UNLEASHING SCIENCE

1 1 International SCIENCE CouncilLearn more: 9 UNLEASHING SCIENCED elivering Missions for Sustainability 2 International SCIENCE CouncilLearn more: 9 Suggested Citation: International SCIENCE Council, 2021. UNLEASHING SCIENCE : Delivering Missions for Sustainability, Paris, France. International SCIENCE Council. DOI: The International SCIENCE Council would like to thank the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for their support of this work.

2 Work with the ISC to advance SCIENCE as a global public with us at: SCIENCE Council 5 rue Auguste Vacquerie 75116 Paris, International SCIENCE CouncilLearn more: 9 TABLE OF CONTENTSP reface Acknowledgements for report productionExecutive Summary A Planet on Red Alert : Society Far Off-Track to Deliver on the SDGsScience for Societal Transformations The State of International Scientific Efforts and Organization Limits of the Current SCIENCE System to Support Societal Transformations The Vision: An International Mission-oriented SCIENCE Thematic Foci: One Goal Five Sustainability SCIENCE MissionsFood: Eating Adequate, Healthy Diets Without Consuming Nature s Bounty Water: Replenishing Nature s Reservoirs to Provide Enough Clean Water for All Health and Wellbeing: Being Whole and Well in Body, Mind and Nature Urban Areas: Thriving in Places While Stewarding the Natural EnvironmentClimate and Energy: Shifting to Clean Energy While Restoring a Safe Climate SCIENCE in Action: A Theory of Change that Delivers Assumptions Starting Conditions and Priorities Societal Partners Scientific Approaches, Activities and Starting Places Results.

3 Affecting the Conditions for Systems Change Outcomes Implementing Mission ScienceOne Way Forward: Sustainability Mission Station(s)Functions of the Mission Station(s) Ways of WorkingFunding Levels and Model to Support Mission SCIENCE Time Horizon Supportive Reforms of Existing SCIENCE Systems Next StepsConclusion Annex 1 Examples of critical areas for scientific inquiry that Mission Stations could focus on List of References 6891213131518212323232323252626262728303 1313233353637383940 481345678924 International SCIENCE CouncilLearn more: 9 LIST OF FIGUREST extbox 1: A Snapshot of Human Deprivation Figure 1: The Mismatch Between SCIENCE Funding vs Research Priorities Textbox 2: Key Definitions Textbox 3: What Mission-driven SCIENCE Can Do to Inform Actions that will Realize the SDGs Figure 2: The Five Missions Integrate the 17 SDGs Figure 3: Action Logic for Delivering Mission SCIENCE and Action Textbox 4: Shifting the Conditions that Hold Systems in Place Figure 4.

4 To Contribute to Transformative Change, Mission-oriented SCIENCE Must Change the Conditions that Hold Systems in Place Textbox 5: potential Institutional Models of how the Mission Stations could be organized Textbox 6: Identifying Mission-specific Societal Partners and Experts 14151619 22252930 32 345 International SCIENCE CouncilLearn more: 9We need to urgently redouble efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development GoalsBusiness-as-usual approaches to SCIENCE and SCIENCE funding are no longer appropriate to this massively complex and urgent challengeEffective action will require broad and bold engagement, and commitment, from SCIENCE funders, but also from the decision-makers and influencers in governments.

5 In the private sector and in civil societyThe international funding community is ready for the challenge and has requested the International SCIENCE Council to lead on the development of a process to convene the necessary voices, jointly designing the way forwardThis report is an input into that processIt is intended as a strawman, to disrupt our thinking and to inspire ambitious and achievable outcomesLet s begin6 International SCIENCE CouncilLearn more: 9 PREFACEIn today s highly uncertain world, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer an invaluable framework to guide governments and societies in shaping a transformative and resilient recovery from COVID-19, creating a more sustainable society in the long the transformative vision of the SDGs by 2030 requires an urgent realignment of most countries and actors priorities and resources towards longer-term, more collaborative, and drastically accelerated action.

6 It also requires game-changing collective action within SCIENCE systems and funding SCIENCE has been recognised as a critical lever in achieving the SDGs, the current capacity of the international SCIENCE system is not necessarily up to the task to effectively contribute to the transformative, systemic changes needed for human wellbeing to thrive in the 21st century. By contrast, the exceptional role SCIENCE played in the collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic shows what SCIENCE can achieve if political leaders and SCIENCE funders set their minds to it. This includes inter alia the unprecedented speed of vaccine development, data sharing, international research collaboration, fast-tracking of support for research, and scientists collaboration with the private sector.

7 Thus, the COVID-19 experience demonstrates that SCIENCE can play a vital role in solving global crises, however, it is not currently the norm in how SCIENCE is positioned, organized and incentivized to contribute to addressing global existential the full potential of SCIENCE is a massively complex and urgent challenge requiring bold, strategic, and collaborative action from governments, SCIENCE policy makers, SCIENCE funders, scientists, the private sector and civil society. A qualitative and quantitative step change is needed in SCIENCE to support critical societal transformations towards a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future.

8 There is an urgent need to step up the pace of progress and redouble efforts of all actors to achieve the SDGs. Relying on business-as-usual approaches is not an SCIENCE funding community is ready. SCIENCE funders at the 2019 Global Forum of Funders (GFF) recognized the urgent need to scale up game-changing collective action within funding and SCIENCE systems throughout the world in order to maximize the impact of SCIENCE towards the implementation of the SDGs. They have requested the International SCIENCE Council to lead on the development of a process to convene the insights and ideas of the global scientific community on the critical priorities for SCIENCE and to jointly design the way report is an input into that process.

9 It presents a framework of ideas on how SCIENCE , along with SCIENCE funders, policy-makers, civil society and the private sector, could rise to the occasion of acting effectively in the face of urgent and existential risks to humanity. The report offers a Framework to Unleash Mission-Oriented SCIENCE , highlighting the need to focus on a limited number of Sustainability SCIENCE Missions in the critical areas of food, energy and climate, health and wellbeing, water, and urban areas and outlining a potential way forward for the delivery of such missions. It is intended to challenge and, where necessary, disrupt our thinking and inspire ambitious and achievable International SCIENCE Council developed this report based on the input collected from an ISC-led global call in 2020 to shape a priority action agenda for SCIENCE .

10 In addition to the call, the ISC undertook extensive reviews of international research agenda-setting reports and the relevant scientific literature published since the adoption of the International SCIENCE CouncilLearn more: 9 The report was developed under the valuable guidance provided by the members of the Scientific Advisory Group who helped to define the scope, analyse the multiple inputs, develop a framework for mission-oriented SCIENCE , identify an exploratory set of research questions for such missions and review the report. The development of the report would also not have been possible without strategic advice provided by the members of the Steering Committee, representing the partners of the GFF.