Cross-Cutting Research

Sustainable futures –futures in which human life on Earth and within our planetary boundaries are ensured – serve as the Institute’s compass for our research, policy advice and training. Instead of searching for a single path, we emphasise ‘futures’ in the plural to underline the plurality of many different sustainable futures.

Empirically, we ask how sustainable futures are envisioned and how transformational pathways towards these futures are created.

Conceptually, we are guided by scholarly thought on “sustainable development” as well as discussions on “futuring” and reflect on how to envision and construct futures.

Methodologically, the joint search for sustainable futures guides us to work in partnerships across the globe and across sectors.

Normatively, we seek to contribute to the transformation of our social, economic, political and cultural systems in ways that will indeed secure human life within our planetary boundaries.

Sustainable Futures as a cross-cutting theme guides our research, policy advice and training activities within and across our four Research Departments as well as the Knowledge Cooperation and Training Department. We strive to synthesise this work to help to envisage and shape sustainable futures. 

These collaborative efforts are guided by the two questions on the types of sciences and science systems required and the kind of global cooperation system needed for enabling sustainable futures.

Science and science systems for sustainable futures

The first subtheme is anchored in an understanding of knowledge – as formalised and non-formalised knowledge production – as one of the most important determinants of social, economic, political and ecological change processes. Acknowledging as well that there is not one global science system and the disparity between those well-resourced science systems that systematically study global challenges and the science systems of those countries often disproportionately affected by those challenges, IDOS advances increased and equitable international knowledge cooperation. Focus areas within this subtheme include globalised science and local representation, science policy and national innovation systems as well as science-to-policy.

Global cooperation for sustainable futures

The second subtheme refers to the cooperation of state and non-state actors that will be necessary to enable sustainable futures. A particular focus is put on the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and negotiations for a post-2030 framework. Global cooperation is crucial to generate and uphold a universally applicable target system, but is simultaneously under pressure through current geopolitical crises.

Building on research on implementation of sustainable development with a special regard to trade-offs, cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation at and across various governance levels, IDOS will bundle research insights from our own work as well as from and with international research partners to contribute to the advancement of sustainable development in times of geopolitical turmoil.