On 2-3 June, the UN will host the high-level meeting Stockholm+ 50, hosted by Sweden, together with Kenya. It is then fifty years since the UN's first environmental conference took place, the Stockholm Conference in 1972. The ambition of the meeting is to accelerate the transition to achieve the global goals for sustainability and to promote a sustainable recovery after the pandemic.
Ylva Hillbur, Pro Vice-Chancellor at SLU with a responsibility for international relations, will participate in the meeting together with Sara Gräslund, Head of Unit for SLU Global and Sofia Boqvist, Senior Lecturer at SLU and Head of the interdisciplinary program Agriculture for Food Security (AgriFoSe2030).
"We will listen and learn at the meeting. SLU is already supporting the transition to achieve the global sustainability goals, both through our research output and through our students - the sustainability experts of the future", says Ylva Hillbur.
"With the climate crisis, pandemic and wars in world, the need for more robust food systems is very clear. At the same time, the crises can create room for rapid changes in the production and consumption that can contribute to achieving the Global Goals", says Sara Gräslund.
Science-based decision-support important tools
Ahead of Stockholm+ 50, the university management has participated in the preparatory work with leadership dialogues. In addition to Ylva Hillbur, Anna Lundhagen, Pro Vice-Chancellor at SLU with a responsibility for collaboration and Environmental monitoring and assessment, and SLU's Vice-Chancellor Maria Knutson Wedel, also contributed.
"One input to the meeting is that science-based decision-support is an important tool for countries to work with in order for us to achieve the Global Goals. Well-developed knowledge and capacity systems are crucial", says Anna Lundhagen.
How science-based solutions can drive change is also the theme for a scientific associated event in which Anna Lundhagen participates.
SLU's Vice-Chancellor Maria Knutson Wedel shares her most important inputs to the world's decision makers at the Stockholm+50 meeting in the latest podcast episode of the series Feeding your mind from SLU.
"Collaborate! Let go of your own perspective, listen to others and try to find wise solutions together. End up in dialogue and not in debate! Use the available facts. Talk to those you may be farthest from."
