that could be applied for climate action, consisted of two cross-sectoral, multidisciplinary expert discussions and concluded with a virtual event hosted alongside COP26 with keynote speakers Magdalena Skipper, Editor in Chief of Nature and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, President of SDSN.
The first roundtable focused on behaviour and misinformation, and examined how - just like in the pandemic - we need behavioural interventions to reduce carbon emissions and promote climate adaptation. The second roundtable explored the imbalances in the impact and response to crises, the way in which inequality can hinder solutions, and identified the lessons learned to create more equitable responses to future crises.
These topics were chosen because COVID-19 highlighted the crucial importance of tackling misinformation and motivated ignorance, demonstrated that individual behaviours can benefit society collectively, and has shown how structural inequalities predetermine who is most affected and how - all issues that have clear parallels to the climate crisis. The white paper features a variety of expert voices and interview quotes, and concludes that identifying ways to proactively address complex global challenges that emerge from crises, requires ongoing interdisciplinary research, drawing from a diverse range of voices and the expertise of multiple disciplines.
The white paper also provides the background to the roundtables and the collaboration between Springer Nature and SDSN, more information on the wide range of participants, and further detail as to why interdisciplinary approaches are so important for identifying solutions to crises. It also includes a list of supporting research to encourage further reading on the topics raised.
Click here to read the original press release.
