THELASTHOPE: Welcome to SDSN's December 2017 Newsletter!

Welcome to SDSN's December 2017 Newsletter!

Pathways Towards Sustainable Land-Use and Food Systems
The newly established Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land Use and Energy (FABLE) Pathways Consortium is coordinated by IIASA,SDSN, and EAT Foundation, and operates as part of the Food and Land-Use Coalition. It held its inaugural meeting on 6-8 December 2017.

Partnerships for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding
On 8 December 2017, the SDSN co-hosted a UN-led dialogue entitled Sustaining Peace: Partnerships for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, to discuss ways in which various segments of society can take action to make peace more sustainable.

SDSN at the Global Food Security Conference
The SDSN Network on Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems hosted a workshop at the Global Food Security conference on the Missing Middle in SDG 2 which describes the lack of connection between food production and food consumption in SDG 2 (no hunger). More information is available online or you may email Linda Veldhuizen to join the community.

Relaunching 5 Feb - Natural Resources for Sustainable Development Course

How can we manage extractives the world over for sustainable natural resource use? Find out in the free SDG Academy course, relaunching with new content on 5 February. Click through to enroll.

Barilla Food Forum

The 8th International Forum on Food and Nutrition was organized by the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition with strong participation from SDSN Leadership. Guido Barilla, Chairman and CEO of Barilla Group, will join the SDSN Leadership Council, and both organizations will host a joint event in New York on 28 September 2018.

SDSN in the Media

Rene E. Ofreneo, Can the SDGs slay hunger, poverty?, Business Mirror - 20 December 2017

Aromar Revi, Re-imagining the United Nations’ Response to a Twenty-first-century Urban World, Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Sage Publications – 4 December 2017

Ken E. Giller, Doing More with Less – or More with More? The Future of Smallholder Farming in Africa, Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University – December 2017

Upmanu Lall et al., County-Scale Rainwater Harvesting Feasibility in the United States: Climate, Collection Area, Density, and Reuse Considerations, AGU Publication – 27 November 2017

Johan Rockström et al., A fundamental misrepresentation of the Planetary Boundaries framework, Stockholm Resilience Centre - 20 November 2017

Johan Rockström, We have the tools to fight climate change. It’s time to start using them, World Economic Forum - 17 November 2017

James Hansen, Global Climate Justice: Making the Carbon Majors Pay for Climate Action, Earth Institute, Columbia University - 7 November 2017

Mariana Mazzucato, Rethinking Value in Health Innovation: from mystification towards prescriptions, University College London (UCL) – November 2017

Upcoming Events

Launch of SDSN Hong Kong Network
8 January | Hong Kong, China

Gaidar Forum
16-18 January | Moscow, Russia

Launch of USA Sustainable Cities Initiative - US Conference of Mayors Collaboration
21-23 January | Washington DC, USA

View full list of events

Other News and Events

SDSN Australia/Pacific is facilitating the collection of case studies on how the Australian university sector contributes to SDG implementation, as input towards Australia’s 2018 Voluntary National Review (VNR). The deadline is 19 January 2018.
The city of Baltimore is a leader in adapting the SDG framework to drive better local data collection and decision-making.Three technical briefs detailing their approach have been published by Dr. Seema Iyer of the University of Baltimore as part of the SDG Local Data Action initiative of SDSN's TReNDS.
The SDSN Thematic Network on Good Governance of Extractives and Land Resources blog series continues on the online library, land portal! Yulia Panful (Omidyar Network) and Justine Sylvester (Village Focus International) both contributed this month.
SDSN Italy co-hosted a workshop to highlight how Italy is progressing on the SDGs and what further activities are needed in the years ahead.
SDSN Southeast Asia is working with Hero-X on a sea wall design competition and has appointed a leading sustainability expert from New York as a guest judge.
SDSN member Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) is pleased to offer $10K grants for innovative uses of OpenLandContracts.org, the world’s first searchable online repository of publicly available commercial agriculture and forestry contracts.
With its New York-based Executive Training Program on Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development, CCSI now offers a training session on climate change and extractive industries. A shortened version of the topics covered is available here.
Applications will be accepted through April 1, 2018 for the Amazon Summer School, a 21-day intensive program focused on practical knowledge in the field of sustainable development in the context of the Amazon rainforest.
Get your set of SDG Flashcards, used to explore the global goals as they relate to your community, developed by SDSN member Gaia Education & UNESCO's Global Action Programme. Now available in Arabic!
SDSN Leadership Council member, Tarja Halonen, was elected as Chairman of the Board of the University of Helsinki.
Vladimir Mau, SDSN Leadership Council member, was awarded the Order for Merit to the Fatherland for helping develop Russia's social and economic policy.
On 11 and 12 December, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana and co-chair of the UN Secretary-General’s SDG Advocates, convened a roundtable in Accra, Ghana, focused on SDG implementation in Africa.
On 12 December, SDSN Leadership Council member Patricia Espinosa gave a keynote address at Climate Finance Day in Paris.