Annual reports

Annual report 2020

2020 demonstrated the consequences when humanity fails to invest enough in the Biosphere as the foundation for all our lives and social development

Story highlights

  • The centre launched a new vision and mission
  • Close to 200 articles were published by centre researchers
  • Centre researchers contribute extensively to the Human Development Report

From Line Gordon’s "Director’s view":

As the ground was shaking and we were forced to be physically apart, we showed just how much we are a global society and how much we need each other.

We came together in different strategies to deal with the pandemic, in the unprecedented efforts to develop vaccines, and through the commitments to build better futures for all.

We showed that while borders close, there is nothing but our joint ingenuity and collaborations that can get us out of this hole we have dug for ourselves.

New vision and mission

Amid all this, the SRC launched a new vision: “A thriving and resilient biosphere that enables well-being for all.”

2020 demonstrated the consequences when humanity fails to invest enough in the Biosphere as the foundation for all our lives and social development.

To achieve this vision, the SRC’s mission is to advance the scientific understanding of the complex, dynamic interactions of people and nature in the Biosphere, train the next generation of sustainability researchers and leaders to work on complex issues, and engage in collaborations with people and organisations that can effect real change.

In 2020 we also adopted some fundamental organisational values to guide our work at the centre and to shape our work culture:

a) that scientific rigor and integrity should underpin all our work

b) a collaborative, trust-based and creative working culture will enable us to achieve impact

c) learning, experimentation and reflection are promoted in all our activities

d) diversity, inclusion and care are principles championed across the organisation.

The safe operating space of the Zoom room is not the same but it is only if we stay socially close and work together in a physically distant world that we can shape a better future for all.

Line Gordon, director Stockholm Resilience Centre

Highlights

We delivered well on our mission last year.

We restructured our internal scientific organisation, developed new research themes, and identified a new generation of brilliant research theme leaders that is driving innovative scientific work forward. We continue to deliver scientific insights, and we even had eight of our colleagues being recognised among the world’s most cited researchers.

One highlight of the year was the workshop Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities for Sustainability Science in December of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in the US, which we contributed to.

Our education and supervisory team was busy, with a record number of PhD students finishing in the autumn term, and a whole new set of courses being developed. Several of our courses, both new and old, targeted practitioners from top executives of some of the largest Swedish companies in our executive education programme to entrepreneurs in Southern Africa through the Transforming Change programme.

We also helped frame the narratives of influential global reports such as the UN Development Programme’s Human Development Report and the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy’s report, which commits to 100% sustainable ocean management by 2025.

The launch of the Baltic Health Index also offered a unique comprehensive assessment of the social, economic and environmental condition of the Baltic Sea. We are also extremely pleased that our Sida-funded programmes SwedBio and Global Resilience Partnership received renewed funding for four more years.

Missing the buzz

In the world of the pandemic, we nurture these values the best we can. I miss the buzz and the social interactions of my colleagues, the laughter in the corridors and the intense discussions. Three languages in the same room at the same time. The hugs and the handshakes as we greet each other. I even miss not knowing whether to shake hands, or hug, or kiss on the cheek.

The safe operating space of the Zoom room is not the same but it is only if we stay socially close and work together in a physically distant world that we can shape a better future for all.

Download and read the 2020 annual report here

Topics: Annual reports
Published: 2021-04-27

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